Core77 Design Award 2011: Hug, Student Runner-Up for Design for Social Impact
Posted in: Core77 Design Awards
Over the next months we will be highlighting award-winning projects and ideas from this year’s Core77 Design Awards! For full details on the project, jury commenting and more information about the awards program, go to Core77DesignAwards.com
Designer: GEORGE RESSLER
Location: Chesterfield, MO, USA
Category: Design for Social Impact
Award: Student Runner-Up
Hug is a new system of childhood vaccinations that employs an emerging technology for drug delivery with microneedles. Hug patches are efficient, heat tolerable, and most importantly painless. Hug’s vaccination system creates a stress free, informed experience for parent and child so they enjoy the intimate lifesaving moment together.
I took emerging medical technology out of the laboratory and designed a system for its distribution both in the USA and throughout the world as aid. Microneedle technology is currently being developed as an alternative to administering vaccinations through injection. However, the current state of the technology in the laboratory is cold and unusable in the real world. With this technology, I designed a system of touch points that redefine the vaccination experience for all stakeholders.
First, I conducted research to explore the problem and gather data from the stakeholders. Then I translated my data from research into actionable insights that fueled the development process. To develop the Hug system I created a brand, a series of products, and two unique services and distribution systems (one for the USA and one for vaccines sent as aid). The USA Hug service is focused on creating an intimate painless experience for the parent and child.
In addition to the vaccine delivery patch (Hug Patch), it also includes a children’s book and a stuffed Hug toy that the child can metaphorically vaccinate. The book and toy are tools to educate parents and children about vaccinations and to humanize the process. For the Hug aid system I designed packaging and distribution to maximize efficiency and provide tools to keep better medical records. I went above and beyond the brief of creating a single product by creating a system of products and services to embody my designed user experience.
Core77: What’s the latest news or development with your project?
The latest news about my project is that I passed everything to Georgia Tech and they are working on passing the FDA human trials of the microneedle vaccination patch loaded with a vaccine for influenza. While they will not develop the branding and actual product themselves some of my concepts pushing their thinking into a new direction. For example the concept of loading multiple vaccinations onto one patch started with a question I proposed to their researchers. In addition the project greatest development was related to my job search. This project along with my portfolio of work got me an amazing job with Lextant in Columbus Ohio, and that is really what mattered most to me.
Read on for full details on the project and jury comments.
Post a Comment