Design Is an Essential Medicine

Comparison and Synthesis of Selected Design Processes^a

^a Many other prominent models of design exist. We have chosen these 6 illustrative models to represent a breadth of organization types, and we have intentionally oversampled models from health care, global health, and global development. These models are from Hasso Plattner Institute of Design,¹⁰ Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation,¹¹ EngageHCD,¹² Medic Mobile,¹³ and Design for Health.³ The authors are contributors to both EngageHCD (PM) and Design for Health (PM, JS).

Common Phases Seen in the Design Processes Mapped to the Advantages of Design

The Design Process in Global Health^a

^a As described by Design for Health.³ The first cycle, which helps design the right things, starts with discovering the challenges and needs of the people and systems to design for and converge on opportunities to overcome these challenges and address these needs. The second cycle helps design things right by developing and testing ideas based on the opportunities identified in the first cycle and then converging on and delivering a solution. The model emphasizes testing and iteration, which helps weed out ineffective ideas and prioritize impactful, desirable, and sustainable ideas.

Nine Benefits of Design Organized by the 3 Defining Advantages of Framing, Intention, and Collaboration^a

^aThese questions are derived from common questions about design that we and our colleagues have fielded from global health practitioners. Together, these benefits describe the value of design.

Document Frequency of Key Approaches in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Development Experience Clearinghouse, 1975–2020^a

^a For each approach, we conducted a keyword search over all the text of all documents, including synonyms, unique abbreviations, or adjacent approaches when appropriate.