Project Chrysalis: IDEO COVID-19 Safety Protocols

When I started at IDEO as a writer on project teams, I never imagined I'd be penning COVID-19 policies on behalf of the company one day. But there I was, in March 2020, working alongside senior leadership and my global Workplace Experience, Talent, Technology, and Legal teammates, scrambling to figure out new rules, policies, and protocols to keep IDEOers safe while a deadly and confusing virus spread across the world.

One of IDEO's values is "Be Optimistic," which was challenging, especially at the start of the pandemic, but, as the head writer — and eventual project lead of Project Chrysalis (AKA IDEO North America's COVID Task Force) — I knew whatever we designed needed to be both serious about physical and psychological safety as well as optimistic and on brand.

I proposed calling our work stream Project Chrysalis because we were all stuck at home in our "cocoons" and would, hopefully, reemerge one day transformed by this historic moment. Initially, I worked with an incredibly talented communication designer, Zach Hobbs, who created a design language based on exuberantly colorful Rorschach ink blot butterflies. Later, two other equally amazing communication designers, Jarrod Ryhal and Tynan Collins, with me as head copywriter, expanded Zach's butterfly-inspired design language into informational signage, inspirational banners, enamel pins, and laptop stickers with IDEO values playfully tweaked for the COVID era ("Be Optimistic" became "Be Cautiously Optimistic" and "Talk Less, Do More" turned into "Touch Less, Wash More").

In addition to detailed safety protocols, we created candy-colored safety kits for IDEOers who wanted or needed to work in our offices filled with enamel butterfly pins, laptop stickers, handmade masks by crafty members of our community, hand sanitizer, tissues, and requisite Post-it Notes and Sharpies.

Cool swag and colorful signage aside, I'm most proud of Project Chrysalis because it was one of the first global, cross-functional creative operations projects IDEO had ever undertaken (a precursor to the Creative Operations and Belonging cohort, which I would eventually go on to lead in 2021). It was essential that our Workplace Experience, Talent, Technology, and Legal teams work closely and collaboratively with senior leadership to protect our employees and ensure business continuity at a critical and uncertain time. Together, we surfaced, synthesized, and shared best safety practices across our US and EU offices (COVID timelines being more similar in the US, London, and Munich than in our Tokyo and Shanghai offices), streamlining efforts and reducing the cognitive load on front-line Workplace Experience and Facilities teams, in particular.

Other creative operational wins included creating safety sign templates in Google Slides (versus InDesign or Photoshop) so our Workplace Experience teams could update them easily, and implementing a new mobile vaccination verification system and check-in system called Eden, which freed our Workplace Experience and HR teams from having to focus on tedious, time-consuming, and repeatable tasks.

While I never imagined having to enforce rituals like wearing masks, maintaining six feet of distance, or wiping down surfaces, I'm proud of the imagination, heart, and occasional levity we brought to an otherwise dark and stressful time. Most of all, I'm grateful the pandemic retreated, allowing us to emerge from our cocoons and spread our wings once more.