Developing an Application for Visualisation of Personnel Locations in Disaster Response Operations

Abstract: This master's thesis presents the development and evaluation of an application visualising the operators' current positions in disaster area operations. The application was developed to address limitations in their current working methods, which currently rely on verbal communication and manual position mapping. The requirements and needs of the end-users were identified at the beginning of the study. Then, the application was developed over three iterations and improved iteratively based on the requirements and results of the evaluations. The proposed solution visualises the operators' positions on a map that can be supported in an off-the-grid environment. End-users evaluated the application to measure the level of usability and the impact the new system would have. The findings indicated that an application can impact today's operations by providing operators with better situational awareness. Further, the application could lead to more safe and efficient operations. Overall, this master's thesis adds to the continuous improvement of operational capabilities in disaster areas using technology.