This is a thread about PPE as a UX challenge. Personal Protective Equipment (medical gowns, masks, gloves, goggles, etc.); User Experience, usually applied to software but applicable to product design in the abstract. I acquired some knowledge about this during Ebola epidemic./1
Obama admin HHS/USAID hosted an interdisciplinary design workshop at Kaiser Permanente in DC back in Oct 2014 and weirdly enough I was invited. I got to work with experts and equipment suppliers in public health and learn first-hand the design challenges of PPE in the field. /2 
Donning (putting on) and Doffing (taking off) PPE is a complex process that requires meticulous training and discipline because health care workers risk contamination by either incorrectly donning or getting infected doffing. Ebola required maximum PPE precautions. /3
When you see how frequently HCWs need to don and doff PPE you get a better appreciation of how having a copious supply is essential to protecting the frontline forces fighting the virus. That we have shortages going into this pandemic is terrifying and epically negligent./4
One under-appreciated aspect of why Covid19 testing is pathetically sparse in the US is that each test requires a PPE don and doff cycle because sticking a swab up people’s noses often causes them to sneeze or cough. So the HCW doing the test needs a PPE set for each instance. /5
But since hospitals are already reporting shortages of PPE treating critical patients, you can see why we don’t have enough equipment to support the frontlines while also getting 300M people tested. We’d really need a stockpile of 1 billion PPEs. It’s insane. /6
