Client / Org
SF Department of Emergency Management
Role
Design Research, Digital Prototyping
Industry
Disaster Response, Emergency Preparedness
Highlights
Systems design, design for behavior change, guerrilla research
Airbnb Emergency
It was October 2012, and megastorm and post-tropical cyclone Hurricane Sandy had just unleashed massive upheaval, destruction, and devastation upon the Northeast United States. Across the nation, emergency management communities sprang into action to offer disaster relief in the form of skilled emergency personnel, medical aid, and other resources.
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From California, the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (SFDEM) deployed a robust task force of emergency experts to the East Coast. Those leaders who remained in the SFDEM office grappled with a question: were the people of San Francisco prepared for a natural disaster of such enormity?
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Three designers and I teamed up on this behavior change project for SFDEM to research community engagement in evacuation procedures.
The Challenge
How can we create a culture of emergency preparedness in San Francisco?
Guerrilla Research
We took to the streets to talk to San Franciscans. Outside the Ferry Building, we spoke to longtime artists, vendors, and street fair patrons. What would they do in a state of emergency? If they suddenly needed a safe place, where would they go?
Assumption-Storming
Following our conversations on the street, we came back as a team to synthesize preliminary findings. We found our initial questions had contained quite a few early expectations.
We had assumed:
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That people were already thinking about what to do in a disaster
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That people already knew they needed an evacuation plan in the first place
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That San Franciscans would voluntarily give up their free time to prepare for the possibility of a disaster
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That people would carve out time in their schedules to attend optional safety trainings
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That locals would know what the evacuation plan was for their neighborhood
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That people would follow an “official plan” for an emergency over their friend or neighbor’s plan of action
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That the best emergency planning required extensive education and widespread announcement to the public beforehand
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My team and I understood that for many San Franciscans, where to go during a major emergency was not a daily concern on people’s minds. At the same time, we knew that preparation was crucial if the city were confronted with a crisis. A strong solution would require very minimal preparation from users if we wanted to maximize adoption among San Franciscans.
Solution Space
We discussed possible partnerships with the Red Cross, USGS, and the City of San Francisco and how we might help SFDEM develop standalone mobile applications with these organizations to connect people to official evacuation locations. Ultimately, we recommended a partnership with Airbnb. Their hospitality offering was already tied to existing widespread engagement, and hosts could register far ahead of time if they were open to helping people in need during a crisis. We developed a prototype for Airbnb Emergency, a feature tool for the Airbnb mobile application.
Airbnb Emergency Guest Sequence
Airbnb Emergency Host Sequence
User Feedback
We returned to the Ferry Building and spoke to the same street vendors for feedback on the digital prototype.
Outcomes
Upon sharing final findings and prototypes, we received enthusiastic reactions from SFDEM as well as from several IDEO mentors who had offered advice on the project. After a series of conversations between SFDEM and Airbnb, Airbnb launched its emergency housing tool in June 2013. In 2014, SFDEM and Airbnb leaders announced an official set of emergency preparedness initiatives while at the White House during the Innovation for Disaster Response and Recovery Initiative Demo Day.
"I drive to work, but if I can't drive back, I have nowhere to go."
"You really don't know what is a safe place to go to. What are your choices for that? And you've got them right here."
"Help isn't always around, or you don't know where to get it."
"It's useful information for people like us on the street to have...to know homes that we can go to in case of emergency"
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Original mocks by teammate A. Peabody