Abstract
To enable informed decision making, effective weather risk communication requires visualizations that make scientifically accurate information understandable and that address the public's information needs. However, many current communication products struggle to achieve this goal. Using participatory design workshops and prototype development, we engaged vulnerable communities in South Florida to reimagine how NOAA's Hurricane Threats and Impacts (HTI) graphics communicate hurricane risk information. These sessions revealed information needs and visualization preferences of those directly impacted by hurricane threats. These critical, community-driven insights, combined with established visualization best practices, can be used to inform the development of new designs based on HTI graphics. Key design improvements focused on the representation of threat levels, impact communication, and spatial orientation. Specific modifications addressed product layout, color encoding, accessibility, and language barriers. The resulting prototypes illustrate how workshop findings translate into specific design decisions for hurricane impact risk graphics. This workshop-based approach can be adapted to support the design of community-informed risk communications for hurricane and potentially other weather hazards.