Hurricane Prep for Homeowners
Click Each Marker to Learn How to Protect Your Home From Hurricane Damage
This interactive eLearning concept project helps homeowners identify the exterior elements of a home most vulnerable to hurricane damage and apply specific mitigation actions to reduce risk and enhance resilience. Built in Articulate Storyline 360, learners explore a house diagram where clickable hotspots reveal concise, evidence-based preparation steps.
Audience: Homeowners living in hurricane-prone regions
Responsibilities: Instructional Design • Research • Visual Design • eLearning Development
Tools Used: Articulate Storyline 360 • Freepik • ChatGPT
The Problem
Each year, hurricanes cause extensive home damage across the southeastern United States, often leading to financial strain, displacement, and prolonged recovery for families. Many homeowners lack a clear understanding of which exterior home features are most vulnerable and what proactive steps they can take to reduce storm-related damage.
The challenge was to create an engaging, easy-to-follow resource that empowers homeowners with clear, actionable guidance to apply before a storm hits.
The Solution
I designed an interactive, self-paced eLearning tool where learners explore an exterior house diagram and select hotspots to reveal concise, evidence-based preparation steps. Each hotspot explains the types of damage that can occur during a hurricane, and what specific actions homeowners can take to prevent or reduce that damage. This user-driven format allows homeowners to quickly understand their home’s vulnerabilities and learn essential actions that can help them avoid costly repairs.
My Process
To ensure accuracy and credibility, I reviewed official guidelines from FEMA, Ready.gov, and the National Hurricane Center. From this research, I identified the key exterior vulnerabilities (roofing, windows, doors, landscaping, etc.) and paired each with evidence-based mitigation strategies.
Guided by Cognitive Load Theory, I focused the content exclusively on essential hurricane-specific actions, removing extraneous home maintenance details that could overwhelm learners. Using ChatGPT for early drafting, I aligned performance outcomes to Bloom’s Taxonomy, ensuring learners could both identify risks and apply practical preparation steps.
I applied elements of Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction, starting with an animated house to gain attention and using hotspot interactions to deliver just-in-time guidance. I also incorporated Mayer’s Multimedia Principles, including coherence (concise text), signaling (hotspots that direct attention), and spatial contiguity (guidance tips near corresponding visual aid).
Developed in Articulate Storyline 360, the project features an animated house to ensure universal appeal across different home styles. Each hotspot opens a tip window with photographic images sourced from Freepik, helping learners visually identify features and understand proper preparation techniques.
Together, these strategies create a focused, intuitive, and visually meaningful learning experience that delivers accessible, evidence-based hurricane preparation guidance.
Results and Takeaways
This project demonstrates my ability to translate technical safety information into a clear, engaging digital learning experience. It highlights my strengths in instructional design, visual communication, research synthesis, and user-centered design.
The experience is optimized for desktop and laptop use due to the hover-based hotspot interactions of element name reveal. In future iterations, I would explore a more mobile-responsive redesign to improve accessibility across devices.
If scaled for real-world use, this tool has the potential to empower homeowners to prepare effectively for hurricanes—reducing damage, stress, and financial burden during hurricane season.
Through this project, I strengthened my skills in learning science, multimedia design, and interactive learning strategies to create impactful real-world learning solutions.