In 2025, TOM Melbourne collaborated with the Monash University Service Design Studio, a unique interdisciplinary course that brings together Industrial Design and Master of Architecture students. This studio focused on applying design thinking and processes to improve systems and services, working closely with MediStays — a provider that connects people with disabilities and hospital patients to accessible accommodation tailored to their needs.
The challenge arose from recent legislative changes to NDIS-funded short-term accommodation (respite) stays. Under the new rules, family members could no longer stay alongside individuals accessing these services, meaning many were facing independent stays for the first time. The students’ brief was to reimagine and improve the experience around booking, checking in, and staying, specifically for people with disabilities using the MediStays service.
Over the semester, the students researched user needs, mapped the current service journey, and generated design solutions aimed at making the entire accommodation process more accessible, efficient, and user-friendly. The project also emphasized open-source principles, with the goal of sharing the resulting designs publicly so that other hotels and accommodation providers could adopt and improve accessibility practices beyond MediStays.
This collaboration marked TOM’s first engagement with a service design course tackling systemic challenges in disability accommodation. The partnership yielded promising concepts and highlighted the potential for design to create meaningful impact not just on individual tools, but on the wider service systems affecting people with disabilities.