Project Overview
Emergency alerts are designed to communicate critical information quickly, but dense text and unclear visual hierarchy can make them difficult to understand at a glance. This project explores a redesign of emergency cell broadcast notifications, focusing on clearer information hierarchy, recognizable alert types, and actionable controls.
The goal was to make alerts quicker to scan, easier to understand, and less overwhelming—especially when users need to know immediately whether an alert requires action.
Issue & Fix
Issue :
Emergency alerts can overwhelm users with dense information, making it difficult to quickly understand what matters.
Fix :
Use clear hierarchy, alert labels, and concise messaging to help users understand the alert and what action, if any, is needed at a glance.
Key Stages
Dissecting key elements to understand how to arrange hierarchy in a text heavy
message.
“TEST”
The word “TEST” creates uncertainty
about whether the alert is actually
relevant.
Emotion: "Wait, what is happening?”
2.Sender
The government sender immediately signals
that the message could be important.
Emotion: “Oh, this is from the government
— this must be important.
But what happen?”
3.“Please ignore”
Being told to ignore the alert contradicts
its warning-like appearance.
Emotion: “Please Ignore? So nothing happen?”
4.“To STOP TEST messages”
Long instructions about disabling alerts
distract from the message's main purpose.
Emotion: “Do I really need to read all
of this?”
Final Design
The final experience introduces message scheduling without adding complexity to WhatsApp’s already feature-rich interface.
“TEXT ALERT”
A clear TEXT ALERT label immediately
communicates the type and importance
of the notification.
Emotion: “Okay, this is an text alert only"
2.Sender
The sender is now clearly identified
with the Government of India and
Department of Telecommunications,
making the source immediately recognizable
and trust worthy
Emotion: “But wait! It's a message from the
government, must be important!”
3.Clear "Call to Action"
The key takeaway is surfaced directly
below the alert, removing ambiguity
about what the user needs to do.
Emotion: “Okay, I don't need to do
anything. Fwee…”
4.“Turn off test alerts”
The lengthy instructions are replaced
with a single actionable control, allowing
users to turn off test alerts without
reading through settings instructions.
Emotion: “Great, let's turn it off later."
5.“Change Language”
A dedicated language selector allows
users to view the alert in a language
they understand, making critical
information more accessible across
different regions.
Emotion: “Great, Grandpa can also read
this emergency message!”
Learning
Hierarchy matters:
Critical information should be understood before supporting details.
Clarity reduces anxiety:
Clearly communicating what an alert means—and whether action is required—prevents unnecessary uncertainty.
Design for scanning:
Emergency notifications need to be understood in seconds, not read like a paragraph.
Make actions immediate:
Replacing lengthy instructions with a clear action reduces cognitive load.
Context builds trust:
Clearly identifying the sender helps users quickly understand where the alert is coming from.
