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advertisement advertisement advertisement The year 2020 broke disaster records across the country in destructive and expensive ways. The Atlantic had so many hurricanes, meteorologists ran out of tropical storm names for only the second time. Across the Midwest, extreme storms flattened crops and tore up buildings. Western states repeatedly broke records for their largest wildfires on record. Globally, it was tied for the hottest year on record. advertisement advertisement All told, in 2020 the U.S. had 22 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, six more than any previous year, NOAA announced on January 8. Such disasters affect millions of Americans and are particularly devastating for low-income communities and communities of color. They destroy homes, schools, and businesses. They put lives at risk. Families, communities, and taxpayers are paying the price, yet many of these losses could be avoided with smart policies. For example, the National … [Read more...] about Billion-dollar natural disasters hit the U.S. a record 22 times in 2020

advertisement advertisement advertisement When Lisa deBettencourt helped her 75-year-old father register on New Hampshire’s COVID-19 vaccine website, the digital health design expert had low expectations. But even she was alarmed when, after informing the system her father was over 65 years old, it asked if he was currently pregnant. With no alternative, she carefully completed the rest of the process, or so she thought. She had no way of knowing that more frustrations were ahead. advertisement advertisement deBettencourt’s experience attempting to register her father for the vaccine mirrors that of countless other people across the country, who have spent hours online, desperate for an appointment. But these frustrations are emblematic of a larger problem: government websites that are poorly designed and don’t actually reach the users they need to. Here are four lessons we can learn from the disastrous vaccine rollout. … [Read more...] about 4 design lessons from the disastrous vaccine rollout

advertisement advertisement advertisement We live in a whirlwind of information. We’re all consuming media minute to minute in ways we could never imagine just five years ago. New social media platforms like TikTok have us laughing and dancing, and we watch breaking news live as events unfold as if we were there. Yes, we live much of our lives online, and with the pandemic plunging us into a work-from-home future, our workplace too has suddenly gone digital. advertisement advertisement The pandemic accelerated certain behaviors by 5 to 10 years, ushering in the “future of work” we’ve all been hearing about for so long. We’ve all engaged, to some degree, in a mass remote work experiment. Digital platforms have performed exceedingly well during this time: Zoom has become the de facto video meeting software and filled the void of face-to-face meetings and office chats. Slack and Teams have allowed for easy and quick communication … [Read more...] about 4 ways internal podcasts can help boost remote employee engagement