Concept for Windows phone application to maintain information flow and connectedness during the first 24-48 hours of a disaster. This was in response to the ask: “Design a system to facilitate effective communication during National Emergencies, focusing on providing the necessary information and tools to stay safe, alive and connected for the first 24-48 hours following the disaster." This project was done in collaboration with Microsoft, and was given honorable mention among 13 projects submitted. My teammates for this project was Wenyang Dong. This is one of the projects for Marty Siegel's Rapid Design for Slow Change course at Indiana University Bloomington.

1. What’s Up?
Wenyang Dong | Angélica Rosenzweig

2. Jenny moved to NYC last year. Most of her family and friends live in other cities around the US.

3. She lives in a dense urban area.

4. Before disaster

5. People rely in their close
social circle
Including family, friends, and acquaintances

6. She stays in touch with her close social circle.

7. She stays in touch with them via
phone, email, skype, and social
networks.

8. “I called my friend immediately when I lost power to see if
he was on the same boat...”
“The first person I contacted was my girlfriend…”
“I called my manager because he’s lived in the city longer
than me, to try to get insights on the situation…”
-Testimonials from interviews Sandy victims

9. A hurricane approaches...

13. During the hurricane Jenny lost power,
internet, and cell phone reception.

14. Contact with close social group is
often lost during disaster situations
No electricity, internet and phone network cuts ties with this social group during
disasters

15. Problem
Lack of connectivity (being disconnected) creates vulnerability and isolation during
disasters

16. “I felt unsafe in my apartment because I could not
communicate.”
“My apartment became unlivable. It was not flooded and
there was no immediate threat to my life, but if something
happened to me, no one would know, or I would not be
able to reach help… so I left.”
-Testimonials from interviews Sandy victims

17. Jenny does not know her neighbors or
those who live in the buildings across
the street.

18. Strangers in the vicinity are part of a
person’s network
People are not entirely aware of all the individuals that share the same local context, like
neighbors, store clerks, and people that are not normally approached.

19. “The day after Sandy hit, I went out to a grocery store close to my
apartment...The owner told me power would be out for a couple of
days!”
“I went to NYU in hopes there would be power in that area, but I saw
people were stocking up and leaving with bags. After asking I found
out the school was closing the whole week...”
“We talked to the guy that was standing on the road to find out traffic
conditions…”
-Testimonials from interviews Sandy victims

20. During disasters, local knowledge
provides essential support for people
“When large-scale emergencies happen, there is often no way to survive it in practical terms unless we rely
on each other for help… some areas require local knowledge to convey precise information about what is
happening and what neighbors down the road are doing.” [2]
“Natural disasters create radically different circumstances from neighborhood to neighborhood, not just
region to region.” [1]
“We normally function using prior examples to guide us, but if a situation presents itself for which we have
no prior examples… we look to others to lead us in how to respond.” [4]

21. Jenny and the “strangers” around her
may be experiencing the same
situation.

22. Core
Bring to the foreground the existing network of strangers who share local context to
maintain connectivity and information flow during the first 24-48 hours of a disaster.
Assumption
Shared geographic location provides common ground (context) in disasters

23. Jenny has her phone with her. She is
trying to save battery power. And so
are her neighbors.

24. Their devices and local context can
bring them together.

25. They can be connected via a localized,
yet decentralized mesh network.

27. The concept
Create ad-hoc information communities during disasters using a mesh network that is
localized
- Targeted to highly populated urban spaces
- Phone app that focuses on connecting people in the vicinity

28. Assumption
Technology needed for mesh network already exists,
and our concept assumes its already embedded in the
device.
http://alongthemalecon.blogspot.com/2013/03/cuba-likely-target-for-mesh-network.html

30. During the first 24 hours of the
hurricane, Jenny stays in her
apartment. Even though she has no
power or internet connectivity since
her life is not at risk.

31. She remembers an app that came preinstalled with her phone: “What’s UP?”

32. Home Screen
Jenny tap on the “what’s up”
Icon.

33. People Nearby
Jenny is surprised
there are 12 people near her.

34. Status Report
It defaults into all off.

35. Status Report
Jenny has only hot water,
She reports that she has water.

36. Confirmation

37. Mesh view
Jenny continues exploring the app,
and notices she can view what other
services people near her have and
don’t have.

38. Status check feature
During Sandy, a spreadsheet was created by neighbors in the Financial District [3]
This served as inspiration for the feature in the What’s Up app.

40. It’s been 48 hours, and Jenny is
concerned she has not reached out to
her family. They must be worried
about her. So she opens “What’s UP”
to see who has phone service.

41. Contact others
Jenny continues exploring the app,
and notices she can view what other
services people near her have and
don’t have.

42. Contact others
Jenny taps on a person that has cell
reception and messages the person
directly.

43. Contact others
Jenny taps on a person that has cell
reception and messages the person
directly.

44. Anonymous
communication
The app does not disclose location
or identity of the people contacted
for safety reasons.
Sharing location is a voluntary
action.

45. Anonymous
communication
After she sends her message, she
notices the message icon next to
the person she contacted. This is to
mark those she has talked to
before.

46. Thanks to the friendly neighbor, Jenny
heads out of her apartment to the area
where she now knows cell reception is
active.

47. After disaster

48. Once the local services have been
restored into her area, Jenny can
reconnect with her close social circle.

49. App
overview

50. “What’s Up?“ APP
- Creates a local mesh for people to connect with others around them
- Allows self-report
- Encourages reaching out to strangers during disaster

51. Evaluation
Positive feedback:
People understand the purpose of the app and can successfully report their status;
Icons were simple to understand in the status report section ( power, water, internet and
cell reception).
Conducted usability test with 2 participants

52. Evaluation
Future improvements:
Participants were not sure if the mesh overview depicted directionality. The design was intentionally created to be
different than a navigation map. We wanted to focus on the number of people around them and relative distance
from them, without exposing the actual location of individuals. This indicates that further iteration is required to refine
the mesh overview.
Limitations
We acknowledge that the test was not in-situ, and the participants were not in a situation where they required to
contact strangers to gain access to electricity, water, internet or cell reception. As such, it is difficult to measure how
successful this application would be during a disaster.
It is possible that people may not remember that the application is installed in their devices and not use it at all during
a disaster situation.

53. Roles
Wenyang Dong
- Primary research
- Usability testing
- Sketching, ideation
- Storyboarding
Angélica Rosenzweig
- Primary research
- Sketching, ideation
- Wireframe

54. Thank you
Special thanks
William Yang
Vasudha Chandrasekaran
Sam Gazitt
Marty Siegel
Chung-Ching Huang
HCID 2014 cohort
Interactive Prototype:
https://projects.invisionapp.com/share/G8JQORQD#/screens

55. Research appendix
Phone Interviews (3 people)
Questions:
Where were you when the hurricane hit?
Who were you with? Were you by yourself?
Who did you contact first?
Did you have access to water, food and other essentials?
What was the role of communication during that time?
Link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1biKxBvHfYaM0IvIrO93qeGNwNu9eASMv8zCVHDsVsWQ/viewform

56. Research appendix
Survey (8 respondents)
Question:
Where were you when the hurricane hit?
Which of the following housing decisions did you make before and after the hurricane hit?
Which of the following WAS essentials during the 24-48 hours after the hurricane hit?
Which of the following did you MISS the most during the 24-48 hours after the hurricane hit?
Please provide an example of a big decision that you made during this time.
Which of the following factors contributed to your decisions during and after the hurricane?
Link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1biKxBvHfYaM0IvIrO93qeGNwNu9eASMv8zCVHDsVsWQ/viewform

57. Exemplars
Help Bridge
http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoftupblog/archive/
2013/01/16/new-mobile-app-helps-you-get-help-andgive-help-during-a-disaster.aspx
Scanner Radio Deluxe
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scanner-radio-deluxe/
id498405045?mt=8
Life 360
http://www.life360.com/tour/

58. Literature review / Tech
Using this kind of service how large an area can be covered?
This type of service can scale quite well, and Commotion is
designed to operate effectively with minimal setup or technical
knowledge required. In most modern urban areas, a significant
portion of the population is likely to own a mobile phone or WiFi device capable of extending the network. However, sufficiently
large networks do require care and planning for smooth
operation. A mesh network’s scalability varies greatly depending
on the hardware used, the design of the network, and the
network’s physical environment. Though they do not use
Commotion software, two examples of large scale mesh
networks are the Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network
(AWMN) with over 1100 backbone nodes and over 2400 client
computers and Spain’s Guifi.net, which has over 19,000 nodes.
https://commotionwireless.net/download

59. Literature review / Tech
Limitations of mesh networks
How many users can use a single node?
This will depend on the capacity of each different
device, both in terms of simultaneous wireless
connections and total bandwidth consumed by each
user
http://www.fastcolabs.com/3020680/how-to-build-alow-cost-wifi-mesh-network-for-emergencycommunication

60. Literature review / Hurricanes
1. What Sandy Has Taught Us About Technology, Relief and Resilience
http://www.forbes.com/sites/deannazandt/2012/11/10/what-sandy-has-taught-us-abouttechnology-relief-and-resilience/
2. A Vision for Technology-Mediated Support for Public Participation & Assistance in Mass
Emergencies & Disasters. Palen et al

61. Literature review / Hurricanes
3. South Fidi & Battery Park Building Status
https://docs.google.com/a/umail.iu.edu/spreadsheet/ccc?
key=0AhcQj4VbdBzOdGFMZzdLUlVDQklsNTFETWE0UHp4WFE#gid=0
“Hyperlocal took on a new meaning in the Financial District, too–when the power grid came back
online, only about 1 in 10 buildings actually had power. Shaila Ittycheria, a resident in the area,
offered to start checking on residents, and a mini-movement via a simple Google Doc was born.”

62. Literature review / Hurricanes
4. Surviving disaster in a global technology age-Dr. David Wild