Understanding Design > What Is Design?
Design applies different skills to specific challenges, across different project stages. Individual designers typically possess a depth of knowledge in one or more design areas. In this respect, design is not too different from health and its many specializations. Like all health professionals, who have a basic understanding of clinical practice, designers possess common skills in creative problem solving, visual thinking, and the craft of making things. Depending on your health program, you will need to collaborate with a designer who can both help your team navigate the entire design process or help you address specific project needs (e.g. designing a new medical product, health record, or media campaign). Below are a few specialized design skills that can be useful in global health projects:
Is the activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communications, and material components of a service in order to improve the value, convenience, and interaction between service providers and customers.
Refers to the design of the interaction between users and products, often digital. The aim is to make digital products or interfaces as easy and pleasant to use as possible. This is often referred to as user experience design.
Is the discipline of researching, ideating, conceptualizing and building products that better fit within the lives of consumers. Effective product design addresses both the functional and emotional benefits of products.
Is about strategic engagement with an audience. It involves designing how a message is delivered through a variety of channels in a consistent and engaging way.