Designing during, and for Pandemics

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic may have captured our attention over the last months, but there are several pandemics currently active. Understanding the nature of a pandemic and learning how to design for, and during a pandemic is more than a contemporary need. In this workshop we will introduce the stages of a pandemic using a public health perspective, and together with the participants, we will reflect on designing for each stage and different potential stakeholders. The aim of the workshop is to explore how we design during pandemics such as COVID-19 and how these situations can influence the design of previously developed health and wellbeing related solutions, as well as our practices as designers. The objectives are to: (1) gain understanding regarding infectious outbreaks, (2) explore design opportunities and challenges during rapidly changing contexts, (3) reflect on the effect of a pandemic on the design process. The benefits of this multidisciplinary workshop are multiple, some of which are: understanding of the pandemic, familiarizing with design tools suitable for designing through pandemics, and exploration of ideas on designing for and during pandemics.