Chloe - Recognisable Logos and Website layouts

Chloe- Logos and Informative Website Layouts

• I began to research other emergency warning app logos some could be able to create our own recognisable app logo. 

     

•  I noticed most apps either had an emergency symbol in them or were quite colourful and I thought this would be helpful for when we are designing our own so that it can be easily seen from the screen.
• I then looked at some recognisable websites that are well known to get an idea of their layout and to see what would be the best way for us to lay our our app.

• I thought the Red Cross website was very informative and included a section on the current Covid-19 pandemic and offered updated news each day and also had a lot of information in other areas such as the national news and support pages.   https://www.redcross.ie

• I found the HSE website to be extremely full of information but this was quite overwhelming and was not very straightforward. https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/5/publichealth/publichealthdepts/protecthealth/emerprep.html
• It gave me some extremely useful information and the coronavirus which can be used in SIREN and some additional information on many other illnesses.

Each of the websites I researched had accurate information and informed the reader of exactly what they needed to know and this was very helpful as I realised that all our information must be from accurate sources and also straight to the pint and easy to understand.

Muireann-understanding Emergencies, Warnings and Risks

Emergency

noun
A serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.

An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or environment. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation

if we were to take Covid-19 as an example of how would this project help people in an emergency situation by intervening in some cases. By warning the person about the risks.

Warning

noun

something that makes you understand there is possible dangers or problems, especially one in the future.

we need to make suitable warnings for each member who looks at the app or website by taking into account their location and how it can affect what type of warning is issued each country should be abiding by what is being said by their own government is issuing or what local councils are saying and not what other countries are facing or being able to filter through the fake news.

Risk

noun

the possibility of something bad happening.

Risk is the potential for uncontrolled loss of something of value. Values (such as physical health, social status, emotional well-being, or financial wealth) can be gained or lost when taking risk resulting from a given action. To have people understand the risks and made aware it is much more likely that they will not take it if advised otherwise. It is about informing the person to make their own educated decision with all the facts and statistics given to them and understanding if they were to do anything it's at their own risk.

there are different levels of risks for different age categories so we have to make sure when designing it that we add location age gender and health issues to better understand a person's risk

It is vital when making a public warning system to understand what these words mean as you have to asses the types of emergencies, warnings and risks that are required for each case.

Chloe - Researching Wireless Emergency alerts and early earning systems

Researching early earning systems and Wireless Emergency alerts

I decided to research the early warning systems (EWS) in the HSE which are uses in small hospitals to support the recognition and response to a deteriorating patient.   The EWS focus on:

• Categorization of patients’ SEVERITY of illness
• EARLY detection of patient deterioration
• Use of a structured COMMUNICATION tool (ISBAR)
•  Promote an early medical review, prompted by specific TRIGGER points
•  Use a definitive ESCALATION plan

These are the four early warning systems that are currently being used in Ireland:

 Early warning systems are in most instances, timely surveillance systems that collect information on epidemic-prone diseases in order to trigger prompt public health interventions. However, these systems rarely apply statistical methods to detect changes in trends, or sentinel events that would require intervention. In most cases they rely on an in-depth review done by epidemiologists of the data coming in, which is rarely done in a systematic way. WHO is strengthening the existing surveillance systems for infectious diseases developing early warning systems based on the new concepts and techniques.


I think in our alert app we will need to include an early warning system for any future pandemics in order to inform the public of what to do 





Another thing I researched is Wireless Emergency Alerts. During an emergency, alert and warning officials need to provide the public with life-saving information quickly. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs), made available through the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) infrastructure, are just one of the ways public safety officials can quickly and effectively alert and warn the public about serious emergencies.

WEAs:

• WEAs can be sent by state and local public safety officials, the National Weather Service, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the President of the United States
• WEAs can be issued for three alert categories – imminent threat, AMBER, and presidential
• WEAs look like text messages, but are designed to get your attention and alert you with a unique sound and vibration, both repeated twice
• WEAs are no more than 90 characters, and will include the type and time of the alert, any action you should take, as well as the agency issuing the alert
• WEAs are not affected by network congestion and will not disrupt texts, calls, or data sessions that are in progress
• Mobile users are not charged for receiving WEAs and there is no need to subscribe
• To ensure your device is WEA-capable, check with your service provider

This can be very useful in our app as we can send out alerts to inform people of any dangers to their health in the area and keep them updated on the current global emergency of the COVID-19 outbreak.
I have found out that people received no easy warning of the pandemic and believe this type of system can help prevent and future outbreaks.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/03/23/wireless-emergency-alerts-coronavirus/

Emergency Alert Apps

ZOE

Since what we’re creating is an emergency alert app, I decided to look into other similar apps

and their interfaces/way of notifying people about emergencies.

Unfortunately, some apps were only available for the US or iPhones so I wasn’t able to get

them myself, but I did download a few of them so that I could take a better look at how they

operate.

Disaster Alert

Disaster Alert is a free app that provides individuals with the information they need

to stay safe anywhere in the world. It offers near real-time updates about 18 different types of active hazards as they are unfolding around the globe.

You can also customize early warning alerts, view situational analysis reports,

and access modeled hazard impacts for select hazards in a single, easy-to-use map interface.

The information is automatically derived from only scientifically verified sources.

When no official source is available, alerts are updated manually, presenting a small lag in time.

Global events include 

-hurricanes (tropical cyclones/typhoons)

-earthquakes

-tsunamis

-volcanos

-floods

-wildfires. 

Also included for the U.S. only are tornados and winter storms. 

All these are added automatically.

Other Major events include 

-marine hazards

-storms

-droughts and

-manmade incidents. 

Also included for Hawaii only are high surf advisories, high winds, and flash floods. 

These are added to the app manually.

The app’s notifications look like this:

The app also uses easy-to-understand icons for each emergency,

separating them in categories such as:

Winter Storm                                        Flood

Biomedical                                       Earthquake

Volcanic Eruption                           Wildfire

Carelife

Carelife is an offline personal safety and women safety app focused on ensuring

the safety of yours & your loved ones during emergencies with features like emergency

SOS activation, offline location tracking & verified disaster alerts.

I downloaded this app to look at its interface. Unfortunately, while a truly great

and useful app, especially for women, children and elderly people,

you have to purchase its Premium version in order to see the alerts.

The Premium version costs €6.49, but you can also get by inviting three friends or by requesting a free version if you’re under 18 or under the poverty line.

The Premium version includes

-verified alerts when a disaster occurs in your region

-location of your loved ones even when they’re not connected to the internet

-emergency alerts when your loved ones are in danger with basic information about their emergency and their location

-disaster and safety tips on how to stay safe during 24 different types of disasters at any time

-up to 30 verified contact numbers of disaster agencies to help you during a disaster

You can, however, report a hazard in the free version.

CodeRED Mobile Alert

This app is used across the United States and Canada. People use the CodeRED community

notification system to initiate emergency notifications.

The Mobile Alert app enables subscribers to receive said notifications

directly to their personal cell phone whether at home, on the road or traveling around the country.

I was able to download this app despite not being in the US. Its interface is simple

and not at all overwhelming and you can also choose which alert you’d like to be notified on.

Much like Disaster Alert, Code RED also uses icons to categorize each alert’s nature.

Mobile Alert

Mobile Alert is a free, easy-to-use smartphone application for reporting non-emergency issues

of public concern to subscribing local authorities. These concerns can include anything

from graffiti, broken signage, potholes, etc.

While this app isn’t what we’re looking for, its interface is very simple and easy-to-use

and the icons very clear and to the point, something we can use while designing our own app.

FEMA and Emergency - American Red Cross

were two apps that I wasn’t able to download as FEMA is only for iOS, and Emergency

is only available in the US. Both those apps send notifications out to their users on alerts

and information about what to do before, during and after a disaster. 

Emergency alerts users in real-time for:

-earthquakes

-tornadoes
-hurricanes

-flood

-tsunamis

-winter storms

-thunderstorms

-extreme heat

-wildfire and many more

It also has: 

-customizable alerting and push notification options

-preloaded preparedness and critical emergency content providing instant access

even without mobile connectivity

-a toolkit with a flashlight, strobe light and audible alarm

-a map with open Red Cross shelters and other weather-related layers and 

-step-by-step directions on how to make a family emergency plan.

FEMA allows users to 

-receive real-time and reliable alerts about disasters, severe weather, and other emergencies

for the places that matter to them

-locate open emergency shelters in their area

-know what to do before, during, and after disasters, including 

---wildfires

---hurricanes

---earthquakes

---tornadoes

---volcanoes and more

-share real-time alerts with loved ones via text, email, and social media

-find Disaster Recovery Centers nearby where they can talk to a FEMA representative in person

Muireann-Alternative methods to google maps is it the best option?

Since our project will be using the location of the user to make it more targeted specifically at the user's experience and only getting updated and warnings on things that affect them and the levels of risk.
the first one I found was called

Pocket Earth:

I downloaded the app myself to get a better feel for it. it is only an app on iso and not on android. We want it to be a one-stop-shop for all users across all platforms including android and Web. I tried using the app and found it quite confusing as a first time user which is not what we want in times of crisis it seems to be more tailored to visiting areas of interest as it is linked to things such as Wikipedia to give a greater understanding of an area which is an interesting concept and you are able to use it offline.

in our project, we could possibly link it to other reliable sources such as the HSE. It should also have the option of going offline.

I do like how there are customisable markers but if we were to add stuff like that to our own project it would probably be unnecessary as we don't want to over complicate it as it is for older users it might make it more confusing. I also don't like when u zoom out the farthest it can go that it gives u three world maps it just makes it confusing.

OsmAnd

This map is on ios and android but is not on the web once again. It is known for its great offline server even when you do not have a signal which could be useful for users all over the world it also has frequent updates. I again downloaded the app and found the startup very slow when looking for a suitable map to download for my region.i skipped the offline download and found when I zoomed passed a certain point there weren't any roads I don't know if that was it was loading for a very long time of that I needed to download the offline map for access

 

Citymapper

Is the first one I found that is on ios android and the web making it a better fit for our project. but is much more focused in its view only serving public transport showing pricings and alerts. when I downloaded it it seemed that it only did certain countries such as the UK and that we were out of range not making it suitable for a global scale

Maps.me

is on ios android and web traffic info public transport cycling navigation etc. allows u download maps for offline use. as soon as I downloaded it it went straight to my location and downloaded Munster. When it had finished I loved the layout it allowed me to click on local monuments and filling stations. It actually thought me the name of a nearby graveyard.

 

Bing maps

this is only a web one which is not what we are looking for as we want both mobile and web owned by Microsoft. when comparing to google maps its 3d element of os views are great.

Here WeGo

is on android ios and web and has all the regular map functions but has some extra things such as police reports cameras twitter feeds construction sites and other data to keep informed. This could be useful when trying to link other things into the mapping and location of a person and how things such as corona might affect them like possibly linking local radio stations or news broadcasters in the area and what they are saying and what info we can get from them. I downloaded it and found it to be very user friendly I really enjoyed the layout it definitely seemed worldwide and when I zoomed in it got loads of minor town in Ireland that you usually wouldn't see giving it a more local vibe it did take a few minutes to load but nothing in compared to the other ones I have used already. it also had an easy access menu and I was able to download Ireland for offline use.

BackCountry Navigator 

this is only on android but is one of the few that deals with a topography which can be great for hikers but also when there are natural disasters and how to might not be affected if u were high up on a mountain or maybe more at risk if you were. I was not able to access and see this one as it was only on android.

Waze

is on ios android and the web and is a community-driven map service which lets you warn other drivers in a change of traffic and is updated by the millions of Waze users it was so popular that Google bought it out. This could be used in our project in the case of local updated in a person area on the goings-on and effects of things such as corona and updating it by telling people local knowledge of what's happening and how it affects the area. the graphics when opened it were very nice you can definitely tell it is owned by google as when I realised it took the dark mode from my phone only big apps/developers team up with apple.it has a similar feel to google maps maybe a bit simpler. it doesn't let you zoom out further than the country you are in. I like the little red dots it has for construction areas we could do something similar with cases in the country.