One of the most serendipitous design accomplishments anyone can achieve is discovering a new and useful application for an existing tool or artifact that is equally as functional as its original intent. Every good designer needs to be good at making connections and finding solutions to problems with the greatest economy of effort. And nothing requires less effort than using something that already exists to solve an otherwise intractable problem—kind of like the Waffle House Index.
Now, obviously, the original and most important application of the Waffle House itself is to satiate cravings for breakfast foods at any hour of the day or night. This it does without compare. No matter where you are across the southeastern portion of the United States, you are rarely more than a short drive to breakfast nirvana. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. 365 days a year. Rain or shine. For the most part, anyway. Another fun fact about the southeastern portion of the United States is that this is also, more often than not, the terminus for Atlantic-borne storms, often referred to as Hurricane Alley. Strange coincidence, huh?
The dedication and resilience of the Waffle House and its employees are almost as renowned as its deliciously eponymous waffles themselves. It takes a lot to close down a Waffle House, and only even more dire conditions would be required to keep one of their restaurants offline for more than was absolutely necessary. Any dedicated Waffle House aficionado would know this. And now, so does FEMA.
The Waffle House Index was created by an act of design serendipity so profound I hesitate to credit a governmental bureaucrat with its discovery. What was realized was that the simplest solution to tracking the path, severity, and lasting damage of a storm was not to build networks of sensors and on-the-ground reports of what happened where. Instead, all that was needed was to simply tap into the freely available and publically posted operating status of the network of Waffle House franchises. With this single tool, it was possible to tell, with great accuracy, where the most significant storm damage occurred (Waffle Houses are closed) and where services were merely limited (Waffle Houses are operating at diminished capacity). Brilliant in its simplicity.
I don’t know about you, but such a great design solution really builds up an appetite. Who’s up for waffles?
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