Disaster Preparedness in Senior Living Communities
Service Design
Service design project to improve upon existing disaster preparedness protocol for staff in a senior living community in Seattle.
Duration: 10 weeks
Team: Sabrina Chin, Alaina Orr, Yuan Zhu
Context: HCDE 598 - Service Design
My Role: Service Designer
To develop our service, I conducted user research and co-facilitated a co-design session. I also wrote the script for and participated in narrative prototyping, and helped create service design documents including a service blueprint, ecosystem map, and user journey maps.
DESIGN PROBLEM
My challenge for this course was to design a service relating to climate change.
Through research my team validated our assumption that older adults are particularly vulnerable to climate disasters. We also identified that senior living communities are spaces that face unique challenges when it comes to climate-related disaster preparedness. We wanted to learn more about the experiences of senior living community residents and staff, particularly in the context of climate-related disaster preparedness and response.
DESIGN QUESTION
How might we supplement a senior living community’s existing disaster preparedness protocol to increase staff communication and make disaster preparedness training an accessible, enjoyable element of everyday work?
DESIGN SOLUTION
A personalized training for senior living community staff on how to incorporate a set of novel tools into their work. The tools will supplement existing disaster protocol and reinforce a practice of daily preparedness training for staff members.
The service will include the following novel tools:
An easy to use, portable knowledge tool for staff (prototyped as a card deck)
A communication tool for staff (prototyped as a walkie talkie - like mobile device)
Additional resources for administrators and directors to pass on preparedness knowledge to support staff and residents
Primary User: mid-level staff at a senior living community
In a typical senior living community, mid-level management (directors, managers) interface with all levels of staff in the community, from residents to vendors to administration.
Initially, my preference was that this project would focus on residents of a senior community as our primary user, as older adults were the population my team and I identified as most vulnerable to climate related disasters. However, due to safety (COVID), time, and technology constraints, we decided to pivot our focus to supporting staff at senior living communities, with the intention that a service designed for mid-level managers will also have an impact on many other roles in the senior living community, including residents.
SERVICE DOCUMENTATION
Ecosystem Map
In this ecosystem map, the primary user is placed at the center of the map, with adjacent staff and communication tools radiating outwards on axes of individual, institution, and disaster preparedness.
Creating an ecosystem map helped me understand who to focus on as a primary user and determining an appropriate scope for the service design. I worked with my team to determine which roles and tools would be involved in our service.
User Journey Maps
Creating user journey maps helped me understand the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the primary user throughout their work at a senior living community.
This first user journey map details the user’s experience with onboarding at a senior living community. The user is presented with the government-mandated emergency protocol, but also with the training and novel tools included in the service. As a result, the user feels better prepared.
I worked with my team to separate the user experience into two journeys: experiencing onboarding and preparedness training, and enacting that training during a disaster. Dividing the user journey into two scenarios helped me conceptualize how the service would be introduced and then implemented in a disaster scenario.
This second user journey map details the user’s experience after they have been onboarded at a senior living community, and how they would use the tools they have been implementing in their daily lives into their response to a climate disaster.
SERVICE BLUEPRINT
Creating a service blueprint helped me conceptualize how our service would be implemented, including both front stage and back stage interactions.
This blueprint showcases how the service design starts with administration of a training and how the tools the user learns during that training enable them to be better prepared to respond to a climate disaster.
I worked with my team to develop the phases for this service blueprint, and decide which interactions would be placed in the front-end and the back-end.
RESEARCH + DESIGN PROCESS
RESEARCH
To understand more about the experiences of stakeholders, my teammates and I conducted a literature review and 4 semi-structured expert interviews.
I moderated and took notes in interviews with the following participants:
Resident of a senior living community
Administrator of a senior living community
Nonprofit program coordinator focused on programming for seniors
Building Manager and Director of Operations of a senior living facility
From our research, my team and I derived the following key insights:
Community
Distribution of information typically relies on a central point (i.e. elevator bulletin board, building administrator, etc.) and is distributed through different channels and formats.
Service providers (staff, management) feel there is a lack of a direct line of communication between them and senior residents/community members.
Safety
Safety isn’t one-size-fits-all; it is represented differently depending on the person and their role.
Safety isn’t isolated to a given training session or emergency; it consists of proactive measures incorporated into daily work.
Care
Supporting each other and fostering mutual support between residents and staff helps with coping in the midst of highly stressful events.
Service providers rely on partner organizations in their local networks for support during crises.
CO-DESIGN
To validate our research insights and kickstart the design process, my team and I conducted a co-design session with 6 mid-level and 1 director-level staff at a local senior living community, Kin On.
I helped design the co-design protocol and facilitated a design activity during the 90-minute session.
Kin On is a “501(c)(3) not-for-profit health and social services provider for the Asian community” with a mission to “honor and support our elders and families by offering culturally Asian and linguistically appropriate healthcare services in a healthy living community.”
Participants in the co-design session held different positions or roles at Kin On that would all serve different roles during a disaster scenario.
Individual collaging exercise to find value images.
Co-Design Goals
My team and I wanted to learn how each of the different roles interrelate and support one another in the overall system and during an emergency scenario.
We also wanted staff to identify the values they find important in their daily work and how they would translate into actions during an emergency.
Co-Design Activities
Work Values
Kin On staff started with an individual collaging exercise where they had to find images that reminded them of their roles at Kin On and important values in their work.
During this phase, I walked around the room, taking notes and asking questions to participants about their decisions during this exercise.
Applying values to disaster response
They then assigned each of those value-associated images to three stages of a timeline (before, during, and after) based on what value they prioritized in a disaster scenario. Participants then wrote actions they would take during each stage based on the values they assigned.
I was the lead facilitator for this exercise. I read through the instructions in the co-design protocol, then answered participant questions.
Collective goals and actions
Participants combined their “before, during, and after” collages with their colleagues’ collages to create a group timeline. We then evaluated and discussed the timeline as a group.
During this phase, I took notes on the board while my teammate Sabrina discussed each of the phases with participants. I asked follow up questions to participants to fully understand their responses.
Wrap up
Participants reflected on the experience as a whole, including frustrations and surprises.
“Before, During, and After a disaster scenario at work.” Timeline collage created as a group.
Co-Design Insights
Staff and residents are individuals; each person requires their own unique version of communication and care.
Sustainability, energy efficiency and cost efficiency go hand-in-hand for staff. From an operational perspective, the budget is always a factor in planning, even in the case of disaster preparedness/response.
Disaster preparedness is not necessarily prioritized due to limited time and resources and other immediate needs.
Staff agree that communication and safety assessment is a priority during a disaster, but they aren't completely clear on the procedures. They know what needs to be accomplished, but not exactly how it will be accomplished.
Special thanks to Kin On staff for their time, enthusiastic participation, and ability to provide a space for us to facilitate our co-design session. We had a lot of fun!
Discussing as a group.
Wrap up activity: participant insights.
DESIGN VALUES + PRINCIPLES
Guided by insights from user research and the co-design session, my team and I decided on the following design values and principles to shape our service design and prototypes.
I worked with my team to narrow in on 7 design values, and determine an appropriate definition for each value.
Values
Communication
Engage in communal collaboration and shared knowledge with one’s community
Empowerment
Enable users to add value to their work by incorporating individual knowledge and experiences
Humanity
Acknowledge the need to care for each other and ourselves with an understanding of natural human response to disaster and emergency
Credibility
Provide valuable and accurate information
Adaptability
Incorporate continuous feedback in service implementation. Use and adapt the system within changing scenarios to enable its longevity
Accessibility
Integrate within existing protocols. Accommodate different learning and communication styles and ensure a low barrier to entry
Creativity
Allow users to feel ownership in the system in shaping it to reflect their needs and preferences
Principles
The service design should…
provide multiple points of access to critical information within the system
distribute the work of providing the service among multiple individuals and build trust among staff
distribute knowledge of how to provide the service among multiple individuals so that the service is not dependent on the knowledge of one person
be flexible to updated information based on the users' experiences, new knowledge, or changing circumstances
be intuitive: easy to learn and easy to use
NARRATIVE PROTOTYPE
Prototype: Communication Tool and Training
In this low-fidelity narrative prototyping video, my team and I envision how a walkie-talkie-like communication tool might be used in a disaster scenario. Through this prototyping session, I learned that training on effective and proper communication protocol between staff members during an emergency situation is crucial, especially when introducing new technologies. I took a lead role in writing the script for the narrative prototyping session, and I also filmed, acted, in and edited the prototyping video.
Design Requirements for the Communication Tool and Training
The training should…
Be mandatory for staff to learn how to use, troubleshoot, and maintain communication devices.
teach staff how to clearly and succinctly relay information during a disaster or emergency.
be fun and include exercises for staff to practice using the tools.
emphasize teamwork and team-building.
The communication tool should…
facilitate communication between staff in situations when normal telecommunication devices are down.
be intuitive and low maintenance.
VISUAL PROTOTYPE (LO-FI)
Prototype: Knowledge building tool
This knowledge building tool takes information from an existing emergency response protocol and condenses into an easy-to-review and portable format. The tool and its design corresponds with that of the existing protocol documentation, so that each resource can be used independently or in tandem.
The tool is designed to be used primarily by mid and upper-level management. It should not only assist in familiarizing them to the protocols of emergency response, but also give them the confidence to share that knowledge to lower-level or support staff.
I worked with my team to develop the categories and content for these cards, and conceptualize how they would be used by senior living community staff.
Design Requirements for the Knowledge Building Tool
The tool should…
Take a holistic approach to preparedness training and, in addition to information from the mandatory protocol, include actionable information in other disaster or trauma training categories.
Be accessible to and considerate of a multicultural audience.
Rely on visual representation of information over text without compromising clarity and precision of instructions.
Be portable and easy to use.
Allow for individual and group use
facilitate reviewing of critical information.
NEXT STEPS
In order to validate my team’s and my design decisions, I would want to see if implementation of a preparedness training and corresponding tools would be successful in a functioning senior living community.
First, I would take the senior living community’s existing disaster preparedness protocol, and work with administrative staff to develop a training and toolset that corresponds to their facility and existing protocol.
I would then implement the training and distribute the communication and knowledge tools. After an amount of time, the staff at the senior living facility could be surveyed to determine whether the knowledge tools were being used, and if so, if they were effective. If a disaster had occurred, I would conduct user interviews with staff after an appropriate amount of time to determine whether the communication tool was helpful in that emergency scenario.
The tools and training are designed to be flexible to changing needs, so I would expect that adjustments to the tools would need to be made to best suit the senior living community’s needs.
REFLECTION
This was my first project that was focused specifically on service design, and I loved it! It was an exciting challenge to approach a design problem from a much higher level than I had with previous projects; to focus more on strategic, conceptual thinking about an entire design ecosystem rather than specific interaction or visual design decisions.
Maintaining that high level of abstraction in order to advance our design was challenging at times, but a big learning moment for me was creating the service documentation. In the future, I would recognize that the process of creating that service documentation is a key part of the ideation and design process, and not simply a retroactive representation of our team’s design choices.
Overall, this project was a lot of fun to work on (thanks to a great team!) and I am excited to work on more service design projects in the future.