Three Tips for Designing for Scale

Considering a mobile health tool for a multi-country project? We’ve got three tips for designing for scale!

In an earlier blog post, Dimagi highlighted our experience implementing mobile health tools for malnutrition screening in four countries in partnership with one of our biggest clients, World Vision International. We first launched the malnutrition screening application for Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) in Niger, and have since deployed the application in Mali, Chad and Kenya.

True to all multi-country projects, adopting CMAM into a mobile application was a complex process. The work required support from dozens of Dimagi employees, from our executives to field managers, in all five of the company’s country offices. From this experience, we identified several key learnings that can be applied to many projects. Collectively, we compiled a list of three takeaways from this project that should be considered when launching a multi-country mHealth tool.

3 Tips for Designing for Scale:

1. Recognize that multi-country deployments will test your commitment to designing for the user. You will have to manage the desire to keep the applications as similar as possible (for ease of replication as reporting), alongside the benefits of customization per country. Keep your end users top-of-mind, and think carefully about the design tradeoffs.
2. Consider the gaps that might exist between the mandates of global protocols and the ways in which each country implements them. On this project, our Dimagi field managers were occasionally mediating between our client and the Ministries of Health, whose sign-off was paramount before launch. This is one consideration to factor in when preparing the staff members who are responsible for deploying your project. Early feedback is essential.
3. Understand that national protocols can (and likely will) change before your project launches. On this particular project with World Vision International, the national nutrition protocols seemed to be in constant evolution in the countries where we were working. This pushed us to respond quickly to new versions. Your staff must stay nimble in response to ever-changing guidelines while managing scope and project objectives.

Are you looking to scale your mobile system? Based on our experience implementing 300+ projects, Dimagi has developed the Maturity Model, a tool that guides organizations in developing a clear project roadmap for mobile systems. Click below to check it out!