Safety First , Dave Remedios

Strategic Design  ·  Project 04

Safety
First

Designing for resilience: a human-centred approach to climate-related emergency preparedness at The New School, Manhattan.

Project Details 04

Role

Design Researcher & Systems Strategist

Skills

Systems Design Surveys Stakeholder Interviews Communication Design Climate Resilience

Challenge

Address and improve The New School's community preparedness plan and communication methods during climate emergencies.

Partner

The New School, Manhattan, New York

Team

Dave Remedios, Marion Sadavoy, Deeksha Manjunath, Arunima Sinha, Mrunmayee Arjunwadkar

Year

2024  ·  Parsons School of Design, NY

Type

Systems Design Research

Institution

Parsons School of Design, NY

Disciplines

Climate Resilience · Systems Design · Communication

Duration

One semester · 2024

The New School, Manhattan

Design Brief

How might we address and improve The New School's community preparedness plan and communication methods during climate-related disasters, ensuring rapid, clear and inclusive information reaches every member of the campus community when it matters most.

Strategy Adopted

A multi-layered
research approach

Sixteen sequential steps from initial brief to final delivery, combining benchmarking, surveys, stakeholder interviews, synthesis and prototyping into a complete research-to-recommendation process.

01

Brainstorming

Reviewed brief, divided research topics

02

Research

NYC Emergency Preparedness plans, advocacy groups

03

Brainstorming

Questions prepared for the safety team

04

Survey / Interviews

Interviewed campus safety personnel

05

Mind Mapping

Analysed and clustered interview findings

06

What Is

Communication audit of existing TNS channels

13

Combined Journey Map

Combined journey of 3 personas

12

Persona Development

Personas developed and journeys mapped

11

Empathy Mapping

Based on interview and survey insights

10

Insights Survey

Survey findings from TNS Community

09

Stakeholder Mapping

Decision makers and affected parties mapped

08

Prototyping

Based on research and assumptions

07

Assumption Mapping

Pain points and solutions outlined

14

Advocacy Interviews

Union Square Partnership and CIDNY

15

Presentation

Mockups of communication improvements

16

Two-Day Workshop

Behavioural and mindset change at TNS

The Analysis

Synthesising insights
into action

A variety of project facilitation tools were used to collectively generate ideas for solutions and intervention strategies aimed at enhancing safety communication within The New School.

The team's diverse backgrounds added depth, each member bringing unique perspectives rooted in different experiences of climate risk and institutional communication. The approach centred on improving existing channels rather than building from scratch.

Research synthesis mapping
Research synthesis mapping
Cluster Mapping
01

Cluster Mapping

Stakeholder Mapping
02

Stakeholder Mapping

Empathy Mapping
03

Empathy Mapping

Persona and Journey Mapping
04

Persona and Journey Mapping

Digital Prototyping
05

Digital Prototyping

Survey Responses

The community
speaks clearly

138

Total responses

8

Highlighted here

4

Key themes

01 Clarity

Better communication and explanation of the procedure for preparedness

02 Clarity

Clear communication on what the plan is

03 Engagement

Something engaging in-person, or make it mandatory in the beginning of the term

04 Multi-channel

Send alerts through both text and email

05 Training

Maybe do a required virtual training like we do for sexual harassment?

06 Frequency

Maybe even during non-emergency times, sending quick tips and reminders

07 Interactive

An interactive experience, how to use stairs, open windows, doors, etc

08 Scenarios

Canvas 15-min training, promoted in the newsletter and weekly reminder until done

Themes

Clarity Engagement Multi-channel Training Frequency Interactive Scenarios

Communication Strategy

Three channels,
one clear message

The team proposed a three-channel framework designed to reach every member of the TNS community , combining push notifications, email and physical campus signage , and embedded systematically into the everyday rhythms of campus life so preparedness becomes habitual rather than reactive.

The core insight

One-off emergency communications fail because they lack context and repetition. Safety must be embedded into the weekly rhythms of campus life.

Alert System
Channel 01 , Alert System: real-time push notifications via text and email
Newsletter integration
Channel 02 , Digital Platforms: embedding safety into existing newsletters and Canvas
Training reminders
Channel 03 , Weekly Reminders: safety updates sent via digital channels throughout the term

Emergency Communication System

Two pillars.
One resilient system.

2 Core channels
4 Digital touchpoints
Day 1 Awareness begins
01

Education First

Before students set foot on campus, they know what to do.

  • Mandatory onboarding module , completed before arrival
  • Emergency protocols embedded from Day 1
  • Every channel, every procedure , known in advance
Faster response. Zero confusion under pressure.
02

Integrated Ecosystem

A hybrid network , digital and physical , that never goes silent.

🌐 Web 📱 Mobile 💬 SMS 📍 Signage

A redundant multi-channel ecosystem ensures critical information reaches students, staff and management instantly , regardless of the situation.

Resilient. Redundant. Instant.

The combined result

Faster response times
Higher campus-wide preparedness
Reliable delivery across all user groups

Outcome

Recommendations formally endorsed
for institutional implementation

The team's multi-channel communication framework and training recommendations were shared with TNS leadership and received a formal endorsement from the Assistant Director of Emergency Operations, who expressed a clear intent to begin stakeholder conversations to implement the proposals.

"Thank you for sharing the executive summary with me. I am very impressed by your suggested improvements to our alert system and various channels of communication. With your permission, I would like to begin the conversation with the various stakeholders to implement your recommendations. I will always give you all the credit for the improvements , after all they are your ideas , and hopefully you will begin to see them come to fruition in future iterations of the communication channels."

Scott Belford, Assistant Director of Emergency Operations, The New School

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