On the Application of Participatory Design for a Drought Recovery Website

Determining how much rain and snow must fall to end a meteorological and/or hydrological drought is a multi-faceted challenge, yet it is a question routinely asked owing to the far-reaching societal and economic impacts of drought. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) in collaboration with the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) hosts and maintains a drought amelioration website whose aim is to answer that question. Over the past several years, NCEI and NIDIS have worked together to update, modify, and mold the drought recovery website to make it more useful, usable, and used by decision-makers. This was successfully accomplished by applying the iterative user-engagement approach of participatory design - where users are empowered to make their own decisions through a process of co-design and co-research in tandem with scientists. The sharing of knowledge was achieved through an open and authentic dialogue which facilitated a conversation as users evaluated the web tool design while scientists gained insights about the users’ needs and expectations.

This presentation will address two questions posed for this joint session, including “What happens when an end-user wants something that is not novel or publishable?” and “How can everyone win in this situation and what are the unexpected positives?”