Experience Flood Risk in VR

Project Highlights:

Goal: To educate young men about flood safety and preparedness through an immersive and engaging VR experience.
Target Audience: Young men (aged 18-25) with limited flood safety knowledge and a tendency towards risk-taking behaviors.
Key Features: Interactive tasks, realistic flood scenarios, decision-making challenges, personalized feedback, and educational content.
Outcomes: High usability and user satisfaction scores, increased user knowledge about flood risks and safety procedures, recognized for its potential impact and innovative approach.
Personal Reflection: I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with my team on this project. We fostered a supportive and creative environment that allowed us to achieve our goals and deliver a high-quality VR experience.

Introduction:

In today's world, where the impact of natural disasters is increasingly felt, effective preparedness is paramount. This project, "Immersive Flood Readiness," tackles the critical need for heightened flood awareness and safety in the UK. Driven by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11.5, which emphasizes disaster risk reduction, this VR experience aims to empower individuals with the knowledge and skills to navigate flood situations responsibly.

By immersing users in a realistic flood scenario, the project challenges them to make critical decisions and experience the consequences of their actions in a safe, virtual environment. Through interactive tasks and engaging narratives, users learn valuable self-rescue techniques and gain a deeper understanding of flood risks. This experience is particularly targeted towards individuals with limited knowledge and those prone to risk-taking behaviours, aiming to bridge the gap between perceived risk and actual danger.

'Immersive Flood Readiness' was identified as a strong candidate for the ACM Student Design Competition due to its potential impact and innovative approach to flood preparedness education.

The "Immersive Flood Readiness" project represents a unique opportunity to leverage the power of VR technology for social good. By creating an engaging and informative experience, we aim to foster a more resilient and prepared community, better equipped to face the challenges of flooding.

Research:

Flooding is a prevalent natural disaster in the UK, with the potential to cause significant damage and endanger lives (British Red Cross, 2023). To address this issue effectively, we embarked on a research journey to understand the factors that contribute to flood-related risks and identify the most vulnerable groups.

Our research revealed that young men are disproportionately represented in flood-related fatalities (Jonkman and Kelman, 2005). This demographic often displays an overconfidence bias, underestimating the potential dangers of floods and engaging in unnecessary risk-taking behaviours (Why People Don’t Behave As We Would Expect. The Role of Emotions, Unrealistic Optimism and Previous Experience in Disaster Preparedness - Institute of Development Studies, no date). Furthermore, many young men lack essential knowledge about flood safety and self-rescue techniques, increasing their vulnerability during flood events.

Fig 1 Key factors contributing to flood-related fatalities.

To better understand our target audience, we developed a persona named "John." John embodies the characteristics of our typical user: a young man who is optimistic, adventurous, and not particularly interested in disaster preparedness. By creating this persona, we were able to empathize with our users and tailor the VR experience to their specific needs and motivations.

Fig 2 Our research journey: From broad exploration to focused insights.

These research insights played a crucial role in shaping the design of our VR experience. We recognized the need to create an engaging and immersive scenario that would resonate with young men, challenge their assumptions about flood risks, and provide them with essential knowledge and skills to make informed decisions during flood events (D’Amico et al., 2023).

Ideation Process:

To kickstart the design process, we first decided to focus on Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, specifically Target 11.5: By 2030, significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected by disasters, including water-related disasters. Flooding, in particular, presented a significant challenge with the potential for impactful VR solutions. However, we quickly realized that our individual brainstorming efforts were limited. Recognizing the need for diverse perspectives and collaborative synergy, we organized a collaborative mind-mapping session in a dedicated study room.

Fig 3 Our whiteboard filled with ideas during the collaborative mind-mapping session.

Gathering around a whiteboard, we bounced ideas off each other, generating a wide range of potential solutions. As you can see from the image above, we filled the entire board with concepts, demonstrating the power of teamwork and diverse perspectives. This collaborative session, combined with individual brainstorming and bodystorming activities, helped us develop a comprehensive pool of innovative ideas.

To gain a more embodied understanding of the user experience, we conducted bodystorming sessions. We physically acted out scenarios within a simulated flood environment, using props like our phones, a door, and a tablet with an example UI to represent interactions with virtual objects. This immersive approach allowed us to identify potential pain points, refine our interaction design, and ensure a more intuitive and user-friendly experience.

Through bodystorming, we realized that our initial ideas for a serious game and virtual training could complement each other, leading to a more comprehensive and engaging VR experience.

Fig 4 Bodystorming to gain insights into user interactions.

Informed by our research and ideation activities, we developed a vision statement for our project: (Insert your vision statement here.) This statement guided our design decisions and ensured we remained focused on our core objectives.

We then translated our key insights into design principles, ensuring that our VR experience was user-centered, engaging, and informative.

To visualize the user experience and communicate our concept effectively, we created a storyboard depicting the narrative flow and key interactions within the VR environment.

Fig 5 Storyboard visualizing the narrative flow and key interactions.

We also developed a user story and a user journey map to further empathize with our target audience and understand their needs and motivations throughout the VR experience.

To ensure a smooth and intuitive user experience, we designed a clear task flow outlining the steps involved in navigating the VR environment and completing the interactive tasks.

(Insert a visual representation of your task flow here.)

Finally, we considered the emotional impact of each room within the VR experience, carefully crafting the environment and interactions to evoke specific emotions and enhance user engagement.

(Here, include a visual or description of your emotion map.)

By grounding our design process in thorough research and utilizing a variety of ideation techniques, we were able to develop a comprehensive and user-centered VR experience that effectively addresses the challenges of flood preparedness education.

Carousel: Visualizing the user experience: Design principles, task flow, and persona.

Solution:

Our final design solution is a multi-room VR experience that simulates a flood scenario, allowing users to learn about flood safety and practice decision-making in a risk-free environment.

Room 1 (Home Screen):

Serves as a game home screen, providing concise information about the interface and controls.

Showcases three potential scenarios (represented by three doors), with one door leading to the interactive experience and the other two indicating potential future expansions.

Interactive Experience:

Guides users through a realistic flood scenario, presenting them with choices and challenges that test their knowledge and decision-making skills.

Incorporates interactive tasks, such as identifying safe routes, gathering essential supplies, and avoiding hazards.

Provides feedback on user choices, reinforcing correct behaviors and highlighting potential consequences of incorrect decisions.

Final Room (Congratulations or Game Over):

Provides tailored feedback and learning opportunities based on the user's performance.

The "Congratulations" room rewards users who made all the right decisions with additional news and knowledge about flooding.

The "Game Over" room offers a chance to learn from mistakes and improve preparedness.

Video Walkthrough:

To illustrate the user experience and showcase the interactive elements of our VR prototype, we created a video walkthrough. This video demonstrates how users navigate the environment, interact with objects, and make decisions in the face of a flood scenario.

Ethical Considerations:

We adhered to ethical guidelines throughout the design and testing process, ensuring participant safety, privacy, and informed consent.

VR Limitations:

We acknowledged the potential limitations of VR technology, such as motion sickness and accessibility concerns, and took steps to mitigate these issues.

Cognitive Walkthrough:

Before conducting user testing, we performed a cognitive walkthrough to identify potential usability issues and refine the design based on expert evaluation.

User Testing:

We conducted user testing with four male participants aged between 20 to 23 who were familiar with technology devices (smartphones, laptops, etc.).

We measured user experience using standardized scales, including the USE scale, SUS scale, and PANAS scale, to gather quantitative and qualitative data.

Reflection:

This project provided valuable insights into the design of VR experiences for educational purposes. We learned the importance of user-centered design, iterative prototyping, and grounding our design decisions in thorough research. The collaborative nature of this project also highlighted the power of teamwork and diverse perspectives in generating creative solutions. Our initial struggle to generate ideas individually underscored the value of collaborative brainstorming, as demonstrated by our productive whiteboard session where we collectively filled the board with potential concepts.

I particularly enjoyed the collaborative dynamic within our team. We fostered an environment of open communication and mutual support, which allowed us to challenge each other's ideas constructively and push the boundaries of our creativity within the limited timeframe.

While we are proud of the immersive and engaging VR experience we created, we also acknowledge the limitations encountered during the development process. (Here, mention the specific limitations you encountered, such as technical challenges, time constraints, or limitations of the VR technology itself.) These limitations provided valuable learning opportunities and highlighted areas for potential improvement in future iterations of the project.

Overall, the "Immersive Flood Readiness" project was a rewarding experience that allowed us to apply our UX design skills to address a real-world challenge. We believe that this VR experience has the potential to be a valuable tool for raising awareness and preparedness for flooding, ultimately contributing to safer communities.

Group photo: Ruiqing Zhao, Piyush Punjwani (me), Cara Wang, Zhiquan Liang

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