Looking back at plan AHEAD™: exercising user- centered design in emergency management

ABSTRACT

Plan AHEAD™- All Hazard Exercise Development and Administration is a usability test development tool designed for emergency management agencies focused on disaster preparedness. Several user- centered design principles employed to develop Plan AHEAD are discussed including ethnographic research, rapid prototyping and iterative design. Specific design decisions that rely on these approaches are highlighted. Alternative design approaches that failed to meet user requirements are included. Plan AHEAD™ incorporated design elements that were novel to the Emergency Exercise Development domain. In part because of the intensive user- centered design approaches, Plan AHEAD continues to be used by emergency managers worldwide; even with the approaches described, the application can benefit from several usability improvements.

REFERENCES

• 1: Federal Emergency Management Agency Exercise Design Course - Student Workbook SM 170.1. Washington, DC: Jan, 1989.
• 2: Federal Emergency Management Agency Exercise Design Course - Guide to Emergency Management Exercises SM 170.2. Washington, DC: Jan, 1989.
• 3: Federal Emergency Management Agency Exercise Design Course - Exercise Scenarios SM 170.3. Washington, DC: Jan, 1989.
• 4: U. S. Department of Transportation, U. S. Coast Guard National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (NPREP) 8/ 94. http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/nmc/response/msprep. pdf.
• 5: U. S. Coast Guard CGULLS Power Point Presentation. http://www.uscg.mil/hq/commandcenter/ppt/1.
• 6: Jakob Nielsen, Usability Engineering, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Francisco, CA, 1993
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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.1 Requirements/Specifications
          Subjects: Elicitation methods (e.g., rapid prototyping, interviews, JAD)

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques
          Subjects: User interfaces; Evolutionary prototyping

  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: User-centered design; Prototyping; Graphical user interfaces (GUI); Evaluation/methodology; Screen design (e.g., text, graphics, color)

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors

Keywords:
business strategy, concept design, design, ethnography/ethnographic studies, experience design, human-centered design, information architecture, interaction design, marketing/market research, process improvement, product design, usability research, user experience, user interface, user research