— CONCEPT NAME
Local Fire Alert
— ROLE
UX Writing
Content Strategy
Microcopy
An emergency alert may seem like a simple message, but it's a great example of how the right words make a real difference in people's lives.
An alert is an urgent message intended for thousands. It needs to be precise, while remaining general enough to resonate with all recipients.
THE CHALLENGE
Succinctly communicate with an entire local population about 1) the nature of an emergency situation, and 2) the recommended course of action.
THE APPROACH
I started with some research to obtain best practices for emergency alerts.
I learned, for example, that emergency alerts might use all-caps or lowercase, depending on the level of urgency.
I wanted to give key info in the initial notification, while leaving room for more details in the SMS.
My first version of the fire alert targeted someone about to drive to work:
EMERGENCY ALERT
Fire in Eatontown
Expect traffic, closures.
Drive with caution.
To make the message more universal, I changed two words.
Expect delays, closures.
Travel with caution.
The new context even opened up “closures” to potentially apply to not only roads but also businesses, schools, trains, and more.
The final message is 14 concise words, none of them minced, all of them universal, allowing the whole population to be informed and prepared to proceed safely.
