Service Design (MA)
Pinja Piipponen
I am Pinja Piipponen, a Finnish service designer and interior architect. Whilst working in a strategic design agency in Helsinki after completing my BA at the Lahti Institute of Design, I set a goal of expanding my skills beyond designing environments, to understanding the value and impact of combining both offline and online experiences.
As a student at the RCA, I have had the pleasure of working in group projects exploring future of work and upskilling (Alpha Telefonica), biodiversity conservation and mass mobilisation (Stampede International), data driven services for media overconsumption (BBC) and building trust within youth justice system. (Ministry of Justice).
A group project exploring the challenge of counterfeit medicine in developing countries was chosen as one winning project of the CERN Grand Challenge. Our product service system CureScan, a chemical component scanner detecting dangerous substances, was exhibited at CERN in Geneva in spring 2019. During my second year of studies I have been working as a service design freelancer.
Service design has opened a new door within design for me. Learning the toolkit and methodology and taking the time to research the true needs - both individuals and the system’s surrounding the experience - has been eye opening. As a designer, my curiosity spans different areas of interest from wider systemic issues, emerging technologies and digital transformation to policy design. I am committed to keeping the planet as a stakeholder in all of my work, which in my opinion needs to be tied tightly into the processes of every design project. My passion projects have been briefs from the public and the third sector, and I hope to be able to work on projects improving the citizen experience and sustainability in its broader term after leaving the RCA.
After the first news of COVID-19 spreading globally, myself and my project partner Alessandro Paone decided to research how the pandemic impacts urban living and the home environment as our final project. We spent the spring reaching out to people and listening to their individual experiences and fears. Based on the stories we heard, we decided to focus on the topic of holistic shared health in flatshares; the environment in which others’ behaviours have an impact on one's health and wellbeing.
As our cities get denser and housing more expensive, many have decided to share their homes with strangers. 57% of people living in shared homes have made the decision based on financial reasons, most being young professionals or students in bigger cities such as London. Due to COVID-19, flatshares, that house people with a mix of social webs, lifestyles and dynamics, have been struggling to agree on infection prevention measures. Fear of catching the virus and conflicts caused by misaligned practices have caused many to move out. Those who had no other choice but to stay, needed to find a way to adapt and aim for a consensus.
Before agreeing on common actions there needs to be a discussion - but often the most important discussions are the hardest ones. Our research revealed that many flatshares lack the discussion culture and avoid confrontations. After mapping these findings, we developed Household Health: a service aiming to improve the health environment, social cohesion and feeling of safety of flatshares.
Fnd out more or schedule a meeting with the designers at
https://www.rcaservicedesign.com/projects/household-health
03 Household Health App — Application provided for tenants to organise Health Dialogues and access everyday support
04 Shared Health Cabinet — Cabinet placed in a common space hosting local healthcare service contacts and space for emergency supplies
05 User experience — End to end journey of the service
06 Health Dialogue — A digitally facilitated discussion taking place during the first weeks of living together. Click to see the full application
07 Health Dialogue Part 1 — Kick off helps tenants get to know each other and discuss co-living expectations
08 Health Dialogue Part 2 — Health and Living guides tenants in agreeing on common everyday health actions and house rules
09 Health Dialogue Part 3 — The third part prepares the flatshare for emergencies providing them emergency contacts and a shopping list for supplies
10 Health Dialogue Part 4 — Agreement finishes the discussion by committing to what was discussed.
The service supports the tenants in their everyday lives as well. The Safety Handbook on the app hosts guidelines for illness scenarios and tips for cleaning and the Cabinet, which is placed in a common space, hosts information of all local NHS services and emergency contacts. The cabinet can be filled with shared first aid supplies, if the flatmates wish to do so.
By providing the tenants with the means and a push from the outside they are able to cover all needed topics by relying on trusted NHS and PHE advice. The fun and gamified experience brings them closer from the start of cohabiting, and the newly established discussion culture helps prevent future conflicts. The agencies benefit from having less early contract terminations and can use the service to promote the safety of their rooms in this new normal.
If you had to move in with strangers today, how safe would you feel without having a discussion about health?
In collaboration with: Alessandro Paone
Supervised by Clive Grinyer and Neil Gridley