Simplifying Toxic Smoke Exposure Tracking for Firefighters
Addressing the challenge of simplifying the process of reporting and documenting environmental hazards and exposures faced by firefighters.
Role:
UX Researcher UX designer
UI designer
Duration:
6 weeks (Fall 2023)
Team:
Collaborated with 3 other HCI students
Tools:
Figma, FigJam
Responsibilities:
Developed strategy, plan and research protocols.
Conducted primary and secondary research.
Facilitated brainstorming sessions.
Developed low and high fidelity designs.
Conducted user-testing sessions.
EXPLORATORY INTERVIEWS
Understanding the broad problems in firefighting
The initial interviews involved conversations with firefighters, particularly those in higher positions, to understand and identify issues they face in the field.
We spoke to 3 main people:
The Chief of a fire station
The public safety specialist
Fire Station headquarters
Firefighters who had recently responded to fire incidents.
Our conversations revealed numerous previously unknown problems, with two issues demanding utmost attention.
After several conversations, we narrowed down our problem space to
Problem space
Firefighters face health risks such as cancers and respiratory problems from exposure to smoke and hazardous materials
However, there exists a gap in documenting their exposures and health, posing potential risks. The current documentation process is complex and time-consuming, possibly resulting in underreporting and insufficient health monitoring.
RESEARCH
Desk Research to understand the core of the problem
Before getting into the interview and observation sessions, it was essential for us to get as familiar as possible with the topic. We did some desk research to understand the problem space better. Some major insights are:
The risks are high:
(Source: Understanding the Toxic Twins)
Exposure to Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) gases significantly increases the risk of firefighters experiencing cardiac arrest or developing cancer decades later
(Source: Firefighter cancer network support)
Firefighters are prone to health risks especially cancers more than the general population.
Primary research in the form of Interviews and Observations
It was important for us to get a closer look at what our target users go through. This called for some Observation sessions and Interviews. We went to several fire stations at Indianapolis including the headquarters to conduct.
9 observation sessions and 8 interviews later, our key insights were:
01
Firefighters typically respond to anywhere from 4 to 20 emergency calls per day
02
The tasks they do consume valuable time, leaving little room for filling out elaborate forms to report incidents or injuries.
03
Firefighters most often don’t know what kinds of gases they are exposed to in specific situations, this could lead to inaccurate data entry while filling out exposure forms.
04
Many firefighters remove their safety masks during incidents, especially during overhauls (the period when they await another fire at the same incident). This practice can result in significant contamination.
GATHERING INSIGHTS
Finding common patterns using affinity map
We compiled our data points to create an affinity map, aiding in the identification of patterns and the recognition of the most common issues.
Want to explore the affinity map board? Click on 'See the board' below!
Identifying the key stakeholders using stakeholder map
We also wanted to understand the other sides of the problem and point out key stakeholders involved.
Out of all these stakeholders, we went ahead with making an app taking the actively engaged stakeholders into consideration.
DEFINE
What are the user needs?
Based on all our research, we identified 4 key user needs that our product should cater to.
Framing the problem statement as a ‘How might we’
Following a comprehensive research analysis, we crafted a 'How might we' statement to effectively structure the problem we're addressing. This guided our focus towards ideating a viable solution to the identified problem.
IDEATE
Brainstorming potential ideas to solve the problem
We conducted 2 sessions of crazy 8s where each of us ideated 8 ideas and 1 session where we asked peers to give their take on solutions for the problem.
The design idea that we finalized!
After conducting some in depth analysis and understanding the feasibility in terms on our knowledge, resources and practicality, we have finalized our design idea.
Design a firefighter monitoring app integrating wearable sensors and tracking technology to collect real-time physiological data during firefighting.
The system aims to provide insights into health and exposure metrics facilitating data sharing with healthcare professionals for timely medical guidance and testing recommendations, ultimately enhancing firefighter safety and well-being
The technology involved
Our design solution depends on wearables and sensors that tracks exposure data and other metrics.
SOLUTION
Brainstorming the designs using low-fidelity wireframes
To brainstorm the visual design of the product, we collaborated to create digital wireframes.
Iteration 1: Everyone independently sketching out rough ideas on paper:
Yuppp! Creating the initial sketches is a messy process and that makes it more fun!
Iteration 2: Designing digital wireframes:
Iteration 3: Refining functionalities and designs
The High-fidelity designs
After quite a few iterations on the wireframes, we went about creating some high-fidelity designs to define the look and feel of the app.
The Dashboard
Did we satisfy the user needs? Let’s see!
Do you remember? We defined some user needs that our MVP would cater to! Let’s see how we catered to each of them!
Don’t remember? That’s okay!
Navigate back to the user needs section.
#1
Ensuring the ability to safeguard their long-term health.
We provided users their toxic exposure statistics and provide alerts if the contamination is high, We provided users the ability to book appointments with doctor.
#2
Eliminating the need for manual entry of exposure data to save time and reduce effort.
Users have the freedom to record their symptoms with an autofill feature. They can also click on a body part to indicate any physical injuries.
#3
Simplifying the process of reporting and tracking exposure incidents.
Users have little to no manual entry to make to report the exposure of toxic gases. The system is automated to take take data from the wearables to provide insights.
#4
Avoiding any additional weight burden on their already heavy gear
We have used wearables which can collect real-time data during fire incidents and send it directly to the app. The wearables and sensors should be able to fit to their existing suits without any added weight.
TESTINg
Testing the product out with the users
We conducted 6 user testing sessions to assess what worked for users and areas that could be further enhanced. Here are the results:
What worked?
Room for improvement!
Impact the product could create if built
As an academic project, the prototype currently lacks measurable impact. However, if fully developed, it could:
Increase awareness among firefighters about their toxic smoke exposures.
Enable firefighters to trace cancer origins for insurance claims.
Contribute valuable data for research in the field.
Directions for the future
Iterating the product based on feedback and add flows
We aim to implement the feedback we received from the users and continue adding flows to make it a full-fledged product.
Designing the interfaces for other stakeholders
Since we had only developed interface for the firefighters, we will build interfaces of all others involved as stakeholders to showcase what their side of the product would look like.
More research on the protocol of manual entry
Obtaining further approvals to do a comprehensive study on manual entry protocol being used right now to make the system more aligned.
🙌 It's a wrap until next time!
