Design Tool – Secondary Research

Challenge and Selection

The challenge presented itself a few month ago when an American College  contacted the consultancy firm, I work for to support the institution in the creation of  a Re-Opening Plan for safely re-starting activities after COVID-19 Lockdown. The plan  had to answer the educational needs of the College student while being compliant  with the indications presented at a federal and state level.

The aspects to be analysed and answered in the plan included but were not limited  to, assessment of technical characteristics of all HVAC systems and equipment, re- layout of classrooms and common areas for ensuring the six feet apart standard,  rescheduled activities and re plan lessons to offer both on site and remote class  options, distribution of hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes, implement contact  tracing solutions, etc.

In order to correctly assess the current situation and offer proper and sustainable  options to address the different issues it was necessary to collect all the data regarding  building plans, equipment plans, current lesson schedules, staff and student risk  population, number of students that could go back to campus, and to summarize all  the data that allow our work team to understand the current situation.

The difficulties were on the one hand the fact the client did not have all the necessary  information well organized or did not have the information at all, and the (at the  moment) ongoing lockdown and peculiarities of the situation represented a great  difficulty for a technical team to go an do a on site visit. Therefore, it was necessary to  find alternative ways to gather information that help the team to create a coherent  and feasible plan.

Considering all the aspect detailed before the selection was clear, it was necessary  to conduct secondary research, gathering bibliographical information from best  practices and studying how other colleges were managing the situation throughout  the country an in particular in the State of reference, and by gathering information  directly from the different stakeholders.

Application

The secondary research was conducted in two phases:

1. Bibliographical research: the team collected sector Best Practices and

examples of other local institutions both colleges and universities to identify the  common points and the aspect the were less explore. Given the dimension of  the colleges analysed it as necessary also to study details on the management  of common areas such as, library, gym, cafeteria and dining rooms, etc.

2. Interviews: having analyse all the available information the team selected a

list of key stakeholders to contact and interview in order to gather information  and answer to the unknown aspect. On the one hand, the team interviewed  the main stakeholders such as college staff, professors, students, maintenance  and cleaning providers, to understand their points of view, their needs, their  fears and created a realistic map of what their expected and what was really  possible within the context and colleges capabilities. On the other hand, the  team also took advantages of the already existing organizations created to  address the COVID-19 crisis and contacted some state organization to gather  further information that helped to formulate a cohesive plan.

Insight and approach

After completing the secondary research it was clear to the team the path to follow,  the team was able to identify the type of lesson that should be carried out in person  and the one that could be carry out remotely, also it was possible to create a list of  the population that was considered at risk, professor with and advance age, staff,  teachers and students with an previous health condition that might represent a risk,  and created a plan that allow this individuals to either work/study remotely or minimize  the time they should spend on site ensuring the highest levels of safety for them.

Even though the specific technical information regarding the HVAC equipment was  incomplete during the interviews it was possible to gather some information that allow  the team to propose short term solutions where it was identify a possible risk of  contamination. And the fact the information was not available gave the team the  idea of creating a long-term proposition to help the college to gather technical and  structural information for a greater control and management on the assets.

In this case the interviews were carried out remotely, given the extraordinary situation,  but a great tool to enrich the results of a secondary research might be and on-site  exploration for a situation like this one. Visiting the spaces and getting to see the  actual traffic flow within the spaces, how students and staff really move and actually  used the common areas would be a great tool to better adjust the proposed solutions.


Design Tool – Secondary Research Challenge and Selection The challenge presented itself a few month ago when an American College contacted the consultancy firm , I work for to support the institution in the creation of a Re - Opening Plan for safely re - starting activities after COVID-19 Lockdown . The plan had to answer the educational needs of the College student while being compliant with the indications presented at a federal and state level . The aspects to be analysed and answered in the plan included but were not limited to , assessment of technical characteristics of all HVAC systems and equipment , re- layout of classrooms and common areas for ensuring the six feet apart standard , rescheduled activities and re plan lessons to offer both on site and remote class options , distribution of hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes , implement contact tracing solutions , etc . In order to correctly assess the current situation and offer proper and sustainable options to address the different issues it was necessary to collect all the data regarding building plans , equipment plans , current lesson schedules , staff and student risk population , number of students that could go back to campus , and to summarize all the data that allow our work team to understand the current situation . The difficulties were on the one hand the fact the client did not have all the necessary information well organized or did not have the information at all , and the ( at the moment ) ongoing lockdown and peculiarities of the situation represented a great difficulty for a technical team to go an do a on site visit . Therefore , it was necessary to find alternative ways to gather information that help the team to create a coherent and feasible plan . Considering all the aspect detailed before the selection was clear , it was necessary to conduct secondary research , gathering bibliographical information from best practices and studying how other colleges were managing the situation throughout the country an in particular in the State of reference , and by gathering information directly from the different stakeholders . Application The secondary research was conducted in two phases : 1 . Bibliographical research : the team collected sector Best Practices and examples of other local institutions both colleges and universities to identify the common points and the aspect the were less explore . Given the dimension of the colleges analysed it as necessary also to study details on the management of common areas such as , library , gym , cafeteria and dining rooms , etc . 2 . Interviews : having analyse all the available information the team selected a list of key stakeholders to contact and interview in order to gather information and answer to the unknown aspect . On the one hand , the team interviewed the main stakeholders such as college staff , professors , students , maintenance and cleaning providers , to understand their points of view , their needs , their fears and created a realistic map of what their expected and what was really possible within the context and colleges capabilities . On the other hand , the team also took advantages of the already existing organizations created to address the COVID-19 crisis and contacted some state organization to gather further information that helped to formulate a cohesive plan . Insight and approach After completing the secondary research it was clear to the team the path to follow , the team was able to identify the type of lesson that should be carried out in person and the one that could be carry out remotely , also it was possible to create a list of the population that was considered at risk , professor with and advance age , staff , teachers and students with an previous health condition that might represent a risk , and created a plan that allow this individuals to either work / study remotely or minimize the time they should spend on site ensuring the highest levels of safety for them . Even though the specific technical information regarding the HVAC equipment was incomplete during the interviews it was possible to gather some information that allow the team to propose short term solutions where it was identify a possible risk of contamination . And the fact the information was not available gave the team the idea of creating a long - term proposition to help the college to gather technical and structural information for a greater control and management on the assets . In this case the interviews were carried out remotely , given the extraordinary situation , but a great tool to enrich the results of a secondary research might be and on - site exploration for a situation like this one . Visiting the spaces and getting to see the actual traffic flow within the spaces , how students and staff really move and actually used the common areas would be a great tool to better adjust the proposed solutions .