This document is an introduction of the design thinking and emergency management partnership shared originally with Field Innovation Team during the summer of 2014.

1. DESIGN
THINKING
& EM
This document is an
introduction of the
design thinking and
emergency
management
partnership.
June 2014
Prepared by:
Alicia D. Johnson
San Francisco DEM

2. ‹#›|
TableofContents
3 6
10
page page
page
DesignThinking ThePartnership
TheFuture
12
page
Resources

3. Design
Thinking
DesignThinking101
DesignThinking:Practical
Applications

4. ‹#›|
DesignThinking is…
Design thinking is a developing
approach to problem solving. It
draws directly upon the real-world
experiences of users (those directly
impacted) to address modern
challenges.
Design thinking investigates and
reframes problems, using the power
of testing, feedback and iteration of
real-world users to drive
implementable change.
“Design thinking is a human-centered
approach to innovation that draws from
the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs
of people, the possibilities of technology,
and the requirements for business success.”
—Tim Brown, president and CEO, IDEO
Iteration
Ideation
Observation
Observation of the challenge, going
deep for ideas to meet the identified
challenge and then prototyping,
testing and then adjusting the
prototype (this is iteration!) are the
basis of design thinking.

5. ‹#›|
Breaking itDown…
Observation
Observation is the earliest stage of
design thinking. It's the opportunity
to gather data and research on what
you think the problem might be.
While observing you might interview,
read, experience, use existing
solutions and gather data.
This is the time to determine if the
problem you want to solve, is really
the problem you need to solve.
Iteration
Iteration is where the rubber meets
the road. You've gathered the
research about the challenge and
you've chosen the first possible
solution, so now it's time prototype
your idea.
Iteration is all about testing, re-
testing and adjusting the solution. It's
an opportunity to find the best fit for
the challenge.
Ideation
Ideation is where the creation begins.
Grab your team and start with some
huge ideas. Nothing is too large or
crazy for sticky notes and a sharpie.
You might need to visit this stage
more than once, but the process is
what helps you unite the research
with a probably solution to begin
testing through the next stage,
iteration.

6. The
Partnership
DesignThinking&
Government
DesignThinking&
EmergencyManagement

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You’ve heard the one about wisdom
coming from experience and experience
coming from mistakes...? Yes, well...call
that my early forays into design thinking.
Truth is, we do iterative problem solving
all day, every day. Our lives are in a
constant state of innovation and
adaptation.
So why do we (especially we in
government) resist the idea of intentional
iteration? Of thinking through a design or
process from multiple angles, prototyping
it, testing, evaluating it and finally
launching it? I don’t have the answers to
why, but whatever the reasons, I was once
very much resistant to the process,
without even acknowledging that I was
doing it all day, every day.
When I first joined the department they
had just adopted a new emergency
operations plan. It was a typical
thing....weighed about 12 pounds and
consumed most of a national forest to
print. Everyone was so proud of their
accomplishment. All the City department
heads readily signed off and put a shiny
new copy in the bookshelf to gather dust.
Problem was no one actually tested the
plan's assumptions, processes or
authorities during the writing. Guess what
happened? First time we went to follow it,
everybody had a fit. Arguments over who
was in charge, information control and
flow, procedures, all of it was wrong.
Rewriting the emergency operations plan
became my first real design thinking
project. Of course, I didn’t call it design
thinking, having never heard that term
before. We started with research & talking
to users. We looked at best practices and
tested theories as we went.
The mission I gave my team was to make it
real (as in reflecting how things actually
worked) and usable. The relevance and
ease of access to the end user was
paramount. It took us two years to develop
the first iteration. And it is still evolving. We
planned for the time and effort and the
result has been a pretty good plan. Every
time we use it we learn and we make
changes. Sometimes small, sometimes
large. The point is we became a learning
organization.
Instead of developing solutions in search of
problems, government is best served by
adopting the principals of design thinking.
We’re doing our best here to drive that
idea home. It’s slow going sometimes, but
it’s led to hiring people with a variety of
skill sets and openly creative minds. It’s led
to challenging the norm and amazing
products like SF72. Now I look at things
from the other side and look forward to
the mistakes and the testing. It’s way
different when you call it iteration instead
of “oh damn, that wasn’t supposed to
happen.”
Rob Dudgeon
Deputy Director
Emergency Management
City of San Francisco

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Whatabout
Emergency
Management?
Design Thinking is one more tool for solving
problems
Emergency management is all about coordinating capabilities, aiding in
response and building a strong mechanism for recovery. We work diligently to
anticipate and solve. Design thinking is one more tool to help us learn more
about the people we serve.
Design thinking is qualitative and can often seem messy. It doesn't offer any
guarantees, but it does provide direct connection with users, clients and
customers we serve.
Prototyping helps us protect the communities we
love
Preparedness education is vital to creating a resilient community. But in order
for the preparedness message to sink in, it must be targeted and palatable.
The design thinking methodology does just that, by allowing direct feedback
and prototyping a solution. Helping us to find the best messages and tools to
protect the communities we love.
How does it help
preparedness?

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MeetSF72
We believe in connection, not catastrophe
Here’s the thing – actual emergencies look more like people coming together
than cities falling apart.
Of course, preparedness is about getting your supplies together. But it’s also
about knowing your neighbors, lending a hand and sharing your knowledge.
SF72 is positive community preparedness, focused on making the next steps
to getting prepared easy – 18 supplies, most of which you have around the
house, a one-page plan and a meeting place you already want to visit.
Because small actions can have lots of impact.
SF72 was designed from the start using the design thinking methodology,
tested (repeatedly) with users throughout the Bay Area from concept to
prototype. The goal was to design something that motivates without using
fear. Our user research shows that the concept, website, presentations and
collateral are doing just that.

10. The Future

11. ‹#›|
Thepossibilities
Training & Exercise Development
The design thinking process is valuable in
any customer-centric process. It provides
an avenue to investigate how individuals
learn, what they need to know and how
they might retain essential information.
Developing capabilities to tailor necessary
materials to student needs is vital for
successful exercise and eventual response.
That ability to empower instructors and
students to be progressive in their own
training further enables the emergency
management field.
Operations & Response
Our job as Emergency Managers is to
anticipate second and third order
impacts from a decision made in the
field.
An evacuation necessitates a shelter
which leads to providing food, assisting
with companion and service animals
and addressing medical needs, among
other things.
The ability to incorporate user-driven
solutions to problems that arise from
operations and response decisions is
vital to a successful response.
Long-Term Recovery
Long-term recovery is vital to a community
impacted by an event and often requires
strong community participation and
support.
Understanding the heart of the challenge
is essential to building a successful
solution, especially when many concerns
are involved.
The ability to prototype and examine
solutions fully is vital to strong economic
recovery.

12. Resources

13. ‹#›|
Resources Articles
Human Centered Design Toolkit
http://www.ideo.com/work/human-
centered-design-toolkit/
Stanford D.School Bootcamp Bootleg
http://dschool.stanford.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2013/10/METHODC
ARDS-v3-slim.pdf
Books
Change by Design by Tim Brown
Creative Confidence by Tom and
David Kelly
Design Thinking by Nigel Cross
The Design of Business: Why Design
Thinking is the Next Competitive
Advantage by Rodger Martin
Courses
Design Thinking at InVersity
https://iversity.org/courses/desig
n-thinking
Virtual Crash Course in Design
Thinking - Stanford University
http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift
/

14. ‹#›|
WantMore
Information?
Alicia D. Johnson
Resilience & Recovery Manager
SFDEM
Alicia. Johnson@sfgov.org
@SF72Org | SF72 on Facebook