Design actually can save lives… but not by itself

Abstract

Over the years designers have made big claims about the power of design to better the world. However, we’ve primarily made companies more profitable and optimized ad-clicking. Not all hope is lost. There are places where design really can save lives and improve the world, but you’re going to have to get out of your comfort zone to bring great design where it’s needed most.

About

Daniel Burka | Product Manager and Designer

Daniel Burka is a product manager and designer who focuses on solving complex global health problems in simple ways. He is the director of product and design at the not-for-profit Resolve to Save Lives, where he founded the open source project, Simple (simple.org). Simple is used by thousands of hospitals in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Ethiopia to manage over 5 million patients with hypertension and diabetes. He also works on the digitization of primary care in Rwanda.

In 2021, Daniel founded the open source project Healthicons.org to provide free icons to healthcare projects around the world. And in 2024, he co-founded Hard Problems (hardproblems.com).

Previously, Daniel worked in Silicon Valley as a founder of tech startups Digg, Pownce, and Tiny Speck (became Slack) and was a design partner at Google Ventures for 5 years. He co-founded the Canadian design agency silverorange, which is now over 25 years old.

Mahima Chandak | Product Designer

Mahima is a product designer who has spent her career tackling complex healthcare challenges at scale. She has led the design of tools and services that support frontline health workers and strengthen public health systems across India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Ethiopia. Her work includes a hypertension and diabetes management system adopted by governments, a primary & preventive care service aimed at improving health outcomes for large populations in India, and an AI-powered oral cancer screening tool piloted ahead of national rollout.

Earlier, Mahima ran an innovation and design consultancy with a few others, helping companies through their zero to one journey. She is now a co-founder at Hard Problems, where she brings together technologists and designers who want to apply their skills to urgent global issues like public health and climate change.

Mahima cares deeply about creating solutions that advance equitable health outcomes and make care work better for those delivering and receiving it.