Hundreds send in ideas to improve missile alert system

The state’s first explanation for the Jan. 13 false missile alert that caused 38 minutes of panic in Hawaii was that a “button pusher” had clicked on the wrong item from a computer’s drop-down menu.

The menu, with no color or category differentiation, listed several options. The warning officer clicked the “PACOM (CDW) — STATE ONLY” instead of “DRILL-PACOM (DEMO) STATE ONLY.”

Website designers responded with disbelief that such an important screen didn’t make it more obvious to the officer which option was a drill and which one was the real alert.

So the designers set to work to come up with a better screen, or user interface.

The website Freelancer launched a contest called “Hawaii Needs Better yoUI!”

Within weeks, the Australia-based company received more than 300 entries from around the world. Freelancer selected and announced the winners Tuesday.

Sarah Danseglio of New York won the grand prize of $150. Danseglio created a simple sign-in home page requiring a username and password or finger scan, followed by a layout that places test alerts in a separate box from real alerts, above a map of the Hawaiian Islands. In addition, there is a drop-down activity monitor to the right that shows what each member of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency team is doing.

“This alert system for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency ensures that the user has a clear path and understanding of the alerts being sent out,” Danseglio wrote in her description. “The activity of other users in the system can be viewed in the activity monitor and on the map. When sending a true alert, the impact it will have is reflected in the security of the process. A confirmation message informs the user of their actions and presents an immediate option to retract them.”

Reynan Moreno from Brazil received the second-place prize of $100, while Lyza Villanueva from the Philippines won $75 for third place.

Moreno, a graphic design artist, came up with a color-coded design that separates functions under the categories of “Test,” “Warnings” and “Real Alerts.” He built in a function, with a real- time countdown of the warning in seconds, with an “undo” button right below it.

Villanueva, too, tried to clear out the clutter of various text alert types and used color-coded box icons to click on for drills/tests and real alerts. A highly visible false alarm button is also available for immediate activation.

He wrote that he was simply going for a design that was “clean and lightweight as possible” with attention to small details.

Aside from the winning entries, other designs stood out, according to Freelancer international director Sebastian Siseles, who added that the contest was launched to see what top designers from around the world could bring to the table.

No doubt a better design could go a long way toward preventing future false alerts, but it may not have stopped the Jan. 13 fiasco. That’s because the button pusher, who has since been fired and whose identity has not been released, said he was convinced at the time that there really was a missile bound for Hawaii.

Even with the world’s best user interface, if a human makes a mistake like that, there’s not much a web designer can do to prevent it.