ESID is a UI concept for a publicly available online simulation tool which allows the interested public, decision-makers and experts to assess the course of the COVID-19 pandemic using various scenarios. Users can create their own scenarios, compare them at a glance, and define non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) based on contact rates. The webapp provides users an interface to the new SIR-type model of the German Aerospace Center.

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) are developing a mathematical model that can simulate the impact of containment measures on the course of the COVID-19 pandemic over several months. Despite its complexity, this model is to be made available to users via an intuitive user interface as an online simulation tool.

In cooperation with the DLR and the HZI, Julien Stoll and Valerie Grappendorf designed a custom fit user interface for this new SIR-type model. The focus of the students was on user research, concept development and user-centered design of the interface. During the user research phase and the qualitative usability testing the target users of the product where interviewed: politicians like members of the German parliament, experts in modelling and epidemiology aswell as regular laypersons interested in the trajectory of the pandemic.

The online simulation tool is designed as a publicly accessible web application. Users can create their own scenarios, compare them with each other and define their own containment measures based on contact rates.

With this tool interested laypersons, decision-makers, and their advisors are enabled to better understand the development of the pandemic and to to weigh different options in crisis management based on predictive simulations.