Surviving the Storm
Real-world scenarios to prepare for an oncoming hurricane
Post-COVID, Florida has continually vied for the top spot in U.S. population growth. The main draw—warm weather year round—has a price: hurricane season. I aimed to turn a list of hurricane-preparation recommendations into something people could actually practice.
Hurricane preparation is full of information: watches and warnings, emergency kits, home protection, evacuation routes, weather resources. But knowing a list of bullet points isn't the same as knowing what to do. The real challenge: How do I turn a lot of information into preparation and action?
I designed this experience for new Florida residents who needed to move from knowing about hurricanes to being ready to act. Jeff, mentored by his neighbor, progresses through an interactive story focused on the real-world actions necessary to prepare for a storm.
Analysis
Development
The project started with a conversation with a recent Florida transplant, which helped surface the gap: hurricane-preparation resources were plentiful, but much of the information was presented as lists rather than situations people could work through. I asked: What are the actions that will best prepare a new Florida resident for an oncoming hurricane?
I created a mind map in Miro to begin brainstorming key actions, objectives and content—and visualize the flow of the course.
I used Action Mapping to identify the highest-priority actions and shaped the course around five outcomes:
Understand hurricane watches, warnings, and severity
Build an emergency kit
Protect the home and property
Find reliable local weather information
Create and rehearse an evacuation plan
With the learning objectives and outcomes defined, I worked backward to determine what learners needed to practice and how I could make the experience feel relevant to their lives.
I created written and visual storyboards to shape the content, interaction, and visual direction. Here I drafted the bulk of the content, narrative, and quiz questions. Rather than presenting hurricane-preparation information as a checklist, I put learners in the role of Jeff, a new Florida resident, as he prepares for an approaching storm.
His neighbor Bill acts as a mentor, guiding him through decisions around emergency supplies, home protection, weather information, and evacuation planning.
The scenario gave me opportunities to turn information into action: learners build an emergency kit, make decisions about protecting their home, explore an evacuation route, and respond to knowledge checks along the way.
I developed the experience in Storyline 360, using custom variables to create interactive scenarios such as a drag-and-drop emergency-kit activity, and an interactive evacuation map. I developed the project’s visual identity in Canva by curating multimedia assets to bring the characters and scenery to life.
Once the course was working, I deployed it and tested it with both new Florida residents and people with years of hurricane experience.
The testing surfaced both technical and design issues. I resolved access and playback problems with individual learners and adjusted the navigation in the home-protection and evacuation sections based on feedback.
Did learning take place? How do we know?
In order to find out, I reviewed the data: quiz question responses, pre- and post-assessment results, and considered focus group feedback on “Bill’s Hurricane Guide”, the downloadable PDF.
Learners reported greater confidence in their ability to prepare for a hurricane after completing the course. The downloadable hurricane guide was less successful. Learners found parts of it confusing or lacking depth, so I revised it to focus on the key information reinforced throughout the course.
This feedback showed me where the experience—and the supporting materials—could be better.
Evaluation
I think the most important design decision was starting with the real-world situation learners needed to navigate.
The thought process went like this: Understand the problem → identify critical actions → create a scenario-based learning experience → let learners practice.
Once I understood that, the content, activities, story, and technology had a purpose. While the Storyline interactions and visuals enhanced the experience, I had to ensure the educator in me was in the driver’s seat—not the designer (riding shotgun). This was the issue with the initial drafts of the downloadable hurricane guide—too heavy on design, too light on info and action.
After the final changes, I like where the project landed.