TraceTogether team, OCBC bag top awards for quality and design

The TraceTogether team and OCBC Bank won top accolades at this year's Singapore Good Design Award (SG Mark).

Of the more than 160 entries, 90 were awarded the SG Mark, which sets the benchmark for good quality and design.

Ten of them won the top prizes: One got a platinum award, five had gold and four received special mention awards.

The winners were announced at Jewel Changi Airport yesterday.

The TraceTogether team, which bagged the platinum award, was lauded for its community-driven mobile app, which was designed to ensure faster and more accurate contact tracing during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The team's design lead Joycelyn Chua said: "We wanted to rally people together. At the time, everyone was very anxious. Designing the app was something tangible we could do to help our healthcare workers."

She added that the main challenge the team faced was gaining the trust of users, which it tackled by being clear and transparent on the app's design. The team also published the app's code online to demonstrate full transparency about its inner workings.

OCBC's mobile app, which won the gold award, simplifies insurance policies for customers, removing jargon and providing relevant information in a simple format.

Mr Yoon Chee Ho, who works in OCBC's customer experience sector, said the team did several studies to find a "sweet spot" where customers get just the right amount of information to feel confident about buying insurance policies.

The annual awards were launched in 2013 by the Design Business Chamber Singapore (DBCS) in partnership with the Japan Institute of Design Promotion.

Mr Hong Khai Seng, the SG Mark committee chairman and DBCS vice-president, said: "This year's winning designs displayed the key values of SG Mark, primarily sustainability and value, which impact the way we live and work."

Since 2018, a new award category has been created for every year of the SG Mark.

Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, and Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and National Development, were the guests of honour at the event.

Ms Fu said: "The green and liveable home we enjoy in Singapore today was made possible by deliberate design, to carefully balance our needs for economic development while ensuring environmental protection and social inclusion."