One Ford Leader Helped Design, Build, And Ship 10,000 Face Shields In 1 Week During The Pandemic


![Ford-x-Little-Things-Sandy-Fershee-1-1](https://images.ctfassets.net/f60q1anpxzid/asset-e1c7b9e35795c7f74b1bf6406ca9237a/4f22355fb4ddbc50b0d26636f2aff9f3/Ford-x-Little-Things-Sandy-Fershee-1-1.jpg)

Sandy Fershee is a creative force by nature. As the Lab Leader for D-Ford Detroit, Ford Motor Company’s Imaginarium of sorts, Fershee dreams up car designs and finds smart solutions for transportation systems. But, first and foremost, Fershee is a human-centered designer–she views issues at hand from the perspective of the communities they most affect, allowing her to identify more equitable and sustainable solutions otherwise overlooked by conventional design methods. It’s this unique approach that, once the pandemic hit, proved essential in helping Fershee and her team switch gears from creating vehicles to creating face shields.

Fershee’s ability to apply fresh thinking to serve the greater good is what makes her an everyday hero for humanity (lab coats are basically capes with sleeves). Below, Fershee opens up about how she uses empathy to unleash her creativity, her hope for the next generation of women, and the mantra that keeps her moving forward.

Inventing the future

Ford-x-Little-Things-Sandy-Fershee-4.jpg
Ford

At D-Ford, our job is to understand people, identify and uncover insights for unmet needs, work to create solutions to meet those needs, and pursue the best concepts for opportunities. The work we do is all about understanding people in a future context, so we spend a lot of time observing people and their behaviors. We're looking to uncover what motivates them and their decisions and how they're using products and services in their lives today. From that, we get inspiration and then try to experiment.

We’re working to invent the future—what are the new services that the world needs and doesn’t know they need it? Our work is anchored in human-driven needs and solutions. Anything we manifest in the world I feel a great deal of responsibility for. As a designer, it's important to think about how it will impact not only the people who are using it, but potentially the world.

People are the passion. We are here together on this earth. To get inspiration from the people around us, and to create things that have meaning and impact, drives me every day. It’s about ensuring that we’re not just making another ‘thing,’ but that it brings a smile to someone's face or removes something that's stressful from their lives. That part just feels good. 

Switching gears for a greater purpose

Ford-x-Little-Things-Sandy-Fershee-2.jpg
Ford

When COVID hit, there was a shortage of personal protective equipment, specifically face shields. It wasn't even a question—we knew we could help. My team of human-centered designers have a variety of skills and do research to understand people that might be in need. So, it was just about stepping forward and saying, “How can we help?” It takes people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to build empathy and understanding for what the problem is and who we're trying to solve [it] for—and then bringing the best solutions.

We jumped right into action, talking to health care providers, because this was about providing the front line with protection. Within just a couple of days, we had a working prototype that we were testing. At that point, we were all working from home, so we were a virtual workforce when normally we would be working side by side building on each other's ideas. Everyone was grabbing materials. There was a manila folder, there were baseball caps, there were pool noodles—that were being used as ways to prototype ideas together. Over video conference, we were sharing those ideas and trying to build on them to make them better. Then we were taking them out into the field and testing them on medical workers. All of that was done within a matter of days. The time it took from when we got the call to the moment we shipped 10,000 face shields was one week. 

Progress makes perfect

Ford-x-Little-Things-Sandy-Fershee-3.jpg
Ford

After we shipped the initial 10,000 face shields, we started thinking about how we could scale this even more. Because so many people at Ford Motor Company stepped forward to help assemble and create these face shields and distribute them to places in need, we were able to scale to 20 million over time. And we've distributed to all 50 states as well as around the world.

Being able to pivot from manufacturing cars to creating personal protective equipment and face shields speaks to the spirit of what America's all about—a can-do attitude to find a way, come together, and make it happen. I don't think there's any challenge too big or too unachievable. I think big; I have big vision; I like big challenges. My mantra is: Always be progressing. There are challenges we're trying to solve. There are people we're trying to serve. And it's about bringing people together to work and make progress every single day.

Empowering the next generation

Ford-x-Little-Things-Sandy-Fershee-5.jpg
Ford

When I come to work, I bring my whole self. My biggest goal is to work with integrity and always be myself. I care about people. I care about what I create in the world. I think it's about applying everything I've done in my life to be the best person that I can be and bring that to work every single day. 

I hope my being in this position influences women, because when they can see themselves  represented in a lot of different areas and fields, then they realize, “Oh, that's a possible space for me.” I want people to see women who are in this field making progress and manifesting things. My hope for the next generation of women is that they are everywhere and they're creating amazing solutions. One of the best ways to learn is to observe, so I spend time mentoring younger women both in my job and outside my job so that they can see themselves in these types of fields in the future. 

Tapping into innate creativity is really, really powerful. So, I encourage people to explore their talents. Don't be intimidated. If you like to write, just start typing. If you have an idea, sketch it out, talk to people, get some feedback, build on your ideas. It doesn't matter what comes out—just start somewhere.