Usability and communication of mobile applications for risk management: the experience of MAppERS

Chiara Bianchizza (a), Simone Frigerio (b), Luca Schenato (b) & Daniele Del Bianco (a)
(a) Institute of International Sociology Gorizia, Via Mazzini 13, 34170 Gorizia (ITALY) (b) Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection, Italian National Research Council, C.so Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padova (ITALY). Corresponding author-email: simone.frigerio@irpi.cnr.it.

Prevention of natural hazards and support to risk management benefit both from volunteers’ engagement and from the deployment of new technologies. The DG-ECHO project, “Mobile Applications for Emergency Response and Support” (MAppERS, 2013-2015), has developed a mobile platform which was tested and applied in floodprone areas. This platform consists of a mobile phone app (MP) and a related dashboard. The platform development implied design, testing and piloting. In order to make the app as user-friendly as possible, research on usability and communication elements was carried out in the preparatory design phase, which is illustrated in this paper.

mobile application, MAppERS project, usability, Graphical User Interface, user oriented prespectives.