COVID-19 response

Call for businesses to supply emergency products and innovative solutions to support Ontario's response to COVID-19.

Sector

Government
Organization

Ontario Digital Service
Client

Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade
Product managers

Sarah Brown, Shannah Segal
Designers

Lucia Hsieh, Lyndsey Fonger (content)
My role

I was responsible for prototyping user flows for two COVID-19 product teams that focused on website, data and procurement. Due to high demand, a group of designers worked on multiple COVID-19 products at different points in time.

This project only showcases the work from COVID-19 procurement team when I was the lead UX designer.
Release date

2020
Cover photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash.

Uncertainty in the midst of a pandemic

When we started:

there was little information about the virus
we were all in lockdown
there was no vaccine available

Given that there was a shortage of supplies everywhere, our team was formed to ask for help from businesses to supply emergency products and innovative solutions in response to COVID-19.

We were working on all the procurement of PPE, and the digital tools that would help source and distribute all of those [...] I’m helping get this sanitizer and masks and, unfortunately, heart machines and body bags from factories to hospitals.

— Shannah Segal. Public Service Heroes. Interview with Sean Boots.

Our Agile product team

We collaborated with ministry partners who were responsible for supply chain and business development while our team was focused on building the digital platform to enable their work. Our digital team included:

product managers
UX designers
content designers
web coordinators
web developers

We worked with user researchers for ad-hoc support to continuously solve immediate problems.

We had daily stand-ups and collaborative work sessions to make sure we were all aligned as a team.

Top concerns from businesses in Ontario

Interviews with businesses revealed that their top concerns were:

employee safety and comfort
client safety and comfort
compliance
when they can reopen their business
what the ‘new normal’ looks like

We transferred to 100% virtual, including our board of directors, and they are not necessarily technologically friendly. We’re known as on-the-ground local people helping local businesses. It created huge challenges not only for us, but also for our clients.

— Business and community development

Opportunity to collaborate with businesses

Provide quick options upfront so the experience is relevant to what businesses are looking for.

Prototype of ontario.ca with title Ontario Together: help fight coronavirus. Sell medical supplies, find personal protective equipment (PPE), solve problems, or volunteer to help protect against COVID-19. Options on the page: Supply products, Find PPE, Solve problems, Submit ideas, Volunteer.

Example of our prototype.

Call for businesses to supply emergency products

We displayed necessary information one at a time to help guide the users better.

Prototyping this user flow on Figma helped us collaborate, pinpoint requirements and see the flow from the user’s perspective.

Example of our user flow.

Make PPE more widely available

When businesses were able to supply more PPE (personal protective equipment) than required, the ministry partners wanted to create another channel for businesses to distribute directly to the public.

From the data that ministry partner collected from businesses with their consent, our team created a directory for anyone to find companies that can provide PPE and other supplies that they needed.

The directory started with around 650 companies and it has been growing ever since.

Prototype of PPE supplier directory with filters for masks and sanitization options.

Example of our prototype.

Amethyst award winner

The Amethyst Awards recognize individuals and teams who have made outstanding contributions in client service, innovation, valuing people and professional achievement.

Takeaways

COVID-19 has been a difficult time for many of us. However, we talked to business owners and found that they were able to adapt quickly despite so much uncertainty.
In times of crisis, it was difficult to conduct discovery research first and prototype based on findings. There was a huge need to launch the service first and then evaluate the prototype.
Having remote tools such as Slack, Figma, and Zoom allowed us to pivot quickly and collaborate much easier.

COVID in a way has been helpful. It has forced attorney general to use technology... It’s a system based on paper, rules, rigidness. So with the emergency orders, suddenly we can file everything by email, set up things by phone.

— Law office