Many think the vaccines will be a ticket out of the pandemic. Then, the vaccine card will be highly important. So, when we hear confusion about the COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card, we naturally start ideating ways to address these concerns.
Using Stanford’s d.school’s “How Might We” ideation technique (also used in in our blog, The Best Answers Start With The Best Questions) we’ve come up with potential solutions that could’ve aided the design process and prevented the current confusion.
Q: HMW make storage easier?
A: After receiving the 1st dose of the vaccine, you’re given the record card and told to hold onto it for dear life! Yet, the dimensions (about 4 inches by 3inches) make it too big to fit in a wallet or pocket without getting smashed or folded. Adapting the dimensions to a standard business card size would help storage since wallets are made with slots to hold cards of that size already.
Q: HMW prevent people from forging?
A: As you’ve probably heard, it’s been frowned upon to post pictures of your record card because some people have been using those to forge fakes. (It’s been recommended to add a watermark to yours if you chose to do so. Ours says “DO NOT COPY”). It’s also very easy to recreate the card in a program like Adobe Illustrator and print fake ones at home. Similar to how we deter fake dollars or IDs, official logos, like The Department of Health and Human Services and CDC logo, could live on the card as large hologram.
Q: HMW utilize technology?
A: How many times have you left your house and had to turn around because you forgot your mask? Everyone including us is guilty of doing this at least once or twice. Likewise, remembering to bring this piece of paper everywhere might not be the perfect method for everyone. Most people have their smartphone with them at all times, so the card medium could be a downloadable app to electronically store the card and allow it to easily be updated in the future. Having multiple formats for the card means it will adapt to what people are used to instead of people having to adapt to the card.
Q: HMW protect it from damage?
A: Preserving and holding on to this flimsy piece of paper that doesn’t comfortably fit anywhere seems like a lot to ask for. Debates on whether or not to laminate the cards go back and forth, but that would certainly make documentation for any follow-up booster shots in the future difficult. We’d propose giving some type of protective cover or sleeve with the card. The sleeve could be hole punched and attached to your keyring or even a lanyard, so it protects the card from damage and can be taken out of the sleeve and updated in the future with no issues.
Q: HMW go about distributing the rules of the card?
A: The most googled Vaccine Card questions include: Do we need to bring this everywhere? And How long do I keep this for? It seems like everyone has the same big questions about the card. Currently, there is some unnecessary and duplicate information printed on the physical card. We’d propose that be replaced with information regarding card usage. Bullet point form would make this information quick and easy to read.
It’s understandable that there is confusion when not having experienced a pandemic like this before, but we’ve had an entire year to continuously learn from mistakes and create a seamless vaccination process.
With these thoughts in mind, we have redesigned the card. What do you think?
