Home
Run Simulations,
Test Lockdowns,
Log Home Inventory
Forecast
Fire Predictions,
Track Fires,
Learn Fires Nearby
Community
Compete with counties,
Connect with people,
See Events
Settings
Adjust Privacy Levels,
Connect Devices,
Edit Settings
Value Proposition
Providing valuable, actionable insights to homeowners no matter the experience level with fires or home maintenance. Creating a scaleable community platform that ensures a level of communal accountability and awareness. Allowing everyone access to a fire inspection, pointing out specific vulnerabilities with suggestions to mitigate them.
The Research
Understanding the problem area
Although Natural Disasters get a lot of attention, there is a lack of modern technology used in these sectors . The absence of technology leaves room for quite a bit of uncertainty and error which is why we thought it might be a little interesting to look into these misfortunes though the lens of digital twin technology.
Vision Film
Creation of a product that fosters the idea of a fire-adaptive community and eliminates the risk of forest fires.
fireShield Vision Film by: Austin Lavalley (Editor), Mahesh Chavan, Nilima Chavan, Nikhil Chavan (Actor), Aparna Somvanshi (Videographer), Varun Khatri (Script), Amanda Kong (Graphics), and Jackson Corbett.
Secondary Research
Scholarly Articles,
Governmental Websites,
Academic Papers.
SME Interviews
7 Interviewees
Wildfire Organizations
ZoneHaven (Competitor)
Surveys
18 Responses
Affected by widfires
Living in prone areas
User Interviews
3 Interviewees,
Affected by wildfires
Living in prone areas
The Research Process
Key Findings
Prevention Preparedness Response Recovery
We were previously focused upon the Prevention and Response aspects of wildfire. However, through research we found that Response gets majority of the attention. While Recovery is more important, we are more interested in Prevention and Preparedness.
Although this increase is easily attributed to climate change, there is definately a correlation we ignore the other factors such as the ones that are anthropogenic in nature.
The amount of land affected by wildfires per year has seen an overall increase in the last two decades.
Reference: https://www.iii.org/graph-archive/96433
Anthropogenic
\ ˌan(t)-thrə-pə-ˈje-nik \
of, relating to, or resulting from the influence of human beings on nature
More than 70,000 communities and 44 mil homes are at risk from wildfire in the wildland urban interface (WUI)- where vegetative fuels & the built environment meet.”
Although fire is not all that bad. We have been conditioned to associate negative emotions with fire. However, they are innate and necessary part of nature.
In fact, the indigenous population of North America lived in harmony with wildfires and were able to very effectively use techniques such as prescribed burns.
Nearly 9 out of 10 wildfires, nationwide, are caused by humans and could have been prevented.
What does a fire-adapted community look like?
Hardened Homes
Using Fire Resistant materials for your house.
The roof is the most vulnerable part of your house.
Defensible Spaces around Structure
The buffer between your house and a Forest Fire.
Three different zones that cover 0 - 100 ft.
Embers as a Primary Cause
Houses primarily catch fire as a result of Embers and not due to direct contact with flames.
The Bitter Truth
Forest Fires can’t burn down your house even in a prone area if the correct actions are taken.
Measures that are being taken
There are programs in place like Firewise that aim at creating fire-adapted communities. However, while they are locally successful, they are not widely successful.
The Iteration Process
Defining the problem and affinitizing our data points
PRIMARY HMW
How Might We?
create fire-adaptive communities as people continue to move into wildfire prone areas?
SECONDARY HMW
How Might We?
encourage people to act early?
SECONDARY HMW
How Might We?
help lower structure ignition potential?
Target Audience
Aged 30-50
Home and Property owners
Financially Strong (initially)
Live in fire-prone areas such as California
Personas and Journey Maps
fireShield is an integrated smart home system that uses sensors to visually map one’s defensible space allowing the user to see wildfire vulnerabilities in their property.
Educational
Amount of information given to educate users on situations or what could happen.
Preparedness
Number of insights that lead into preventative measures.
Personalization
Level of personalized insights & information given specific to user’s situation & environment.
Communal
Level of importance put on a community or creating a network.
Competitor Analysis
fireShield is an integrated smart home system that uses sensors to visually map one’s defensible space allowing the user to see wildfire vulnerabilities in their property.
Determining the Opportunity Area
fireShield is an integrated smart home system that uses sensors to visually map one’s defensible space allowing the user to see wildfire vulnerabilities in their property.
fireShield Concept Sketch
A integrated smart home system that enables the house’s defensible to be visually mapped and simulated on to create a home that is ready (atleast in theory) for shelter-in-place.
3D scan of structure and surrounding defensible spaces, updates daily.
Visualization of property before and after taking preventative measures.
Connection with Third Party Smart Home Devices
Community network that incentivizes collaboration and competition
Card Sorting
We conducted a Closed Card Sorting with 21 participants on Figma to create a seamless structure for the application.
Insights
Some of our labelling vocabulary is too confusing for the average person.
Our groups can be nested within each other because they have a good amount of overlap.
There is confusion in the difference between lockdown, simulation and forecast at times.
Information Architecture
In order to create a seamless structure for the application we heavily looked into the system that allows users to understand where they are — and where the information they want is — in relation to their current position with several iterations based on the results. We started by creating the SiteMap and the Task Analysis.
Expert Evaluation
2 Experts tested in Round 1
Same Task Test, a more general walkthrough
Quasi-Empirical Evaluation
Conducted in 2 rounds
6 Tasks Tested using Maze
USE Questionnaire
Gather quantitative understanding of app Completed after other evaluations
Subject Matter Experts
Interviews and User Testing Experts
Our experts have worked for and have connections with a lot of organisations. Here are two primary contacts, the rest of the 8 experts prefer to remain anonymous
Home
Lo-fi Prototype
Mid-fi Prototype
Hi-fi Prototype
Lo-fi Prototype
Mid-fi Prototype
Hi-fi Prototype
Forecast
USE Results Comparison
After Evaluating two rounds based on the tasks: basic login, running a simulation, running a test lockdown, adding a item to the home inventory, browsing and filtering community members, checking community leaderboard and contacting community members, and checking the fire forecast.
Team
Varun Khatri 🔗
Amanda Kong 🔗
Austin Lavalley 🔗
Jackson Corbett
Links 🔗
Processbook
Application Prototype
Product Renders
Vision Video
See Full Process
Click to view design process
Community
Lo-fi Prototype
Mid-fi Prototype
Hi-fi Prototype
Lo-fi Prototype
Mid-fi Prototype
Hi-fi Prototype
Settings
fireShield Application Prototype
Click on link to view on Figma
Understanding the Relevance of the Problem
Fire Fact
Fire does not discriminate; even Miley Cyrus lost her house in the Woosely Fire.
Technology
Uses a series of invisible lasers to measure the distance between the sensor and an object, structure, or landscape. This data is then combined into a 3D map in terms of x, y and z coordinates.
Velabit LiDAR Sensor
Range of 100m using Class 1903 nanometer lasers. Integrated data processing built into sensor. 2.4” x 2.4” aspects enable it to be implemented anywhere.
Objective
Creation of a service, product or a mobile application that involves the use of the digital twin technology.
Goal
Creation of a product that fosters the idea of a fire-adaptive community and eliminates the risk of forest fires.
Vision Film
Creation of a product that fosters the idea of a fire-adaptive community and eliminates the risk of forest fires.
fireShield Vision Film by: Austin Lavalley (Editor), Mahesh Chavan, Nilima Chavan, Nikhil Chavan (Actor), Aparna Somvanshi (Videographer), Varun Khatri (Script), Amanda Kong (Graphics), and Jackson Corbett.
Ideation and Conceptualization
We came up with multiple ideas in our idea pool. From our idea pool we soldified upon the two ideas: FireLock and FireCommune.
FireLock
Smart home integrated system of sensors that replicates the Ready. Set. Go! process of keeping your home safe from wildfires.
FireCommune
A digital representation of communities where users can learn about the efforts being done by their community while mapping out how safe their neighborhood is.
The Solution
We chose to focus on the first concept but with additional features from the second. Introducing our final concept, fireShield.
My Role
I was the UX Research Lead as well as the Interface Design Lead. I spearheaded the user testing as well and contributed to other aspects as well
Deliverables 🔗
Processbook
Application Prototype
Product Renders
Vision Video
Team
Varun Khatri 🔗
Amanda Kong 🔗
Austin Lavalley 🔗
Jackson Corbett
Tools
Figma
Rhinoceros, Keyshot
After Effects
Maze
Showcase
Overview
fireShield is an integrated smart home system that uses sensors to visually map one’s defensible space allowing the user to see wildfire vulnerabilities in their property.
Time Frame
Spring 2020
10 Weeks
Actionable Insights
Experts: A valuable resource and bridge to user's mental model.
Universality
Insclusive design that accommodates color blind users.
MVP
Priotising features + strategizing core focus to implement in "real world".
Business Mindset
Unaffordable for all users. Keeping in mind cost-cuts;
start expensive, scale down.
My Takeaways
FireShield was my first all-online project. This project was created during the first few months of the pandemic with a lot of unknowns making the experience very distinctive. Collaborating asynchronously with a team across two different time zones was a learning curve. As a result this project helped me look at research, communication and the design process from a different lens.