Jingjing Bao

Protecting Your Home from Wildfire

From Awareness to Action

I designed an interactive learning experience that helps Washoe County residents identify household vulnerabilities and build a personalized wildfire preparedness plan.

Try the experience Read Design Story

The Challenge

Wildfire preparedness guidance often presents broad recommendations that can be difficult to translate into household decisions. The challenge was to help Washoe County residents move beyond general risk awareness to identify vulnerabilities and determine practical actions for their own homes.

1. Generic wildfire recommendations

  • Upgrade Roofing:Install Class A fire-rated roofing.
  • Protect Vents:Cover vents with ≤ 1/8” wire mesh.
  • Clear Roof Debris:Keep roofs free of leaves and debris.
  • Harden Windows:Use multi-pane, tempered glass.
  • Reinforce Walls:Apply fire-resistant exterior siding.

2. Personalized home action planning

Sample interface · Demo data

My Wildfire Preparedness Plan

5 / 5sections saved

Hi Jordan, review and edit your plan below, then download the complete plan.

  1. 01Home protectionComplete
  2. 02Landscape protectionComplete
  3. 03Evacuation routesComplete
  4. 04Family meeting planComplete
  5. 05Go-kit checklistComplete
Home protection
CompleteEdit
Areas to check or improve
RoofMay need attention

Ask a contractor whether roofing materials meet wildfire recommendations.

VentNot sure

Check ember-resistant vent screens.

Already assessed: Window
Your next stepCheck vent screens · This week
Download complete plan
From general recommendations to a personalized plan with priorities and next steps.

The Design Strategy

I structured the experience as a progressive learning journey, guiding learners from understanding community-level risk to identifying household vulnerabilities and planning protective actions.

Asking learners to estimate local risk before seeing reported data gives them an opportunity to compare their assumptions with the information presented. The simulation provides practice recognizing hazards before learners assess their own landscape and choose actions relevant to their home.

From Awareness to Action

  1. 01 — Understand Local Risk

    Estimate community wildfire risk and compare it with reported data.

  2. 02 — Identify Vulnerabilities

    Explore interactive home and landscape scenarios to recognize hazards and mitigation strategies.

  3. 03 — Plan Protective Actions

    Prioritize home improvements and develop a personalized home and evacuation plan.

Identify simulated hazards, assess your own landscape, and plan protective actions.

Text walkthrough · Landscape activity
  1. Explore the landscape and look for the seven hazards.
  2. Select a hazard to reveal its recommended action. For example, the driveway prompt calls for clear access for fire trucks.
  3. Apply the indicated fix and continue identifying hazards. The scene includes a hazards-fixed counter and a hint option.
  4. After completing the simulation, assess risks in your own landscape and plan actions to address them.

Personalization & The Build

I combined Articulate Storyline with custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Web Objects to create dynamic interactions, capture learner-specific inputs, and generate individualized content.

Rather than relying on generic recommendations, learners make decisions relevant to their circumstances—from prioritizing home improvements and setting action timelines to identifying evacuation routes and family meeting places.

Build a household go-kit checklist by marking supplies as ready, needing to be packed, or not needed.

Text walkthrough · Go-kit planning
  1. Open “Create checklist” in the evacuation planning activity.
  2. Mark supplies as ready, needing to be packed, or not needed. Consider household needs such as pet supplies, infant or child supplies, assistive devices, and special dietary supplies.
  3. Add any other item your household would need, then choose “Review my checklist.”

The Deliverable

The experience culminates in a personalized, downloadable wildfire preparedness plan built from each learner's decisions. This tangible takeaway bridges the gap between knowing what to do and having a concrete plan for taking action.

Protecting your home from wildfirePersonal preparedness plan

My Wildfire
Preparedness Plan

Prepared forJordan
Created10/5/2026

01 Home protection

Areas to check or improve
RoofMay need attention

Ask a contractor whether roofing materials meet wildfire recommendations.

VentNot sure

Check ember-resistant vent screens.

Already assessed
Probably okayWindow
First action
Vent
When
This week

02 Landscape protection

Areas to check or improve
Grass and weedsMay need attention

Trim long grass and remove dry weeds near the home.

Keep this plan updatedPage 1 of 5
Sample plan with personalized actions and timelines · Demo data.View sample preparedness plan (PDF)
Try the experience

Reflection

AI-assisted development

Although I could build the personalization activities entirely in Storyline, I used ChatGPT to explore AI-assisted development. Generating the initial interactions and adding them as Web Objects was quick and straightforward. Refining the UI and UX took longer: I repeatedly tested the interactions within Storyline, returned to ChatGPT for adjustments, and retested. In this project, AI accelerated the initial coding, but the full design and testing process did not save time overall.

Encouraging action after the course

A downloadable plan gives learners a concrete next step, but I have not established whether learners would follow through on their plans. In a future version, I would explore resident stories that connect preparedness decisions to lived experiences. I would test whether these stories help learners see the relevance of their plans and follow through on their chosen actions.