#COVID19DesignChallenge

The WDO (World Design Organisation) call for contribution:

Mobilizing the global design community for COVID-19

On 18 March, WDO launched an initiative in partnership with IBM and Design for America to create a global design mobilization effort for COVID-19 and invited designers to join our mission.

In a 24-hour turn around, we collected an initial 180 challenge statements that we then clustered into seven key challenges based on the urgency and potential impact of these if addressed.

We’ve kicked-off a number of volunteer workgroups around the globe, who will be working remotely together using IBM’s Enterprise Design Thinking to address the most urgent challenges and are seeking interested and passionate designers willing to contribute to this important project.

The COVID-19 pandemic, as we all know, represents one of the greatest challenges we’ve faced in recent decades and we believe that collectively, designers and design thinkers have a duty to use our skills to do our part to turn our collective anxieties into positive action.

Key issues explored in the working groups:

_ Safe behaviour and social distancing

_ Communications: Strategies that clearly inform and prevent confusing, incorrect, and potentially dangerous information about COVID-19

_ Medical equipment: personal protective equipment, ventilators, etc. for medical staff and patients

_ Medical workers and processes: best practices for designing clinics and hospitals for testing and treatment

_ Re-inventing in-class to remote learning

_ Vulnerable groups: including the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, the homeless, the incarcerated, people in countries without public healthcare, etc.

_ Workforce: helping workers who have lost jobs cope and develop new digital skills

Note: I am part of one of the working groups, leading Europe/Africa team with the HMW question: “How might we creatively help provide requisite personal protective equipment, ventilators, etc. in sufficient numbers needed to protect medical staff and support patients”.

To be continued.