Abstract:
The damage of floods is very huge and the people have very little time to prepare and act. We developed FloodGuard, a mobile application that would be a safety tool to communities during, before, and after a flood to address this significant issue. The application has a full set of tools: real-time alerts, interactive flood maps, guidance to shelters, SOS emergency assistance, road blockages, even offline support (where the network connection is inadequate). In contrast to a standard weather application, FloodGuard uses official, reliable state data, incorporates reports by the community, and as a consequence, the information is precise, highly local, and indeed, an actionable one. The level of risk is immediately indicated by a basic color-coded system and easy instructions on how to remain safe during the flood are presented in clear cut steps that a user can follow each stage of the flood. FloodGuard has been designed with the purpose of being userfriendly and non-technical, with high usability among low-technical, low literacy, or low internet access individuals. It was all developed in a human-centered approach to UX design and included the user research process, prototyping, and testing on different groups. This design orientation assisted us in developing a user friendly interface that facilitates fast and assured decision making even during the stressful moments
