10/7/13

Avalanche case


This is a story of an avalanche (Buxton, 2007) that demonstrates the inextricable relationship between design methodology and social context.

 

I\Summary

Five people: Saul, Judy (Saul’s wife), Shane, Steve, Steve’s wife traversed through an avalanche prone terrain. The avalanche happened, affecting 3 people traversing in the middle: Saul, Steve’s wife, Shane. Steve’s wife was buried to the shoulder, while Saul was totally buried by snow.

II\ Difficulties

·      No one in 5 people has experienced avalanche before.
·      Saul is the husband of July, which put more stress on the situation.
·      Saul was caught in a trough 2m under the surface
·      It is hard to figure out what position of Saul because the flow of snow may take him far away from the position he was caught.

III\ Advantages

·      They had transceivers, avalanche shovel and avalanche probe
·      They worked professionally:
·      They spread out so that there are always lookouts
·      They did triage - rescue the most able first (and they may be able to assist later). 
·      Judy remembered position of Saul right before the avalanche happened

IV\ What saved Saul

It was the combination of on-the-spot problem-solving, training, procedure and equipment. One may say that the transceiver is the first help to figure out Saul’s position, but it wouldn’t help if Saul didn’t wear the device, or in case Saul was the only person who worn the device. And even though Judy and Steve worked very skillful, Saul would not have been saved without the equipment. Therefore, even though each part was essential, both the human and the technological factors, neither was sufficient on its own.

V\Conclusion

From the thinking of design of tools used in the case (transceiver, probe and shovel) I think that design methodology must take full account of the relevant ecosystem.


Reference

BUXTON, B. 2007. Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc.

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Dublin, Ireland
I am a Master student in UCD Michael Smurfit School. With broad experience in start-up, research, software industry and sale, I am actively seeking employment in consulting industry.