Uncharted learning

How design students recognised potential and transformed it into inspiration in times of coronavirus

The number of articles and posts by design experts about dealing with corona restrictions concerning, for instance, performing design research and ideating remotely, is tremendous. Our creativity has been challenged to find new ways of executing a design process to design new or improve upon existing services. The student teams who are currently participating in the Student Service Design Challenge are also dealing with this unique and demanding situation. No books or lessons had prepared them to anticipate and perform in such circumstances. How did they do research and collaborate? What creative ways did they find to jump over the hurdles? What can we learn from them? Get inspired by the creative solutions found by a new generation of designers. 

• The Student Service Design Challenge *) is initiated and powered by Philips Experience Design and co-organised with SERVICE DESIGN DAYS, in collaboration with IBM and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. It is a team competition for students currently enrolled in European universities and schools and pursuing studies in fields such as service design, innovation, sustainable design, industrial engineering, and user experience to name a few. The challenge aims to push the boundaries of service design and product innovation to solve prevalent global care issues in a local context. The 20 teams that have reached Round 4 (the final round of the challenge) have submitted their final solutions this week. Find more information on the challenge underneath the article.

The onset

As the challenge was getting underway, the coronavirus crisis started gaining momentum. At first, it seemed to affect specific areas in Europe. We witnessed how Milan and the Veneto area authorities took the bold and unprecedented decision to confine its entire population and stop everyday activities to preserve the capacity of their health system to be able to deal with the rapidly growing cases of patients in need of intensive care. The same decision was taken shortly after by Spanish authorities, and many other countries followed thereafter. Even in countries where such strict lockdown measures had not been adopted, everyday routines were heavily interrupted by the health crisis.

Consequently, schools across the continent (and the world) were abruptly closed. Uncertainty took hold as university students returned to their homes, and studies shifted online.

The teams participating in the challenge found themselves caught in the centre of this situation. By late February, the teams were working on Round 2 of the competition: The Discover Phase. During this stage, the teams had to conduct interviews, do fieldwork, and in-depth research to better define their proposals and identify their targets. Dispersed and with limited access to health professionals, the teams faced new problems and were forced to reinvent their working habits and use their creativity to find their way around many of the new limitations.

“When assigned to coach one of the teams earlier this year, Milan was just a name of a city known for its design heritage. Little did I know the role the pandemic would play in Italian lives in general, and in the students in particular- being in 'the eye of the storm' of global events.” - Ora Peled-Nakash, IBM Studios Haifa, coach of Student Design Team Milano

The obstacles

The first of the obstacles the teams encountered was logistics related. As most of the students decided to go back home, collaboration was forced to happen exclusively online. In some cases, students travelled back to their home countries, and this forced the collaboration to happen in very limited windows of opportunity because of the different time zones.

“The coronavirus outbreak landed us in a muddle of uncertainty. In a matter of days, the entire team was split up. We are working in four different countries spread across the globe and with (vastly) different time zones, which presented a new set of challenges.” - Student Design Team 1<3 women

This new reality caused some students to be initially unmotivated and it deeply affected their morale while shifting to new working methodologies. They felt scared at times, lonely and isolated. They also worried about their own health, both physical and mental, in trying to cope with the threat of the virus. This probably had the biggest impact on the teams' performance in the first stages of the lockdown as they had to figure out not only how to collaborate remotely as a team, but also had to address how to do the necessary research and fieldwork required for the projects.

Plans for all personal interactions had to change, especially around the perspective of an overwhelmed health system. Due to the pressures on the healthcare system the world over, it meant many experts understandably were no longer available to the teams, and so access to doctors for interviews became practically impossible. Furthermore, many of the target users also became extremely difficult to reach, as in most cases, these individuals were part of high-risk groups.

“Because of Covid-19, the students had no access to their stakeholders anymore. So they struggled to keep their solution user-focused because they had no chance to talk to someone.” - Robin Auer, IBM Studios Boeblingen, coach of Student Design Team No Pressure

The teams observed how it had become impossible to gain any first-hand perspective into the lives of their target groups. It became clear that access to those underserved and marginalized was even harder since most were not technologically savvy or were simply inaccessible by any means making it difficult to conduct user research and iterate ideas based on their pain points.

“Despite these challenges, the initial confusion, and uncertainty, it was inspiring to see how most teams responded to this situation. They switched their approaches almost overnight and found new ways to do research, communicate their findings, and prototype - both within the team as with external stakeholders. Often using a wide variety of amazing online tools available to them.” - Frank Kolkman, SSDC Main Coach

Pivoting research

The fact that the students were all under full lockdown modified the dynamics of the group and forced them to adopt a different way of working with newfound communication, collaboration and visualization tools. Gradually, they figured out how to combine methods to become more efficient.

Since they had more online working time, most teams switched to online interviews in order to gather information. Powered by service design methodology, finding and solving problems, they developed new ways to work around the obstacles. In researching and contacting their target groups, now that shadowing and face to face interviews were no longer possible, social media platforms and teleconferencing proved invaluable to stay in touch, conduct surveys, have interviews, and co-create and validate. At the same time, offline tasks based research methods like cultural probes allowed teams to still get somewhat of a personal perspective into the lives of their target users.

Some teams designed online activities like workshops for testing. Where prototyping became inconvenient, they developed storyboards of their various solutions to present to relevant users online in order to gather their feedback and feed into their iteration process.

In the absence of medical staff, teams discovered that pharmacies, online societies, support groups, and advocacy organizations could provide reliable support to their ideas and access to user information. During the ideation and prototyping round, teams missed the experience of direct testing with their users. However, in some cases, they were amazed to see how their users were filming, taking pictures and notes to relay to the team their experience as closely as possible. In this way, the users were more involved and personally invested than in traditional user testing approaches. 

New online tools and collaboration possibilities

The teams also relied more on online platforms as new ways of collaboration. Although at times their virtual brainstorming and ideation process left them going about in circles, they overcame this through the use of more detailed oriented steps, tasks, and considerations that were more visual and clear to all members.

“Suddenly, all we had were our houses, so we turned the rooms where we grew up into laboratories and meeting rooms, and our laptops into digital boards.” - Student Design Team Heartbit

 Brainstorming sessions became harder on a digital platform. As some teams have explained: looking into someone's thought process became more a form of presentation than collaboration. However, they soon got used to expressing themselves and collaborating by experimenting with new methods that allowed them to visualize the project from the different points of view of the stakeholders achieving a myriad of perspectives they had not envisioned possible. Some teams used the brainwriting method, which helped them look and expand on each other's ideas, widening their scope and the potential of each design concept. They all quickly got used to digital communication sessions on Skype, Google Meet, Zoom, Discord, etc., task management with Trello, and ideation, brainstorming and visual board collaboration using Miro, Mural and Canva.

The combination of new approaches and readily available remote working tools helped teams make sense of their activities. If in the beginning, the effort was more time consuming due to their unfamiliarity, they majoritarily achieved considerable progress and became comfortable with new ways of sharing their processes.

Shifting work to digital also resulted in teams being able to manage their time better. They also now had more available time slots and became strict about appointments times and meeting duration. Since no time was wasted in physical displacements, the overall time invested became more profitable and fruitful. The digital immersion also expedited their documentation process. And if a member of the team missed a meeting, the sessions were recorded for them to catch up at a later time.

The students themselves seemed amazed at how quickly they adapted to this new environment and working entirely with digital tools. With the mentoring sessions and lectures also happening online, they realized the potential and ease of use of a virtual setup.

“This showed us that we can definitely work from diverse places as a team and still perform and act as a team and also have amazing outcomes of our work.” - Student Design Team Bruce

On a more human sidenote, the teams also used their collaboration tools to connect with each other and bond. Watching movies, gaming, cooking, talking about themselves and their interests helped them come together and evade the grim and unsettling situation they were all experiencing. Some also became appreciative of not wasting post-its and other physical materials in their working process or not contaminating in their commutes and assuming a more sustainable stance towards the possibilities of new working habits.

Reframing the problem statement

While facing and overcoming the many hurdles the coronavirus pandemic brought about for the teams, it also supplied a good deal of new considerations and realizations about the products and services needed by today's society. The events and discussions that sprung up regarding technology and the shortcomings of the European healthcare system, for example, re-shaped many of the teams' ideas and approach towards a viable solution.

“It has perhaps allowed us to feel the meaning of isolation on our skin, giving us the opportunity to dive better into the context of our users' lives.” - Student Design Team Heartbit

 They reframed the usability and direction of their designs, including the current pandemic in the criteria. The crisis also helped them develop more empathy towards their target groups, most already suffering chronic health issues or considerably marginalized and ignored by the health systems. And provided them with a deeper understanding and concern for the user's mental health, communication problems, and the importance of support within their families.

While teams were able to conduct online interviews and adapt their methods regarding stakeholders, they creatively shifted their plans to consider long term ability to co-create, prototype, and iterate. In some cases, this resulted in redefining the target for one more accessible and open to digital collaboration. Teams were also quick to adapt their focus, abandoning choices that relied heavily on onsite research and testing in hospital settings, adopting topics that were more intangible, like bridging gaps in communication and patient lifestyle. Several teams revisited the research they had obtained in the early stages of the challenge and reexamined it under the light of the coronavirus outbreak.

“The teams recognized the potential in the situation and took inspiration from it, for example, by observing how many of the current health support systems are still relying mostly on physical presence. Highlighting new opportunities for digital/virtual services.” - Frank Kolkman, SSDC Main Coach

New (normal) opportunities

The unprecedented coronavirus crisis we are experiencing is exposing deficiencies in the health system in more serious ways we could never have imagined. Through pushing through the setbacks and working around repeated impediments, the situation revealed to the students that some of the solutions they considered initially did not fit this new reality and that for services and products to be robust and have some longevity, a new set of questions and parameters needed to be addressed and considered: remote monitoring, patient engagement through new communication channels, etc.

It also expanded the scope of their ideas as they considered time, space, and users in different situations conjuring innovative scenarios. How to design for the new normal and its many implications became a necessity for all solutions to soberly take into account. Many solutions revolve around preventive care and measures, involving as many stakeholders as possible in the choices presented to the users.

“Preventative health measures are vital for moving forward and not overburdening the healthcare system. The Coronavirus has taught us the value of remotely accessible, at-home solutions or, better yet, solutions that support prevention.” - Student Design Team K?ln

The stage has been set

For most students, the Student Service Design Challenge has given them purpose during these troubled times. It has challenged their creativity, forcing them to put theory into practice while adopting a positive stance in the face of adversity. They have shown how adaptive and resilient young talent can be by adjusting to exclusively remote researching and co-creating methods, isolation, and new channels for collaboration and communication. Students have shown that they can come up with ideas and imaginative solutions that are worth bringing to the forefront.

The final 20 Student Design Teams have creatively worked around obstacles and have redefined their scopes, user groups, and preferred solutions to address the current situation and design products and services that can endure the stresses affecting the system. Their resolve and enthusiasm have kept them going from round to round, confident that the learning experience was worth the effort.

“Personally, I believe that in the following months and years to come, there will be a task for healthcare professionals and designers alike to consider the continued physical and mental impact of Covid-19 on the user groups of this challenge - those with limited heart health.” - Frank Kolkman, SSDC Main Coach

 The stage has already been set by the students. Let’s reflect on their learnings and use the same positive energy to work together in challenging our own creativity and adaptability, collaborating and co-creating to design services that reflect the same resilience, inclusivity, and accessibility.

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*) Background SSDC:

The Student Service Design Challenge is initiated and powered by Philips Experience Design and co-organised with SERVICE DESIGN DAYS, in collaboration with IBM and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. It’s a team competition for students currently enrolled in European universities and schools and pursuing studies in fields such as service design, innovation, user experience, and sustainable design, among others. The challenge aims to push the boundaries of service design and product innovation to solve prevalent global care issues in a local context.

The brief centres around improving heart health (prevention and treatment) in Europe. It calls for students to adopt a human-centred approach to designing a service or product that tackles and narrows the health gap in providing heart health solutions that are accessible to all members of society, in particular, those underserved and forgotten by healthcare providers.

There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that social factors, including education, employment status, income level, gender, and ethnicity, strongly affect the degree of healthiness in people. For this reason, the United Nations has defined as one of its Sustainable Development Goals (#3) to: "Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages." This student service design challenge wants to contribute to this goal with the use of service design next generation's decisiveness, focus, passion, and energy.

The challenge is organised into rounds covering the stages of development for any given service, from discovery to prototyping. The teams have deadlines for deliverables at the end of each round showing their finding and progress for each step of the service design process. More than 35 teams submitted their proposals to qualify to participate in the competition. There are currently 20 teams who have reached Round 4, the final round of the challenge.

Throughout the rounds, all teams have worked closely with the Challenge Main Coach, Frank Kolkman, who has given them guidance and support and has mentored them through the hardest situations the teams have faced.

The teams have also been assigned an individual coach from IBM Studios around the globe. These assessment coaches meet with the students at the end of each round to evaluate and advise them on the work they have done, as well as trace the path for the next stage.

Throughout the challenge, the students have not only benefited from the expertise of and the close collaboration with the coaches, but they have also enjoyed lectures from seasoned professionals at Philips, IBM and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.