“I mean, I can lift a shovel”: Design Skills in Disaster Response
Summary
Too often we withhold design efforts for "the best of times" - to make improvements or optimize already good systems. In this talk, Emily Danielson highlights the importance of design skills in "the worst of times." Drawing on experiences following Hurricane Katrina, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, COVID-19 and Hurricane Ida, Danielson will illustrate the impact of applying design skills to recovery work, such as: Optimizing data collection to better triage the needs of flooded homeowners (and the data systems being used by the FBI to take down a corrupt contractor) The importance of service design and cultural competence in food distribution Contextual research for a mobile application on a shrimp boat at 2am Those who attend can expect to leave with the confidence to act quickly in contributing their skills as designers following a disaster; the knowledge of how to advocate for design efforts in states of emergency; and an understanding of the value design can bring in times of chaos.
Key Insights
-
•
Disaster response benefits from diverse design skills including service design, visual design, database design, and user research.
-
•
After Hurricane Katrina, lack of inclusive service design led to services being used more by volunteers and workers than by those directly impacted.
-
•
Data management evolved from scraps of paper to shared Google Docs, which later served as evidence in a federal corruption case.
-
•
The Deepwater Horizon app failed because it ignored user context like literacy levels, connectivity issues, and cultural communication preferences.
-
•
Effective communication in crises requires rapid iteration and user-centered redesign, as exemplified by Luna Moore's work improving ExxonMobil’s COVID-19 emails.
-
•
Disaster recovery phases include preparation, warning, impact, relief, recovery, and stabilization, each requiring different design approaches.
-
•
Core disaster response teams should blend locals close to the disaster with remote helpers to leverage emotional stability and resources.
-
•
Minimizing user stress by simplifying communications and providing direct human contact is the most important design principle in disaster recovery.
-
•
User research in disaster settings relies heavily on in-person observation and conversations, rather than formal surveys or digital tools.
-
•
Designers are rarely formally recruited for disaster response; they must be proactive in identifying problems and plugging in to help effectively.
Notable Quotes
"Our design skills can help to create Clarity in times of Chaos."
"Most services were being used by people not directly impacted by the storm but by construction workers and volunteers."
"We turned all of these files in boxes into an Excel file, and then into a shared Google Doc accessible to multiple people."
"The app was a huge flop because we let our excitement about helping people let our design principles slide."
"Designer Luna Moore transformed our COVID-19 emails and noticeably changed employee behavior."
"Minimizing a user’s stress is the best possible design principle for disaster recovery."
"Disasters aren’t just big front page events, they include minor crises like loss of a loved one or housing insecurity."
"Communication with users will be primarily in person, over the phone, or maybe some texting—not surveys."
"FEMA is not going to stand up a UX department; it’s our responsibility to witness and find ways to help."
"Be extra patient and gentle with people, especially if they don’t pick up your call after a disaster."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"We chose to focus on research because we wanted to mirror, a bit more robust, the capability of the design teams to understand client needs."
Benjamin RealMaturity Models: A Core Tool for Creating a DesignOps Strategy
October 1, 2021
"Apple unlocked so much innovation by including accessibility in the phone with VoiceOver built-in."
Sam ProulxTo Boldly Go: The New Frontiers of Accessibility
June 10, 2022
"Design ops is at the heart of how we can achieve outstanding quality and value in design."
Stephen PollardClosing Keynote: Getting giants to dance - what can we learn from designing large and complex public infrastructure?
November 7, 2017
"The vision really does say This is where we could be in the future and that emotional component is really important."
Catt SmallCraft a Vision that Actually Gets Shipped
April 30, 2026
"We have about 5,000 new IBMers arriving every month, with high expectations and low tolerance for poor experiences."
Kristin WisnewskiMeasuring What Matters
October 23, 2019
"Systems that can self-organize are the strongest form of resilience."
Meghan BausoneSystems Thinking and Design Innovation: Working with Leverage Points in Rural Maternal Health Systems
April 17, 2026
"The future of medicine will be written in algorithms if we let it."
Vincent BrathwaiteOpener: Past, Present, and Future—Closing the Racial Divide in Design Teams
October 22, 2020
"Professional development budgets get cut first in tough times, yet skill building is more important than ever."
Doug PowellDesignOps and the Next Frontier: Leading Through Unpredictable Change
September 11, 2025
"We have to balance crisis management with long-term strategic exploration to not lose sight of growth."
Ted NewardTheme 4: Enterprise Organizational Journey
June 4, 2019
