Quarantine Visuals

Overview

A visual calendar tool that transformed changing COVID-19 isolation and quarantine rules into a format people could quickly understand and apply in daily life.

• My Role:Concept design, message development, and user testing

• Collaborators: Other staff and graphic designers

• Audience: General public and contact tracers

The Challenge

During the early pandemic, guidance around isolation and quarantine shifted often and relied on written or verbal explanations. Many residents struggled with health literacy and numeracy barriers, making it difficult to count days or interpret complex instructions while juggling work and family responsibilities. Public health teams needed a clear, adaptable way to communicate evolving rules.

Theory of Change

If we replaced text-heavy instructions with a visual, calendar-based format, residents could more easily see when isolation began and ended. I proposed this concept after noticing recurring confusion during case interviews. I sketched and tested the first prototypes, then worked with designers and clinical staff to refine icons, colors, and plain-language labels that reflected CDC guidance. The tool used everyday visual cues to make public health guidance intuitive and actionable.

Impact

The visual aid was deployed across the city’s testing and contact tracing programs, improving communication consistency and comprehension. It became a core training tool for hundreds of public health staff and was later shared with other health departments and community organizations. The approach demonstrated how clinical accuracy and design thinking can work together to make complex information clear and practical for the public.