NZ COVID Tracer App’ Recognised in Australia’s International Good Design Awards for Design Excellence and Social Impact.

The winners of Australia’s peak international design awards were announced today during the 2021 Good Design Awards Week. The Good Design Awards are the highest honour for design and innovation in the country and reward projects across 12 design disciplines and 30 subcategories.  

NZ COVID Tracer App received a prestigious Good Design Award Gold Accolade in the Digital Design category, and a Good Design Award Winner Accolade in the Social Impact category in recognition for outstanding design and innovation.

The Australian Good Design Awards is the country’s oldest and most prestigious international awards for design and innovation with a proud history dating back to 1958. The Awards celebrate the best new products and services on the Australian and international market, excellence in architectural design, precinct design, engineering, fashion, digital and communication design, and reward new and emerging areas of design including design strategy, social impact design, design research and up-and-coming design talent in the Next Gen category.

The 2021 Good Design Awards attracted a record number of submissions with 933 design projects evaluated by more than 70 Australian and international Jurors, including designers, engineers, architects and thought leaders. Each entry was evaluated according to a strict set of design evaluation criteria which includes good design, design innovation and design impact. Projects recognised with an Australian Good Design Award demonstrate excellence in professional design and highlight the impact a design-led approach has on business success and social and environmental outcomes.

The Good Design Awards Jury commented: “This is a really impressive app especially given the timeframe it was turned around in. Overall interface is approachable and easy to understand and it brings a number of key COVID related functionality all in under the one app. It is not often that governments use design to its greatest capability and its most creative effect, but the role of this service in managing New Zealand's response to the pandemic is apparent by the figures given around take up and impact. It is a powerful project, and one created in a very compressed timescale. It's a good  example of continuing to refine and improve in an open, transparent way. The social impact is immense. Ultimately this has sped-up contact tracing, saving lives through good design. Bravo. ”

Dr. Brandon Gien, CEO of Good Design Australia said: “Receiving an Australian Good Design Award is testament to embedding design excellence at the heart of a product, service, place or experience. Although 2021 continues to be another challenging year, it is incredibly inspiring to see designers and businesses working together to find innovative, customer-centric design solutions to local and global challenges and to see them recognised and rewarded for their efforts through these prestigious Awards.”

“The importance of embracing good design principles is now more important than ever as many businesses around the world have had to completely re-think their business strategies to remain competitive. The standard of design excellence represented in this year’s Awards is the best I’ve ever seen in my 25 years of running these Awards, an encouraging sign that the design sector is flourishing,” Dr. Gien went on to say.

Project Details

Project Title: NZ COVID Tracer App

Designed in: New Zealand

Project Description: As New Zealand entered pandemic lockdown in 2020, the Ministry of Health partnered with RUSH on a solution to help contact tracers break the chain of COVID-19 transmission. The NZ COVID Tracer app and QR code generator were launched in six weeks to stop new clusters and ultimately save lives.

Designed by: RUSH

Commissioned by: NEW ZEALAND MINISTRY OF HEALTH