Design Post-COVID Normal (DPCN)

About the Program

With COVID-19, “normal” changes, existing systems cannot respond to human needs and we can perceive that the problems are diversifying and deepening day by day. While this situation requires us to take quick action; Maker Majlis not only develops solutions to today's problems but also designs the systems of tomorrow. In this period of change, the team feels the need to hear more individual voices and experiences, mobilize resources in the most meaningful way, and develop creative solutions collaboratively more than ever.

As HBKU, UNDP, SOGLAB, and NOBOX Lab, Maker Majlis has developed a special program highlighting that 'the new normal is designed fairly and effectively by young people'.

Purpose of the Program

• Develop product, service, and system (solution) ideas that are effective and applicable to a defined problem (related SDGs) on a prototype scale, which will be realized by teams of young people from different disciplines.
• Teams make action plans to realize the solution they are working on.

Goals of the Program

While designing the program, the team focused on three main goals to achieve the overall mission:

• How can we design and facilitate the process of getting effective and feasible concrete solution ideas from human needs to the action plan?
• How can we make the most efficient use of the knowledge and experience of all stakeholders in the process of developing solutions?
• How can we be a community that listens, uses each other’s resources, and learns after coming together?

The program lasted four weeks and consisted of four main stages with a learning experience designed according to the Human-Centered Design methodology:

1. Inspiration: Exploring the core causes of the problem/need inspired by people's lives.
2. Ideation: Producing creative solutions by identifying the right frameworks of needs.
3. Implementation: Prioritizing solutions by considering impact and applicability and making them visible by producing simple models.
4. Sharing: Presenting models impressively and in a short time and collecting feedback.