FireGrid

Web application to enhance incident management, support evidence-based decision-making, and improve overall firefighting safety practices.

Project type: End-to-end web application

Role: UX designer (reported to Maria C. Mardon, Global Design Lead, Safety io GmbH)

Industry: Public Safety, Software Development

Tools: Figma, Miro, Zoom

Duration: Q4 2022 – Q1 2023

Problem Statement

First responders and incident managers lack a centralized, efficient, and intuitive system to log fire events, visualize firefighter safety data, and track evacuation procedures—resulting in lost insights and missed opportunities for safety improvement.

Empathize

Understanding the Users and Context

Objective: Gain deep insights into the needs, challenges, and environments of firefighters, analysts, and safety officers.

Activities Done:

Stakeholder interviews with safety officers
Reviewed existing reporting methods and safety protocols
Identified pain points in current fire incident documentation processes

Observations:

Firefighters struggle with remembering all details after a high-stress incident
Manual reporting causes delays of up to 3 days
No visual way to correlate alarms and SCBA events over time
Lack of trust in data due to scattered or missing logs

Define

Identifying the Core Problem

Objective: Clearly articulate the problem based on user needs and insights.

Problem Statement:

Traditional incident reporting for firefighting was manual, delayed, and reactive—making it difficult to analyze root causes quickly, especially in cases of injury or fatality. Key data was retrieved after sending SCBA devices back to base, often resulting in delayed insights.

Existing incident reporting flow

User Personas

User Needs:

Firefighters need an easy and efficient way to log incident quickly.
Safety officers need access to reliable data for post-incident reviews
Analysts require visual, actionable insights for decision-making

Ideate

Arriving at Solutions

Objective: Explore a wide range of ideas to solve the defined problem.

User flow

Ideation Techniques Used:

Brainstorming sessions with stakeholders
Sketching wireframes and workflows
Creating user flows for different roles ( Safety Officer, Supervisor, Analyst)

Key Ideas Explored:

Role-based dashboards (Safety Officer, Supervisor, Analyst)
Stats like total incidents, incident type break up, summary stats like average incident duration, average air used
Interactive event timeline with filters for alarms (low pressure, lunar events, disconnections)
Exportable reports for authorities

Prototype

Designing Flows to Refine Usability

Objective: Create interactive versions of the application to test key functionalities and user interactions.

Low-fidelity Wireframes

High-fidelity Mockups

Prototypes Created:

Low-fidelity wireframes to map structure and flow
Mid-fidelity clickable prototypes (Figma)
High-fidelity mockups showing data dashboards, forms, analytics

Design Elements:

Clear information hierarchy
Minimal UI for ease during stressful situations
Icons, colors, and layouts that align with firefighting context
Real-time updates and data feedback loops

Test

Refining Based on User Feedback

Objective: Validate assumptions, discover usability issues, and iterate based on feedback.

Testing Activities:

Usability testing sessions with safety officers and analysts
Tasks included: interpreting pie chart data, reading timeline, exporting report
Task completion rate analysis (e.g., how easily users could find a specific incident and download the report)

Findings and Iterations:

Refined chart legends and terminology
Added hover states and downloadable PDF reports
Included filters for multiple incidents comparison
Improved offline data handling and sync reliability
Added tooltips to alarm icons

Impact & Takeaways

Results:

Reduced post-incident report generation time from hours to minutes
Improved accuracy in identifying cause of injury/failure using event timeline
Received positive feedback from field testers

What I Learned:

Designing for emergency services requires a deep understanding of stress behavior and fast decision-making
Early engagement with real users shapes meaningful dashboards
Visualizing complex data (like SCBA events) requires a balance of clarity and depth

Final Thoughts

Designing this application helped me deeply understand how technology can support real-life heroes. My focus was on usability in high-pressure contexts, data clarity, and creating interfaces that support safety through design.