The COVID-19 pandemic has abruptly forced schools worldwide to implement Home Based Learning (HBL) due to countries going into lockdown and quarantine. Chemistry Team thus developed the #HBLTable, a height adjustable cardboard table meant for underprivileged families that struggle with space and the necessary furnishing to facilitate conducive learning for their children at home. The conducted research indicated that the prevalent challenges surrounding HBL were: (1) posture and ergonomics for a child and (2) children quickly outgrowing furniture built for their height. The #HBLTable was thus designed to cater for two heights - allowing users to adjust between the heights by simply flipping and rotating the table. The table comes equipped with a tablet and laptop stand to reduce poor posture as well. Beyond uncovering the context and motivations, this paper details the research and design process behind the construction of the #HBLTable.

Assessment and evaluation methods in a job interview have always been very much focused on a person’s performance, knowledge, and experience. However, excelling at a challenging job often requires skills that go beyond the skills and background of a person. And while psychometrics in the evaluation process is nothing new, gamifying the interview process is still considered a novel approach to candidate evaluation. As part of exploring new potentialities for Chemistry’s innovative card game, BossUP!, a study was conducted with the purpose of prototyping a new format of interview engagement and evaluation for the organization. In combination with a pre- and post-questionnaire, coupled with face-to-face gameplay during the interview process, this study explores the boundaries of how interviews can break free of traditional methods, by not only making it a fun and engaging experience via gamification, but to also enhance the evaluation method beyond performance, knowledge, and experience.

As part of the United Nations-mandated Millennium Goals, GE Healthcare wanted to create a compact, robust, and easy-to-use ultrasound that would provide better access to healthcare for mothers in low-resource nations. Vscan Access is an ultrasound device designed for midwives and general practitioners to assess early pregnancy risks for mothers who need it most. Chemistry worked with the GE Healthcare team to conduct ethnographic research in Indonesia, facilitate cross-functional creative workshops with multi-stakeholder teams, as well as developed and executed a complete design and testing of the entire front-end user interface. Vscan Access won the President’s Design Award in Singapore in 2016, and is now deployed across numerous developing nations in urban and rural communities around the world. This case study outlines the various challenges faced when developing a product intended for deployment in a mission-critical setting, employed by midwives and general health practitioners with varying degrees of expertise.