The challenge was twin-pronged – changing the mindset of a society that has hitherto been resigned to the fact that doctors write poorly, and altering a key behavioral habit in doctors, who are highly literate individuals but attach little importance to their handwriting.

Our objective was to shock doctors out of their comfort zone and force them to make greater efforts in writing a simple prescription.

Shunning conventional mediums of communication, we chose effective design innovation as a meaningful way to drive home the point. We introduced ‘The Handwriting Project’, and replaced all regular prescription pads in the hospital with specially designed ones, which were ruled, like children’s handwriting practice notebooks. Apart from constantly visually associating prescriptions with better handwriting, the horizontal lines on each page actually forced physicians to write straight and clear. Sample dotted medical terms on each page engaged doctors with the act of writing. Showcasing tragic cases of misread prescriptions, every 10th page served as an illustrated reminder for doctors.

Disbelief, infuriation, nods of approval and bemused expressions – ‘The Handwriting Project’ drew all kinds of reactions from stunned doctors at Kothari Medical Centre.

But love it or hate it, they were left with no option but to use these pads that constantly mocked their bad handwriting, and their penmanship discernably improved over just a month’s time.

In a country where over 90% of the 550,000 registered physicians still give out handwritten prescriptions and misread medicines kill over 6000 people each year, ‘The Handwriting Project’ has set a wonderful example of how design can start making a big difference.