Core77 is profiling our 2016 Design Here/Now conference speakers in anticipation of September's main event. There's still time to save money with an Early Bird ticket! Buy yours before Sunday, July 31st!

Is there a way to design for death? Through their online open innovation platform, IDEO is extending the question in the OpenIDEO Challenge, asking participants:  How might we reimagine the end-of-life experience for ourselves and our loved ones? Aiming to design solutions for the unmet needs of the 40 million people each year who require end of life care, OpenIDEO's collaborative format requires participation and feedback from the global community, as no two lives are or end exactly the same. 

Enter a caption (optional)

By working with others, Core77 Conference speaker Dana Cho of IDEO is a leader in this movement for redesigning the experience of death. The seven phase OpenIDEO process moves participants from initial Inspiration to to final Impact, with the end goal of generating tangible design solutions to be implemented by Sutter Health and The Helix Center. 

Currently in the Refinement stage, 362 contributions have been narrowed to 50 ideas, ranging from website to object to environment design. A Partner and Managing Director of IDEO Palo Alto, Cho specializes in hospitality, healthcare and retail. She also co-founded IDEO Smart Space, which applies human-centered innovation to physical experiences for top clients such as Nike, Mayo Clinic and The Ritz-Carlton. At the Core77 Conference, Cho will explore open innovation platforms and the motivation, process and outcomes of storytelling as a tool for designing end of life experiences.

In our interview with her and collaborator Dr. BJ Miller last month, Cho expressed the need for collaboration when addressing such personal and taboo topics. While working through a participatory step-by-step process to break down the challenge's most complex components, the diverse backgrounds of OpenIDEO members is what makes the model so successful.

"The OpenIDEO community leverages a global network of entrepreneurs, students, designers, seasoned professionals and everyone with an interest and passion. With these partners and advisors, our process and a global network of collaborators, we can bring action and design to a topic that desperately needs it."

The OpenIDEO platform is actively seeking designer input and responses to the proposed projects before moving into the Final Feedback stage next week. Below are some of the innovative ideas about how to redesign the end of life experience from the OpenIDEO community:

Halolife: Online end of life planning

Enter a caption (optional

An online burial and cremation planning service created by Jake Beyer, currently Beta testing in California, HaloLife addresses the end of life service industry's lack of transparency. The online planning tool relieves families and individuals of the stress of exploring for services as uneducated buyers and instead allows them to plan end of life services at their own pace.

Once Upon a Time: Using narratives as a tool for remembrance

Enter a caption (optional)

Reimagining how children experience the death of a loved one, Once Upon a Time is a narrative tool for children to learn about their family's history created by Jess Paik. Instead of learning about endurance and love through traditional (and commercialized) fairy tales, the book's format reimagines how a new culture of storytelling can be crafted using the lives of our loved ones, allowing their memories to live on, even after they have passed.

When I die, I wanna be...: Reimagining sustainable end of life options

Enter a caption (optional)

With the goal of encouraging people to discuss mortality more openly, When I die, I wanna be… is an online platform created by Burcu Turkay that aims to restore the perception of belonging and returning to nature. In asking users to re-imagine themselves after death and connecting them with a map of others who feel the same way worldwide, people are reminded that death is universal and no one is alone. In addition to providing a visual network of solidarity, the platform provides environmentally sustainable end of life options.

Learn more about open innovation platforms at this September's Core77 Conference in Los Angeles. Buy your ticket today!

Enter a caption (optional)