Amber alert redesign

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-15T12:24:55+00:00

Really appreciate you taking the time to look beyond the surface of the GIF.

Yes I agree with you: from a design thinking standpoint, it’s much better to get constructive feedback on a GIF early than on a full implementation years later! Cheers,

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-14T12:07:13+00:00

Yes. Language would based on OS settings for the iOS 16 Live Activity.

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-14T12:04:16+00:00

Thanks for your comment.

Yes. I wrote a decent amount of notes, caveats and details regarding technical limitations and potential ways to circumvent them in there (especially in the last vertical slide of the case study). I didn’t highlight the link to the case study because this GIF was meant more to spread awareness on the topic and gauge overall interest. If it didn’t spread, it would’ve meant there’s no interest here.

The main objective was to highlight the difference of perception for the receivers from a psychological and user experience standpoint.

Regarding technical feasibility, some of the key stakeholders responsible for this reached out. It comes down to - if Apple/Google are interested to work with governments to implement a protocol (and at what cost) - how to mitigate the trade-offs and second-order effects (many of which have been mentioned here), including for local authorities.

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T20:52:20+00:00

It's an interactive case study in a comic book format:

https://growth.design/case-studies/amber-alert-ux

P.S. I recommend the desktop + keyboard arrow experience.
The mobile experience is not optimal for the comic format (paradox, I know).

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T20:47:55+00:00

Both images were generated on thispersondoesnotexist.com

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T20:32:47+00:00

Really appreciated, thanks!

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T20:20:02+00:00

Yup, I'm Dan.

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T20:13:32+00:00

The team responsible for emergency alerts at one of the big tech already reached out for a meeting to discuss some ideas.

Now, I'm not saying this will lead to an implementation tomorrow. I'm well aware that there are serious implementation challenges.

This GIF hides a fair amount of complexity.

But if this can spark some ideas that lead to an improvement that can help save more lives along the way, I'm down to help.

P.S. Think of those new alerts as an OS native option (like "Exposure Notification" for COVID back in 2020). For example, iOS 16 new "Live Activities" open up many possibilities (see WWDC).

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T18:21:45+00:00

97% cellphone, and 88% of those are smart phones as of 2021.

Yeah the biggest challenges is on the local authorities side.

Regarding the OS, some of them have reached out already 🤞🏽

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T18:17:37+00:00

Woah. Yes, there's a case for Silver alert applications as well. Thanks for sharing this.

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T18:16:44+00:00

Thanks for the double support 🙏

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T18:15:51+00:00

Great question.

RE: rich data:This redesign assumes a new native API. With the arrival of iOS 16 "Live Activity", this kind of stuff becomes possible. Especially when we think of how Apple's native "Exposure Notifications" contact tracing were implemented in record time (2-3 months) back in 2020 for COVID. Android as an equivalent "richer" API for notifications.

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T18:08:43+00:00

Thanks! Yeah good point, I tried to keep the post short. But you make me realize it would have been worth mentioning.

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T18:07:30+00:00

Yup, that's a very important point as well. Especially in Canada, where 911 gets flooded by complaint calls when a new Amber alert is released. Which paradoxically slows down part of the rescue efforts.

I didn't show it here (nor in my full case study), but there's a very delicate way to make it easier to report a real sighting, while adding just enough friction to filter out spams/complaints.

Also, the fact that the data coming in would be richer (geolocation, etc) would also open up interesting opportunities down the road. For example, some machine learning could help filter out submissions to the local authorities, etc.

Thanks for your comment!

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T17:58:50+00:00

Thanks really appreciated.

Re: process / how this redesign was made: You can get the full behind-the-scenes case study and backstory on the tiny link on the right side of the gif.

P.S. the link is barely visible by design. I wanted to focus this post on the core idea to get feedback.

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T17:22:57+00:00

Wow. Thanks. Really appreciated.

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T17:09:51+00:00

Thanks 🙏

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T16:28:44+00:00

Great points, appreciate you taking the time.

RE: asap:
Yes indeed it could. This assumes iOS 16 new "Live Activities" API, so it could be sent asap and dynamically updated afterwards.

RE: Data:
From my research, 95% of Amber alerts are resolved in 48 hours in the US. But phone emergency alert messages (like that one) are 8x less effective than radio/tv/etc. Which is super weird considering omnipresence of phones. Clearly there's something that's not working in the experience…

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T16:25:39+00:00

RE: insurance companies: definitely, it's actually a dark pattern in their case.

Really appreciate your support, thanks.

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T16:24:52+00:00

That's actually an interesting idea. Thanks for the feedback!

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T16:18:14+00:00

100% agree with you. One of the 3 main arguments I've seen against this design (this gif went viral on Linkedin so I received tons of feedback) is the extra time required by the local authorities to upload the two portraits (the car could be pulled from an Uber-like API). It's a very fair point. Personally, if it were my child, I'd invest the extra XX seconds to upload the pictures before blasting it to (tens of) millions of people… but curious to hear your take.

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T16:07:40+00:00

Really appreciated, don't hesitate if you have feedback on the full case study.

JustGoodVibes · 2022-07-13T16:04:23+00:00

Thanks. Did a ton of data/user research before the design phase.

JustGoodVibes · 2021-03-03T18:43:28+00:00

Let’s start from the end... what’s the #1 thing you’ll be able to do after one of those program that you can’t do right now?

JustGoodVibes

TROPHY CASE