Cedar Mock-ups (screen shots)
Here are some mock-ups/screen shots of the proposed disaster response website…
Philosophy:
Cedar is for the internet what 911 service is for telephones.
Cedar is about empowering people to receive and give help amidst a natural disaster.
Cedar must be easy to use
Slow/Disrupted Internet usability
The User always has control
Information is displayed to the User at a comprehensible and appropriate rate (not overwhelming)
Information is displayed to the User in an intuitive and organized way
This is the first thing you would see. The little numbers/letters are to help organize the design process; they wouldn’t be in the real thing:
If you typed something where it says “Search Disaster or Encyclopedia” you would be taken to one of three pages (further down).
This is a map and description of the front page (Cedar 1)
1 Front page
Content Map for 1:
(No content)
Link Map for 1:
1a Choose Language Scroll
1b Choose Font Size
1-x Query
1-4 Overview, Discussion, Development Page
1-5 Legal Stuff
Page and Content Purposes:
1 Front page
Purpose: To hospitably, calmly, and effectively invite people with varying internet literacy, connection speed, and composure to be empowered to receive and/or give help before, during, and after a natural disaster.
Link Purposes:
1a Choose Language Scroll
Purpose: To make Cedar available to non-English speakers.
1b Choose Font Size
Purpose: To make Cedar easier to use for folks with poor vision.
1-x Query
Purpose: A search engine that leads folks’ disaster related queries to one of three places:
1-1 Disaster Page
1-2 Encyclopedia Article
1-3 Unsure Query List (A little of close possibilities if the search engine is unsure about the User’s search.)
1-4 Overview, Discussion, Development Page
Purpose: To provide infrastructural support, research and development, community discussions, and general information about Cedar that is partitioned from the services of Cedar.
1-5 Legal Stuff
Purpose: To provide legal information regarding the services and liabilities of Cedar and the User.
If you type something that the search engine thinks should take you to a disaster page, this is what you would see:
Again, a map and description of 1-1 Disaster Page:
1-1 Disaster Page
Content Map for 1-1:
A. Top Bar
B. Disaster Title
C. Disaster Summary
D. Official News Update
E. Side Bar
Link Map for 1-1:
1-3 See other options here/Unsure Query List
1-1-1 More News
1-1-2 I need help
1-1-3 I want to help
1-1-4 I have news or feedback
1-1-5 I represent a disaster response or government agency
1-1-6 Google Person Finder
1-1a Suggested Encyclopedia Articles
1-1b Related News Articles
Page and Content Purposes:
1-1 Disaster Page
Purpose: To provide a concise summary of a particular disaster, to provide means of positively engaging with the disaster, and to be a portal to more information about the disaster.
A. Top Bar
Purpose: To be a consistent point of reference for the User.
B. Disaster Title
Purpose: To provide quick identification of the disaster for the User. Could have secondary titles as well.
C. Disaster Summary
Purpose: To confirm User’s identification of the disaster by providing a geographic, chronological, typical, and breadth summary of the event.
D. Official News Update
Purpose: To provide timely and useful official* news of the disaster. The assumption is that this will change rapidly. (*official may mean government responder agency news; or a composite of government news, news from the ground, and Cedar responder synthesis.)
E. Side Bar
Purpose: To foster real and positive engagement between the User and the disaster. English reads left to right, so User engagement (sidebar) should come after identification and education (title, news, and summaries).
Link Purposes:
1-3 “See other options here”/Unsure Query
Purpose: A list of close possibilities to the User’s search terms if the search engine does not understand the User’s query. Identical to 1-3 Unsure Query List.
1-1-1 More News
Purpose: To provide more news and information to the User than would be appropriate on 1-1 Disaster Page.
1-1-2 I need help
Purpose: A place where people can ask for help.
1-1-3 I want to help
Purpose: A place where people, individuals or folks connected to agencies can see what help, where, when, and for whom help is needed, regardless of the help givers’ location.
1-1-4 I have news or feedback
Purpose: A place where disaster agencies and individuals can report on the disaster and for Users to provide Disaster Page or Cedar feedback.
1-1-5 I represent a disaster response or government agency
Purpose: A means for agencies with particular skills to offer their services or get plugged into this disaster page.
1-1-6 Google Person Finder
Purpose: Google service to reconnect people who have been separated from their loved ones.
1-1a Suggested Encyclopedia Articles
Purpose: To give the User initial leads to helpful information and to encourage the User to explore the encyclopedia.
1-1b Related News Articles
Purpose: General media articles on the disaster event.
If the search engine thought that you had typed a encyclopedia article at the front page, you would see this:
1-2 Encyclopedia Article
Content Map:
A. Top Bar
B. Article Title
C. Article Summary
D. Full Article
E. Side Bar
Link Map:
1-3 See other options here/Unsure Query List
1-2a More Information
1-2-1 Discussion and Feedback
1-2-2 Edit this article
1-2b Related Encyclopedia Articles
1-2c Related Disasters
Page and Content Purposes:
1-2 Encyclopedia Article
Purpose: To provide a useful information on disaster related subjects and to foster gathering and sharing of that information.
A. Top Bar
Purpose: To be a consistent point of reference for the User.
B. Article Title
Purpose: To provide quick identification of the Article for the User. Could have secondary titles as well.
C. Article Summary
Purpose: To confirm User’s identification of the article, to give an overview of the following information, and to guide discussion, edits, and additions to the article.
D. Full Article
Purpose: To provide useful and best-practices information on disaster related subjects.
E. Side Bar
Purpose: To provide a next step for Users and to foster the gathering and sharing of useful information. English reads left to right, so User engagement (sidebar) should come after identification and education (title, article, and summary).
Link Purposes:
1-3 “See other options here”/Unsure Query
Purpose: A list of close possibilities to the User’s search terms if the search engine does not understand the User’s query. Identical to 1-3 Unsure Query List.
1-2a More Information
Purpose: To provide more information that directly relates to the article topic than is appropriate to display on the article page.
1-2-1 Discussion and feedback
Purpose: To enable the User to quickly comment or read comments on the usefulness or appropriateness of the article and to enable User to suggest related articles or disasters.
1-2-2 Edit this article
Purpose: To enable the User to edit and make additions to the article.
1-2b Related Encyclopedia Articles
Purpose: To direct the User to related articles that may interest them.
1-2c Related Disasters
Purpose: To direct the User to disasters that are related to the article topic.
If the search engine wasn’t sure what you meant when you typed something at the front page, you would see this:
1-3 Unsure Query List
Content Map:
A. Top Bar
B. “We weren’t sure what you meant…”
C. Possible disaster or encyclopedia matches
Link Map:
1-3a Possible disaster matches
1-3-1 See all disasters or add a disaster
1-3b Possible encyclopedia article matches
1-3-2 See all articles or start an article
Page and Content Purposes:
1-3 Unsure Query
Purpose: To enable the User to find what s/he is looking by providing a list of close possibilities to the User’s search terms if the search engine does not understand the User’s query and to enable the User to begin a new article or disaster page if one has not been created.
A. Top Bar
Purpose: To be a consistent point of reference for the User.
B. “We weren’t sure what you meant…”
Purpose: To let the User know that the search engine does not understand the User’s search terms and to show the User what s/he searched for in case the User mis-typed.
C. Possible disaster or encyclopedia matches
Purpose: To display possible matches for the search terms to the User. Disasters are shown first because they are more time sensitive. (Question: Should the disasters and articles be displayed chronologically, alphabetically, geographically, etc?)
Link Purposes:
1-3a Possible disaster matches
Purpose: To display links to and short summaries of disasters.
1-3-1 See all disasters or add a disaster
Purpose: To enable the User to browse or create a new disaster page if s/he still doesn’t find what s/he’s looking for.
1-3b Possible encyclopedia article matches
Purpose: To display links to and short summaries of articles
1-3-2 See all articles or start an article
Purpose: To enable the User to browse or create a new encyclopedia article if s/he still doesn’t find what s/he’s looking for.
Development #1
Illio Durandis recently posted a question about Cedar development and cost at Wired’s Haiti ReWired.
There’s more info on this under the Development section of this blog, but here’s the basic idea:
Development: Cedar will be an international open-source/open-development project. Because disasters affect a diverse range of people, it stands to reason that, as a tool for use by everyday folks, Cedar should be developed by a diverse range of people. Non-professional responders who happen to be on the scene have valuable things to say about how to improve responses. (Here’s an article by Stewart Brand, editor of the Whole Earth Catalogue, on his experience and the importance of volunteers during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco.) Professional responders, of course, are a primary resource as well.
Cost of development: I have no idea. I know little about web development and would welcome any insight. But, while development cost should be kept in mind, the more important questions at this point are: should this be done, and are you interested? (How would development be organized?)
Cost of maintenance: Again, no idea. But, Wikipedia costs ~$1.5 million a year to operate. It could be much higher or lower than that.
Who’s going to fund and maintain Cedar? Federal? Private? Corporate? As we get an idea of the scope of this project, and as folks become interested, we’ll figure it out.
Is Cedar worth the money and time? A really nice house costs $ 2 million. Mitigation is extremely cost effective. Every time there is a sufficiantly catastrophic disaster, people spend time and money developing the services that Cedar would offer. Let’s look ahead and create a really usable and useful resource instead of reacting piecemeal.
“Silver Bullet Approach”
Michael Keizer recently raised some concerns about silver bullet approaches to alleviating disasters. He wrote in response to a blog post on Cedar and other tech-driven projects in general. Michael’s thought is that we often think of technology as the one and only solution to a problem when in fact, tech should be seen as part of a comprehensive solution. When we exchange solid and effective solutions for seductive ideas and unproven tools, we cripple our efforts, whatever the task, whatever the era. I think that Jacques Ellul and Neil Postman would agree. Computers don’t teach kids and airplanes don’t win wars, unless they are part of a comprehensive plan. And then they shine.
I’m glad Michael raised this concern. And this why Cedar is not a silver bullet for disasters:
1. The services that Cedar would provide to survivors and responders are already being offered online. The difference with Cedar is that, instead of being scattered across the city, the services would be under one shelter-tent, so to speak: easy to find, conveniently organized, and hospitable.
2. My attitude and the attitude of the board of directors of RenegAID, the agency sponsoring this proposal, is that Cedar is not a complete disaster response. Far from it. Disaster relief is worthless without real, physical, personal help and the structures to support that response. Physical responses require communication and organization, and it is prudent to investigate and explore to see if Cedar, or a comprehensive and convenient project like it, will make disaster relief more effective.
(Michael- correct me if I paraphrase incorrectly.)
Community Disaster Response Introduction
Cedar: Community Disaster Response is a proposal by RenegAID.org for a comprehensive and convenient non-profit web resource for the good of communities around the US. Soon, Cedar will be an international resource. Cedar will be built and operated by partnerships between local and federal government, large and small non-profit groups, businesses, and individuals concerned with reducing the chaos and tragedy of a disaster. Cedar will provide disaster services in four areas:
1. Disaster Encyclopedia: Open-source educational resource of best practices and disaster related knowledge.
2. HelpNet: Clearinghouse for coordinating resources and need (peer-to-peer).
3. MeetingPoint: Social networking resource for reuniting loved ones.
4. NewsNow: Gathering and distributing timely and useful information from official and ground sources.
This space left blank…for Las Vegas.
The Purpose of this Blog is to serve as:
1. an initial point of discussion and feedback on Cedar,
AAA. what are effective disaster responses?
BBB. what is an easy-to-use user interface?
CCC. what technological/communication challenges are there and how do we overcome them?
DDD. how do we organize research, technology, and people to create Cedar?
and especially,
EEE. is a web-facilitated disaster response effective?
2. and the beginning of an on-going development resource for Cedar.
Formating? Where we’re going we don’t need formating…
In other words,
When you want to dock a ship, you throw a heaving line to the shore (that’s this website).
You attach the heaving line to a mooring chain and safely pull the chain between the ship and shore (that’s the development resource)
then you dock your ship by attaching the chain to the dock and pulling it in (that’s Cedar).
You need a lighter line to toss to the shore to send the heavier chain across, and you need the chain to keep the ship moored.
This website leads to a development resource for organizing research, data, and design, and the development resource leads to Cedar.
Shall we begin?
