ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses design-driven, co-creative projects for the improvement of emergency-management systems. To weather a disaster, if one occurs, people should have access to successfully delivered information regarding what they must have and what they must do. Recent projects addressing this matter have combined design-driven development with the co-creation model, resulting in four distinct design methods: (1) input from clients, as well as designers, (2) professional co-design, (3) designer–retailer collaboration, and (4) self-funded input from designers and sponsors. Workshops, panels, and other brainstorming processes enable designers and other contributors of design-based projects to voice their thoughts, to reveal pitfalls in existing and proposed designs, to clarify problems, and to propose, assess, and refine solutions. The knowledge gleaned from these efforts was then divided into four preparedness-related categories: (1) fundamental knowledge, (2) humanitarian needs, (3) adapted assistance, and (4) routines and updates. After exploring these methods one by one, the importance of co-creative, design-driven development for preparedness is discussed and how seven components—propaganda, activities, personnel, technology, equipment, communication, and visual identity—create a reliable emergency-management system rooted in public consciousness.
