Flash Floods Chaser, User Experience Design, UX design

A simple tool to help flash flood chasers around the globe to get better chances of catching a flash flood and a flood first wave.

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Main challenge - Engage the users to give real time report of the river bed status

The main challenge is to estimate as soon as possible if a river is about to flood. When a river is indeed flooding, the water speed is the main parameter that can help a user decide if he wants to start heading to the river or not (Actually he asks himself if he would make it to the first flood wave at a specific point).

In order to solve this challenge, we developed an algorithm, based on users' real time reports from the field, analyzing rain radar data and old statistics data collected by the app over the years.

User online reports bring up a new challenge: Cellular reception in the desert. Some open nature reserves have no data or cellular reception. In order to minimize this challenge, we developed a 2 way protocol based on regular text messages that send and get updates the second a user reaches a cellular service point.

All maps and drainage basins are fully stored on the user's device – No need for cellular reception in order to view the maps.

User Scenarios

Drainage basin: User can add a drainage basin as a layer on top of a Google Earth map. This layer includes the river's path and an indication if the river is currently flooding and in which areas.
Rain radar and precipitation: User can add a local rain radar layer with up to 10Hrs of its previous status. User can also see the rain precipitation for the next 10Hrs.
Real Time Reports: User can view other users' reports about the current river status at a specific point. According to users' reports, the app can estimate a first wave arrival to each dry point of the river. User can update the status at each point to: Flooding, About to end or Dry.