Rescue - Resources Management and Mobilisation

Rescue is a mobile application created for helping the government with Resource management and mobilisation that can be used during calamities. In addition, this will help as a distributed tool for data aggregation and data collection.

Rescue was one of my side project, which I worked as a sole designer for designing end-user experience for the mobile application for the Kerala Government.

It was an initiative from a group of volunteers including me, who was in part of Kerala rescue mission 2018. We worked as volunteers to help and coordinate data and resources.The Kerala flood was one of the main reasons leads to this solution. When an unexpected flood happened in 2018 in Kerala, I was part of a volunteer group and struggled with inventory management, resource availability, and allocation. We wanted to create a tech solution to fix this problem before the next disaster.

There will be two types of users; one selected group of users who can view the data and coordinate with Volunteers. And the second one is admin, a set of the chosen team who can add/update/delete the data.This database can be used for listing the emergency contacts such as doctors, drivers, etc.

The study used a mixed-methods approach involving both qualitative and quantitative methods. Firstly, we conducted a needs assessment and user research to identify the requirements and functionalities of the app. The data were collected through surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions with the volunteers who participated in the Kerala rescue mission. Secondly, the research team designed and developed a mobile app that could assist in inventory management, resource availability, and allocation. Finally, the app was evaluated through a usability test and a field test during a mock disaster scenario. The usability test involved 10 participants who were asked to perform tasks related to inventory management and resource allocation using the app.

Created a MVP with add/view list of resources.

Option to coordinate between relief camps and volunteers.

Easy way to check the availability of Relief Camps.

A central tool for tag government resources.

A common database jointly created by government and civil society, which is publicly available and used for the greater good of humanity.

In the next layer, ordinary people can add resources to the database and list with officials' approval.

Geotagging can be used to locate the resources when any help is needed.

We created the MVP product and shared it with a few staff who worked in War Room during Kerala Floods. But, unfortunately, before going live, the COVID pandemic started, and the government officials got busy controlling the situation. Also, the District Collector helped us build the product transferred to a different location, and now we are waiting for approval from the Government side.