Beyond Rationality: Information Design for Supporting Emergent Groups in Emergency Response

Abstract

Acknowledging that real-time information is central to emergency response, we advocate that information provided to decision makers – especially the emergent groups who happen to be at the crisis scene and are called upon to help under extraordinary conditions – should not just be designed to support ­problem-solving in a rational behaviour. Based on a framework of cognitive, affective and situational information support, we call for inclusion of information that helps deal with emotion and stress, reinforces motivation to help, and nurtures a sense of altruism. To illustrate our discussion, we sketch a set of information templates as successive conceptual instantiations of our theoretical exploration. As authorities are still debating on how to use emergent groups effectively, our attempt to outline a foundation of information analysis beyond the rational decision-making paradigm is a systematic and necessary step towards effective decision support to the volunteer-helpers.