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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The "McMuffin" of Emergency Preparedness Apps

Just when you thought there were enough apps in your mobile App Store, the Arizona Division of Emergency Management (ADEM) has begun development on a public preparedness application all its own. There isn’t too much to say about the app just yet; the project is in its infancy. But like the Emergency Kit Cook-off held last National Preparedness Month, we want to include you in the design of what we hope will be the "McMuffin" of emergency preparedness apps.

We’re taking a user-centered approach to the design of our app. To ensure ADEM designs a user experience that exceeds user expectations we need to involve the user throughout the process, beginning with a few questions. Makes sense, don't it?

Your involvement begins with answering a few questions.

Would you download a free ADEM emergency preparedness app?

What functionality and/or content do you expect in an emergency preparedness app?

If you downloaded the ADEM app, what would make you want to delete it from you smartphone?

What functionality and/or content would you want an emergency preparedness app to include?

We’ve sketched preliminary wireframes of what an ADEM emergency preparedness app might look like. Some of the features we thought would sustain user interest in the app include a 72-hour kit checklist, location-based alerts, and a few other functions to give the app some added value.

We’ll posts to the Arizona Emergency Information Network (AzEIN) blog from time to time with development updates. Whether it be workflows, wireframes or content taxonomies, we’ll make a point to share it all in the hopes of hearing constructive feedback from our Facebook fans, Twitter followers (#ADEMapp) and Blogspot subscribers. And when it comes to field testing the app … we’re thinking of ways to involve you in that process too. Stay tuned.

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