Public Safety Cognitive Radio
_{Interface Concept and Design}

Description

The Public Safety Cognitive Radio (PSCR) is an advanced communication device being developed for use by first response officers during large scale emergencies such as hurricanes or terror attacks. Currently coordinating communication between various agencies at a disaster scene is inefficient due to incompatible technologies and network congestion/disruption. The PSCR overcomes this by creating an intermediary layer that can link any communication channel with another – taking over even those not dedicated to voice communication.

The radio was a complex device that would be used in extremely high-pressure situations and hostile environments. My responsibilities were to conceptualize, design and test an interface for the radio that would be easy to learn and use.

Note: Due to the sensitive nature of this project, some documents and images cannot be made available.

Outcome

The interface was designed after observing first response officers work in their natural environments at various tasks. This stage was followed by interviews and focus groups to gain a better insight to their work procedures. A prototype of interface was then created and tested with police officers. The results of this evaluation were used to create another iteration of the interface which was then evaluated by usability experts and the combined results were used to create the final iteration.

• View walkthrough of the UI
• View screencast of the interactive prototype (press play at the bottom left to start)

The interface was designed in a manner that would allow the officers access to all information within two clicks. It was made highly modular, enabling them to hide any part that was not relevant to the current mission. Adding and editing information could be accomplished right from the main screen. All updated information (which was a lot) could be accessed at a glance (or hidden, if not required).