Themes developed by the eight designathon teams in Guangzhou, China, 2016
| No | Team | Theme of campaign | Mean score* | Rank | ||
| Tagline | Concept description | Image and message description | ||||
| 1 | Qingdao (SD) | Easy safe-testing | Explaining the meaning of lines in commonly seen shoulder badge as a result of HIV testing, showing HIV testing is not far away from daily life | Advertising and promoting HIV self-tests among young people, emphasising confidentiality, few pain and quick result; providing counselling services through GIS-based apps, and conducting exhibition contest to promote HIV testing | 35.2 | 1† |
| 2 | Guangzhou (GD) | Self-testing at home | The destination of one’s life voyage, giving any person a warm feeling | Promoting HIV self-tests through new media outlets and in-person events, emphasising the concept of ‘home’ that represents a feeling of warmness, free style and being accompanied, and providing gay-friendly counselling and linkage to care services | 34.6 | 1† |
| 3 | Jinan (SD) | A Chinese character of ‘艾’ | This is the first Chinese character of AIDS, perceived as a symbol of AIDS among Chinese MSM | Promoting HIV tests through online (eg, WeChat) and offline (eg, bars) games and gamification, using a Chinese character symbolising that testing is the right and safe way to go when facing AIDS | 32.2 | 3 |
| 4 | Shenzhen (GD) | Breaking the bondage | HIV/AIDS is a huge restraint for looking for love. Testing provides a breakthrough | Social marketing and promotion of HIV self-tests through WeChat, Blued and Taobao platforms, and breaking the bondage of HIV for love through testing | 31.7 | 4 |
| 5 | Zhuhai (GD) | A healthy lifestyle | Constructing regular HIV self-test as a new healthy lifestyle | HIV self-test campaigns for MSM in VCT clinics (by providing HIV self-testing kits to VCT participants for partner and self-testing in the future), using a picture of two handsome young men to emphasise nurturing regular HIV self-testing as a healthy lifestyle | 31.2 | 5 |
| 6 | Jining (SD) | Testing saves lives | Early HIV testing can provide people an early diagnosis, early treatments and therefore save lives | Promotion of HIV tests through published serial cartoons and using a real story to demonstrate the dangerous of late HIV testing | 30 | 6 |
| 7 | Yantai (SD) | Say no to HIV | HIV testing is able to empower MSM to say no to HIV | Promotion of HIV tests online (eg, WeChat, Internet and mobile apps) and offline (eg, posters), using a picture of two masculine men to go for HIV testing as companions, and demonstrating testing can empower people say no to HIV | 28.1 | 7 |
| 8 | Jiangmen (GD) | Enthusiasm for life, enthusiasm for testing | Adopting from revolution enthusiasm, constructing HIV testing as an active way of life | University scavenger hunt for HIV test promotion, inviting students to provide HIV testing service to students, adapting a picture used in the cultural revolution to demonstrate HIV testing as an interesting, enthusiastic and active way of life | 26.5 | 8 |
*Scoring was based on evaluating each of the criteria: (1) able to encourage HIV testing, (2) able to generate enthusiasm and (3) community-based (4); feasible in the local context. Each judge then came up with an overall score for each campaign (maximum score 10). The overall mean score from the four judges for each campaign was calculated and is listed in the table (maximum score 40).
†The top two programmes had such close scores that judges discussed and decided to declare both teams as winners.
GD, Guangdong Province; GIS, geographic information systems; SD, Shandong Province; VCT, voluntary counseling and testing.