Insights and Opportunities for HCI Research into Hurricane Risk Communication

ABSTRACTCommunicating risk to the public in the lead-up to tropical storms has the potential to significantly reduce the impacts on both livelihood and property. While significant research has been conducted in the storm risk community on how people receive, seek, and utilize risk information, given the importance of computing technologies and social media in these activities, human-centered design stands to make important contributions to this area. Drawing on an extensive literature review and 48 interviews with hurricane experts and members of the public, this paper makes three contributions. First, we provide a broad overview of hurricane risk communication. We then offer a set of guiding insights to inform HCI research work in this domain. Finally, we identify 6 opportunities that future human centered design work might pursue. In sum, this paper offers an invitation and a starting point for HCI to take up the problem of hurricane risk communication.