Ministry of Health
Covid-19 Appathon
One of the few public projects whilst working at Capgemini. Very often our work has a Non Disclosure Agreement, meaning I can’t share publicly. This project was as public as it gets. Various consultancies and agencies were invited to create a new Covid-19 app for the Dutch government during an Appathon of 1 weekend.
My Role
The government required a trustworthy Covid-19 app. During the weekend (Appathon) 12 consultancies and agencies were trying to come up with a solution that would be userfriendly and technically safe. Whilst my colleagues were making sure the technical side was working – I created screens, delivered UX and animations to showcase our solution. My work was shown on national television a lot – as we were the only team that could showcase a visual solution!
My work included:
- Concept & Visual Design
- Art Direction
- Animation
Why it was so special
This project was special because I was asked to join the team. Obviously it triggers one’s ego if you’re asked to join the team – especially when it’s such a public project.
It was also special because it allowed me to do something for my country. The project was voluntary, so there was no time-for-time or extra salary motivation. It really was about helping society by creating an app that would help everyone.
This was my most public project. During the Appathon the national TV stations gave updates from time to time. As our solution was the most visual one – it was shown constantly on the national and commercial television, in news broadcasts but also in talkshows.
What I’ve learned
During this project I’ve learned how incredibly negative social media tends to be. This project was very public and the negativity of this project on social media was immense. Many people had an opinion about this app – or often they aimed all abuse at this project, because Covid-19 was a horrible time.
I’ve also learned that you can’t build a solution in a weekend. Although our user-friendly approach is still something I stand by, I could see that technically you can’t build an app and make it safe within 2 days.
Visuals are the best representation. I feel my work was shown everywhere, because we were the most visual solution. Many others had set up a framework with technical details – but that wasn’t interesting for the newsreporters.
