Design Strategy for BMore Vaxxed

BMore Vaccinated

How might we address COVID-19 vaccine hesitation among Baltimore City residents?

Role*
Design research and strategy
*completed alongside the Practice-Based Studio, Spring 2021 design team, led by Becky Slogeris and Eesha Patne

Partners
Baltimore City Health Department, Johns Hopkins International Vaccine Access Center, Morgan State University

Research Methods
Listening sessions/interviews, empathy maps, ecosystem maps, personas

Tools
Mural, Mailchimp

Timeline
January 2021–May 2021

Background

In Spring 2021, one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) was working to achieve population immunity against COVID-19 through vaccination efforts that is supported by residents, community organizations, and businesses across the city.

BCHD had two goals:

At least 80% of the population of Baltimore City (Baltimore population: 593,490) is vaccinated against COVID-19 by February 2022.
In collaboration with IVAC, MSU, and MICA, educate and communicate citywide, with accurate and transparent health information.

Research and Discovery

In this cross-city collaboration, the MICA Practice-Based Studio design team held community listening and education sessions with vulnerable populations and staff in programs working with these residents.

I assisted with the synthesis of our notes from the sessions with Older Adults and Pregnant/Lactating Individuals.

Created in Mural

Our observations from the listening sessions helped us create a persona for each community by mapping what a user would say, think, do, and feel about navigating the process of getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

With our notes from the listening session and the empathy map, we also mapped out the various actors a user may come into contact in their daily lives, identifying how they may receive information from the sources they personally trust.

Opportunity

After synthesizing all of our notes from the first round of listening sessions with community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, older adults, Hispanic/Latinx, and pregnant/lactating individuals, we noticed an issue that connected all of these communities together:

Due to information about the vaccine coming from multiple sources, there is a general lack of confidence or credibility of the information itself. This lack of credibility raises the risk of misinformation spreading within these communities.

This finding helped us define the criteria for the Design Principles of our prototypes.

Synthesis of our observations from the first round of listening sessions with community members:

- Center access when designing for Value Communities;
- Integrate COVAX Communication alongside creating systems of trust;
- Take note and take action: bring life to community ideas;
- Find sustainable solutions to community concerns;
- Be clear and transparent with communications of COVAX information;
- Honor people's COVID experiences.

Based on the common issue of credibility of information about the vaccine, we defined our design criteria before jumping into ideating possible solutions.

Community-based Ideation

In response to the conversations that ensued organically in these listening sessions, we also live synthesized the ideas community members were contributing, and then polled them at the end of the listening session to see which idea they liked the best.

One of the suggestions we received from the Older Adults community was a newsletter, so we prototyped what a digital community-centered newsletter from BCHD could look like on Mailchimp and what content they could include in each issue.

Prototyping

Following our synthesis of our notes across all listening sessions, we finalized our list of ideas to pitch to BCHD to begin prototyping the various touchpoints of the communication strategy based on the following theory of change:

Rather than actively advocating for COVID-19 vaccination, our strategy is to establish BCHD as a credible and trustworthy source of information regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.

The goal is to provide residents with comprehensive and accurate information, allowing them to make informed decisions about whether to get vaccinated. This approach emphasizes transparency, education, and trust-building, allowing individuals to weigh the facts and make their own choices regarding vaccination.

One of the suggestions we received from the community was a newsletter, so internally, we iterated on what a digital community-centered newsletter from BCHD could look like on Mailchimp and what content they could include in each issue.

Results

While the archive of the VALUE newsletters is no longer accessible, the pilot newsletter received the following response from our partners.

Press

Reflections

The project presented a blend of advantages and challenges. On the positive side, it fostered a sense of engagement through group collaboration and teamwork. The team's reliance on each other proved crucial in successfully completing the project. Special acknowledgment goes to Asheeta for her expertise in accessibility, which played a key role in troubleshooting the design. The project also offered a learning curve, particularly in navigating Mailchimp, and benefited from Becky's content planner.

However, the project had its share of drawbacks. The necessity for approval from a large number of individuals, coupled with limited design suggestions, often led to delays and complications. There were instances where we felt stuck due to a lack of awareness about concurrent developments within the broader context of VALUE. The mantra of "Done is better than perfect" underscored the pressure to deliver within constraints. Additionally, crafting the prototype proved challenging amidst the evolving nature of vaccine-related information. External factors, such as budgetary constraints and leadership dynamics, further added to the complexity and sometimes hindered progress. Despite these challenges, the team's collective efforts ultimately contributed to the project's completion.

Resources