How Intuitive Design Could Have Prevented Hawaii's 38 Minutes of Terror

It was the false ballistic missile alert heard around the world. On January 13th, due to human error, a life-threatening message was dispersed throughout the state of Hawaii. In the wake of Honolulu�s recent conundrum, officials are unveiling insider details in the hope of providing solace, and the media has not been coy about disclosing their sentiments.

It was Honolulu Civil Beat, a news outlet stationed in Hawaii, who initially revealed some disheartening images via their twitter. Their message was concise and simple, much like the picture that accompanied the text. The tweet simply revealed that the "PACOM State Only Link" was clicked when the "Drill Link" was the one that was supposed to be utilized. The screencap that displayed beneath this text can best be described as elementary.

Of the measly ten commands that were displayed on the control screen, each were structurally incompetent and without any discernible variances. The jarring simplicity raises the question, shouldn�t the complexities of this UX design be increased tenfold? The government and its entities have long been touted as an intricately covert system, and this rudimentary governmental interface is what they have to show for it?

Between the �needs more indications� and the �this is not what money can buy� comments, this effortless portrayal of high-profile commands underscores the importance of solid user experience interface. Many people came to the controller�s aid, stating that you �can't blame the guy who pressed the button.� Instead, blame should be placed on the �jokers� who engineered such lackluster software.

Many speculated that freelancers overseas constructed the software while true skeptics believe the �false� alarm was prime political high jinks, intended to instill fear and nothing more. It was only after all of these disheartening comments surfaced that the State of Hawaii divulged new information. Honolulu Civil Beat took to Twitter once again to say that the State of Hawaii is "saying the original screenshot shared with the media is merely an example." Regardless of whether the initial screen shot was truly a simulation, for humankind's sake, let�s hope this ballistic missile alert was the last of its kind.