citizenAID

Constantly crashing

The information in this app is all sound, so far as it goes, and will save lives if used as directed in emergent crisis situations. The app suffers badly, though, from poorly-thought graphic design and user interaction decisions, and these unfortunately render it ineffectual, verging on dangerous. I cannot recommend it as-is. Strongly recommend that the team engages an information architect for their next version, test novice users’ ability to make use of the app under simulated crisis conditions, and iterate accordingly.

As a women I am constantly facing harassment from men on the tube, train, street etc, and I know this is something that all women have to deal with on a regular basis. Often there are lots of people around but nobody steps in to assist. I’d love to see some advice to educate people in how they can step in and help

I got this about 5 years ago and use it for staff tool box talks.

Whilst suffering from a catastrophic bleed, I instructed someone else to improvise a tourniquet, using the instructions in this app, which saved my life. Please please please download, learn and share. It’s simple, and it’ll save yours or someone else’s life.

This is such an important idea - being prepared to deal with an emergency could save lives, including your own. So far all the information in this app seems sensible & accurate, but boy is is hard work ploughing through it! I’m a total nerd & love learning & reading about pretty much anything & am quite capable of dealing with big academic tomes, but this app is so poorly designed I found my head spinning! The graphic design is very warning poster-meets-government leaflet. All block text & bold colour. Great for grabbing attention on your doormat, horrible for focused or panicked learning. The flow charts are difficult to decipher, with unclear symbols and too much crammed into one space. Then the navigation is like something from a DIY homepage in the 90s - unintuitive, inconsistent & totally confusing. It really doesn’t take advantage of smartphones natural swipe & zoom functions that people are used to using & forces you into multiple back-clicks when shortcuts would be more useful. There’s even one button that doesn’t seem to do anything! I can’t imagine trying to use this thing in a crisis- it’s hard enough trying to use it for preparation! It also misses out on the opportunity to offer app-driven learning (like “tip of the day” or progress challenges, quizzes to test knowledge etc). Instead it relies on us to motivate ourselves to knuckle down & study - something few of us have time/energy for. Make it easy, make it fun even & we’ll be more engaged. With a new design & user-interface approach this could be a brilliant, must-have app. For now, I’m going to look for an easier way of absorbing the same information.

No

Well built app giving vital information just in case it’s required. Explained this to my children, easy to use and displayed in a friendly way....

Excellent app for lay people to be prepared - not scared. Some really good simple first aid advice to use in a crisis. Excellent in recommended improvised first aid as opposed to the usual drivel from most first aid organisations about MUST use proper dressings and MUST be a first Aider, and MUST have a policy etc This is some good old fashioned common sense advise to use in saving a life

This app contains vital information on what to do in various emergency situations i.e. bomb, gun, knife attacks. Others have commented that it feels like a leaflet, and I agree. The first page shows a picture of someone holding what appears to be a leaflet version of the app. On first opening the app I was completely confused by its layout. However after about 5 minutes I understood it. Some have commented that they wouldn't like to be faced with using this during an emergency. Whilst I understand this, it also needs to be remembered that you need to have prepared yourself beforehand by familiarising yourself with relevant info and the app (irrespective of its layout) so when an emergency arises you have some idea of what you're doing. In summary though, the app is really useful but would benefit from some redesigning.