DESIGNING FOR DIGNITY

Designers: Manuela Aguirre and Jan Kristian Strømsnes (Norway); Collaborators: The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Oslo Emergency Hospital, Oslo Police District, Alex Asensi Photography (Norway); Location: Oslo, Norway; Year: 2012

Responding to a notable increase in sexual assault in Oslo, a product and service design student team worked with stakeholders—doctors, nurses, social workers, and police—to redesign the entire prevention and response system to be less clinical, but more dignified and comforting to sexual assault survivors. Design workshops led to three coordinated design responses: a soothing safety blanket for survivors; a customized patient education system to guide survivors through medical, social, and legal systems; and guidelines for creating restorative, reassuring interiors for a patient care clinic through lighting, color, and signage.

Patient-information notebook (left) and safety blanket (right), 2012. Photo: Alex Asensi