This project was completed by a team of five graduate students at Kent State University exploring how visual design can provide clarity and increase the odds of success in the unfortunate event of an active shooter in a classroom. The collaborators are Joyo Young, Maryam Mehrabadi, Bethany Wells, Jonathan Bremer and myself, John Brown VI. Using the Five E User Experience Model, we created a journey for the overall experience. We all researched emerging technologies that could make our design feasible and active shooter cases to expound on the problem: How can design empower victims and enable them to make life saving decisions and actions?
While this was a group project after the initial research phase, responsibilities were split within the team and members were held to the production schedule to ensure we met our goal. I was responsible for the paper and digital prototypes and the Watchtower branding. In addition, I assisted with UI and iconography while conducting my own research on emerging technologies and current active threat response procedures. Ultimately, we developed an app called "Watchtower" that would allow for three user groups: students, internal administrators (teachers and school staff), and external administrators (first responders) to report an active threat and find a safe escape route based on proximity.
Highlights of our presentation can be seen below.
