Can Design Prevent The Zika Virus?
Design today is about much more than just form and function; it’s about empathy, collaboration, culture and solving larger scale problems. It has driven technology innovation in Silicon Valley and has the potential to do the same for problems that affect millions of people in developing countries.
A current health crisis is the Zika virus, which is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito and is affecting many people in my home country, El Salvador and other parts of Latin America. The World Health Organization has declared the Zika virus a public health emergency of international concern. Since the virus has no specific cure or vaccine and is suspected to increase the likelihood of microcephaly in unborn children, pregnant women and health officials are very concerned. As the number of Zika cases increase, the calling for creative solutions to protect pregnant women against the virus is indispensable. By applying design methodologies to the Zika virus crisis, we can discover new ways to prevent and relieve this health emergency.
Looking at Zika Through the Design-Thinking Lens
While science is working on finding the cure for Zika, we must also use creative thinking to prevent and relieve this health emergency. By utilizing design-thinking principles, we can discover potential solutions faster and act upon them.
Empathy
One of the core values of the design process is empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Empathy allows teams to discover disruptive insights, new opportunities, and solutions that are not necessarily traditional or expected. We must approach the Zika virus problem by understanding the realities of Central and South American women. A large majority of the pregnant women being affected by the virus have limited or no access to healthcare. Current prevention strategies by the government have failed to understand and empathize with women in Latin America, and other prevention control efforts have barely scratched the surface of possible solutions. To start tapping into thoughtful solutions, we must understand not only the user’s economic status, but also their culture, beliefs and true needs.
Collaborative Ideation
The complexity of the Zika virus calls for an interdisciplinary group of people who regardless of their background, can approach the crisis with a design-thinking mindset. When a team of talented and collaborative people come together, a powerful change occurs. What we often fail to see is that it takes many industries to create new products and services. If we are able to bring experts from a broad range of industries together, we can create outstanding solutions that seamlessly integrate into people’s lives and environments.
Prototyping and Testing
Prevention and relief solutions for the Zika virus are far from obvious, and because of that ideas must be prototyped and tested. The design process encourages teams to prototype their ideas sooner rather than later. By doing so, it’s easier to quickly identify pain points and extract the best ideas.
Creating Strategies for Implementation
The way we implement problem solutions in developing countries is just as important as the solution itself. It is important to note that a large amount of people in developing countries live in areas which are isolated from urban spaces. Therefore, implementation strategies must not only take into account geographical outreach, but also literacy rates and cultural norms. Since the Zika outbreak has already affected thousands of people, we must implement emergency relief and prevention strategies as we develop long term solutions.
Contribution Matters
At the end of the day, it comes down to solving problems. It does not matter how big or small your idea is as long as it contributes value. Sometimes blending big and small ideas can yield the best results and there is no doubt that a collection of small contributions can have a big impact.
If we apply design-thinking to global emergencies like the Zika virus, we could come up with thought-out solutions that resonate with their users and drive real long term change. The risks of this virus affecting people around the world are too high to be left unobserved.
Silvana Zaldivar is an Industrial Designer at Matter in San Francisco, CA.
