Innovation at Home: Solutions for a Pandemic
Innovation Challenge
Hey, fellow innovators! Mad*Pow wants to harness your creative talents for our latest design challenge. We’re inviting health and design experts like you, as well as children of all ages, to envision creative solutions for the behaviors that are impacting everyone’s health.
See the Winners!
Overview
The focus of this design challenge is to imagine how we might make this world a healthier place through better hygiene behaviors. We want to tap into our boundless, childlike imaginations to create and innovate!
All of our lives changed in an instant with the emergence of COVID-19, and everyone is hyperfocused on supporting our loved ones and our community. We know that there are three things that will help keep us healthy during this time – washing our hands, keeping our hands off our faces, and wearing masks in public. How might we encourage these practices with imaginative solutions? Additionally, children are out of school and have endless energy and creativity. How might we gather their wild ideas, too?
We are looking for imaginative solutions that encourage the healthy behaviors of washing our hands, keeping our hands off our faces, and wearing face masks to maintain our health today and going forward. We’ll be posting submissions online as they come in, and we’ll select three winners.
Want to hear more about the challenge and get your questions answered live? Watch our Q&A Webinar recording to get more information.
Submit your design by May 29, 2020 11:59 pm ET
About Mad*Pow
Mad*Pow is a purpose-driven, strategic design consultancy working with industry leaders to create social impact. Since 2000, we have leveraged strategic design and the psychology of motivation to create innovative experiences and compelling digital solutions that are good for people and good for business.
Recognition & Prizes
Winners of the challenge will receive recognition and prizes including:
- Up to $300 in the form of a gift certificate to a local small business of their choice:
- $100 – Prize 1: Face touching
- $100 – Prize 2: Handwashing
- $100 – Prize 3: Mask Wearing
- Honorable mentions: Entries that do not win, but demonstrate a compelling concept or solution, may receive an honorable mention.
- Winners will be announced online on June 5, 2020
- Winners will be promoted throughout the Center for Health Experience Design and Mad*Pow networks
View The Entry Criteria
Judges
A team of designers at Mad*Pow will be the Challenge Judges who select the winning solutions.
Judging Process
A Challenge Advisory Panel will provide assistance to participants on interpreting these criteria. This site will continue to be updated with answers to frequently asked questions and a Q&A webinar will be held on April 29 at Noon ET where questions may be asked and answered live.
Amy Heymans
Co-Founder and CXO of Mad*Pow
Dustin DiTommaso
SVP, Behavior Change Design at Mad*Pow
Jen Briselli
VP, Experience Strategy and Service Design at Mad*Pow
Brady Bonus
SVP, Experience Design at Mad*Pow
Entry Criteria
-
Workable
How might this solution be built using easy-to-find materials in the home? Remember that scene from Apollo 13 when they had to build a connector using only the materials onboard? That’s the inspiration. Use those LEGOs, art supplies, kitchen utensils, 3D printers, etc. to design your solution. Hardware is not required – your solution could be a game or a points chart. Anything goes!
-
Appropriate
- Develop a solution that increases awareness of how often we touch our faces, and an intervention to prevent it.
- Find a way to make it easier (and more fun!) to wash our hands thoroughly and more often.
- Develop a solution that encourages people to wear face masks in public.
-
Transformational
How might we change the environment to make this behavior change easier and automatic? Instead of putting up signs in the bathroom reminding people to thoroughly wash their hands, could we train our pets to bring us soap as a reminder?
-
Wild
We are looking for zany, inspirational ideas! Join together as a group to build and test prototypes (maintaining social distance, of course). The wilder the ideas, the better!
-
Why should I enter?
To make the world a better place, of course! To tackle a compelling problem. To get lots of eyes on your brilliant designs. To do a creative, educational exercise with your children. And for the chance to support a local business in your community.
-
Do I have to be a child to enter?
No! This challenge is open to all but especially for children and for those who are children at heart. Children who want to enter must have an adult on their team and they will be required to submit a Parental Consent Form.
-
Who is eligible to participate?
Refer to Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Terms & Conditions on the challenge website: The Challenge is open to teams and individual adults. You can read more details about this in the Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Competition on the challenge website (Section II, Part B in the Terms & Conditions).need
-
Can international students participate?
Only US Citizens/Permanent Residents may be a named member of the team due to restrictions on awarding prize money. International students may participate as unofficial team members and have their name included in the submission as an additional contributor. We understand that international students will want to showcase their contributions as part of their portfolio.
-
What do I submit?
A complete submission contains three parts. All parts should be submitted via public links in the submission form.
- Tell us a story (up to 2,250 words)! Describe the solution, and how it meets the entry criteria. This is your chance to explain the details.
- Brief video (up to 3 minutes long). Show us what your solution looks like in practice. Film a skit, talk on camera, or create a movie. We want to see the value of your design!
- Visual compositions of the solution. Use crayon drawings, digital visual designs, or photos to explain your solution visually. Your visualization may take the form of a narrative—such as a storyboard or a cartoon—or it may be more abstract, such as a diagram or a model.
- If there are children on your team, you will need to include a signed Parental / Guardian Consent Form.
-
When is the submission deadline?
May 29, 2020 at 11:59 pm ET
-
Can I submit my design after the deadline?
No. So don’t procrastinate! We want to see your amazing work.
-
Can I send an updated design after the deadline?
Nope. You’ve only got one chance, so make it count.
-
How do I submit the design?
You can submit your design here. Everything should be posted online in a google doc, youtube, etc so we can review easily.
-
How will you judge the designs?
We’re giving out three prizes. All will be evaluated using a scorecard against a shared set of core criteria as well as a set of additional criteria. An advisory panel will review all the submissions and make recommendations to our judges. These judges will do their own review and then select our challenge winners.
-
Are there only three prizes?
There are only three cash prizes. We’ll also be giving out Honorable Mentions for entries that are outstanding in specific focus areas. If you have a specific passion or area of interest, feel free to focus your efforts on that. (e.g., handwashing.)
-
Do I have to submit as part of a team?
No. The Challenge is open to teams and individual adults. You can read more details about this in our Terms & Conditions.
You can completely reinvent processes and systems, rethink collaboration, and re-envision the intersection of technology, government, and workplaces (to name a few). Assume that current and emerging technologies can work together reliably and seamlessly. This is not science fiction—show us how your design is feasible within the next 5 to 10 years.
-
What is the difference between the content in the video and the content in the written submission? Are you looking for something different?
The video will be more concise than the written explanation. The video will focus on how your solutions works. You might want to record someone using the solution or record a skit of how it might work if it is more of a concept. The written explanation tells us the story of the solution. Be creative! Have fun!
-
Can the written description include pictures or can it only be words?
The written description provides an opportunity for you to describe the concept in detail. It should not exceed 2,250 words and you are permitted to use pictures (crayons! pencil!) to supplement the written explanation.
-
How will my work be used?
The purpose of this challenge is to stimulate wild innovation. We’ll be creating a gallery of all the submissions. Your work will live in this gallery, where we hope it will inspire everyone who sees it. It may also be used in marketing and advertising, now and in the future.
-
Who owns my design after I submit it?
Upon submission, contestants warrant that they are the sole author and owner of the Challenge Submission, and that the submission completely originates with the contestant, that it does not infringe upon any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which contestant(s) is aware, and is free of malware. You can read more details about this in our Terms & Conditions.
-
I have more questions? Who can I talk to?
Feel free to send questions via email. Also, you can watch our recorded Q&A Webinar.
1
Written description
(up to 2,250 words)
Describe the solution, the track it belongs to (face touching, handwashing, or mask wearing), and how it meets the entry criteria. This is your chance to explain all the details. You can tell us a story, write a poem, or something else. You can include drawing, sketches, or photos too!
2
Brief video
(up to 3 minutes long)
Show us what your solution looks like in practice. You can simply record a video on your smartphone of the solution, or perform a skit about how the solution would work once fully built. You can also go crazy (think Kickstarter) if you love making movies.
3
Visual compositions of the solution
Use sketches, digital visual designs, or photography to explain your solution visually. Your visualization may take the form of a narrative—such as a storyboard or cartoon—or it may be more abstract, such as a diagram or a model. Below in the Resources section, there are some tools and templates for creating storyboards if that approach interests you.
Submit Your Design
We are looking for imaginative solutions that encourage the healthy behaviors of washing our hands, keeping our hands off our faces, and wearing face masks to maintain our health today and going forward. A complete submission contains three parts. All parts should be submitted via public links in the submission form. If there is a child on your team, please include the signed Parental / Guardian Consent Form.
Submit your design by May 29, 2020 at 11:59 pm ET. Winners will be announced on June 5, 2020.
Submit your design
