Design Thinking in Disaster Management: A Case Study on CaredJP
Design thinking has been considered to be “the holy grail of innovation” and also the cure of stagnation. It has been credited for multiple incredible achievements, such as transforming Airbnb from a failing startup into a billion-dollar business. As popular it has been getting in the last few decades, it still is a mystery to some people. Design Thinking, which was popularized in the 90s by David M. Kelley and Tim Brown, the founders of IDEO Design Company, can be understood as a designing methodology used to solve problems in order to fulfill human-centered/user need based needs. By using design thinking, we can oversee and answer the relevant issues faced by the targeted users. Using design thinking also encourages us to run iterations so that our design and features fits the users needs. And at the end of the day, our aim with design thinking is to obtain a product which answers the problems of the consumers.
The design thinking process is divided into several stages, namely empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and testing. These stages are not linear and each stage can be done multiple times. It is made for multiple iterations to continuously improve our product.
Empathize
The “empathize” stage allows us to understand and identify the problems needed to be tackled through multiple empathy methods that we can conduct. It is important for us to empathize to get to know the relevant issues faced by the target users
Define
The “define” stage is where we analyze and synthesize the core problem and create a problem statement from it. A problem statement consists of a brief description of problems needed to be addressed or the possible improvement. It is about what the problem is, why it is a problem in the first place, who faces the problem, and how we might tackle the problem.
Ideate
Ideation is where we generate, develop, and communicate as many ideas as we can and evaluate whether those ideas are relevant to solving the core problem or not. In this stage, it is best for us to gather various inspirations from various sources, even the ones we don’t expect.
Prototype
The next thing to do is prototyping. Prototyping means creating a model which represents our ideas in a physical form. The prototyping stage encourages us to test, evaluate, and improve our product on both the physical and feature side of things.
Test
Last stage, but not least, is the testing stage, where the product is tested by the users and internals, hoping to gather as much feedback as possible and perform continuous improvement by reiterating. Testing gives us a better understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, and future improvements on the product.
On the 11th of March of 2011, Japan experienced one of the most devastating natural disaster events of its history when an earthquake — with a magnitude of 9 on the Richter scale — occurred in the northeast of Tokyo. This earthquake was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan. And it was only the beginning as it then triggered a powerful tsunami, 10 meters high with the speed of 800 km/hour, which hit the coast of Miyagi Prefecture an hour after the initial shock. This devastating run of events took the lives of more than 18,000 lives and left thousands of people injured. Another earthquake, with 6.2 magnitude on the Richter scale, took place on the very next day, affecting multiple places. The earthquake shocks resulted in a nuclear accident; the nuclear power plants of Fukushima Daiichi had leaked, causing a need of evacuation for residents within a 20 km radius from the site.
The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, much like most natural disasters, had devastating impacts to the people affected and especially victims. The run of events pushed a need for solutions for problems revolved on those events. One of the problems arised from this was the need of disaster management from the side of the victims. Professor Stefano Toshiya Tsukamoto, an expert of disaster management from Osaka University, saw an opportunity to create a solution to the particular problem. Professor Stefano Toshiya Tsukamoto analyzed multiple issues regarding the problem where the issues he succeeded to identify were:
- numerous post-disaster handling complaints,
- the lack of information of whereabouts and conditions of post-disaster victims
- inaccurate and slow-updating data for post-disaster management,
- different information system capabilities for each countries resulting in slow and false disaster management,
- none/low big data collecting for future disaster anticipation references.
From the issues that Professor Tsukamoto succeeded to gather, he then defined that a technology-based device to identify the locations and conditions of victims of a disaster was needed in order to tackle the problems faced. Through the process of ideation, Professor Tsukamoto initiated the CaredJP project. CaredJP itself was a Cloud Server-based application developed to respond to the need of information and disaster management fast and accurately with the help of Information and Communication Technology. Features that were initially coined by Professor Tsukamoto for the app included safety confirmation, disaster report, safety guidance, news and update, as well as a panic button.
The idea then was transformed into a physical form which serves the purpose of evaluating the app’s physical looks and also features. The prototype was complete with the features of the app previously mentioned while maintaining an attractive and useful user interface. The application also then added a multi language feature for easier usage. The prototype was then tested for its functionality to understand the app’s strengths, weaknesses, and further improvements. CaredJP app was tested and cooperated by GamaTechno company and also by The National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure of Indonesia. In evaluation, this version of the CaredJP app had the following strengths, weaknesses, and further improvements:
Strengths :
- It provides real-time update on the situation
- Its wide coverage
- It implements Big Data for disaster information using cloud for future disaster management references
- The information provided is accurate
Weaknesses :
- Connection-based might be an issue for an unlikely situation (power outage during disaster, internet connection loss, etc.)
- Users may lack technology literacy
- Phone device hardware requirement may not be met by users
Room for improvements :
- Feature developments based on user feedbacks
- Website-based developments
- Insurance integrated development
As of now, CaredJP is available to download in the Play Store and also App Store and are always trying to find a room for improvement. From the study case of CaredJP, we can learn that design thinking can be very useful to tackle a wide range of problems based on the needs of the market. CaredJP proved that even a major issue such as disaster management can be resolved through the process of design thinking.
References :
Alscher, Daniella. “Design Thinking vs. Visual Thinking: What Are They And How Do They Work Together?” Visual Learning Center by Visme, 31 Mar. 2020, visme.co/blog/design-thinking/.
Early, Chas. “March 11, 2011: Japan Rocked by Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Disaster.” BT.com, 8 Mar. 2019, home.bt.com/news/on-this-day/march-11–2011-japan-rocked-by-earthquake-tsunami-and-nuclear-disaster-11363967347786.
Rafferty, John P., and Kenneth Pletcher. “Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 Mar. 2020, www.britannica.com/event/Japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-of-2011.
Stevens, Emily. “The Design Thinking Process: What It Is, How to Use It, and What’s Next.” Invisionapp, Inc., 30 Jan. 2020, www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/what-is-design-thinking/.
