Incident Command Center Concept
The Approach
Since my team and I were seasoned users of KanBan software online, as well as community building platforms - we decided to take the best of both worlds, while including all the relevant detail from a bird’s-eye-view. This would enable commanders and managers to assign resources on the fly in the even of a city wide catastrophe.
The Opportunity
I was asked by LADBS to render a contemporary ICS system that was based on a “KanBan-style-board” as a way of working. The goals were to articulate and break down all of the issues into individual cards that leaders could ‘dig down into’ for detail, while having a global view from the top.
Disclaimer: The above design is purely for ideation and beginning of contextual inquiry and is meant to be a guide for the future.
Lessons Learned
The key of a project like this is truly trouble ticketing (tracking issues as they move along a path towards a resolved solution) as well as resource management — all “on the fly”. In the event of a catastrophe, City Leaders and Managers must be able to assign key team members to all parts of the City of Los Angeles ‘on-demand’, so nailing all of the interactions could be the difference between life and death in the event of an emergency. This is a case where seasoned UX talent should be considered to be a requirement for success.
The Design Process
Since this was a conceptual piece created purely to gather feedback from other groups and divisions, only a few meetings were needed to gather the requirements to create this design. We also did some competitive analysis and research, seeing what previous systems looked like (with and without software).
Final Thoughts
A system such as the one above, coupled with a powerful communications platform (which would probably be based on a mobile network) would allow the City to assign its best players into key positions during large emergency events such as fires or earthquakes, or even pandemic breakouts. It would be my pleasure to continue this work, given the chance.