| The amount of information flowing throughout an emergency response environment creates a level of complexity which could lead to a disaster within the response process. One of the key problems is that operators are often burdened with collecting all the information from various sources to use it effectively and safely. Providing all the information concerning the current situation in an integrated fashion can prevent any loss of information and mitigate loss in situational awareness. By combining research underlying information design, information processing, and ecological interface design, the objective of this study was to create a visual design that integrates the critical information in a way that can facilitate information collection and decision making. By employing a multi-method, iterative user centered design approach, the information needs of users in a forest fire response command and control center were gathered and analyzed. These were addressed in two iterations of information visual designs.;Keywords: emergency response, information design, information processing, ecological interface design, situational awareness, user centered design. |
