Client
UCSF, KEMRI, SPHMMC, UM
Industry
Public health
Service
Insight gathering, persona journey map development, prototype testing, workshop facilitation, solution finalization
Improving contraceptive counseling and follow-up care in Ethiopia and Kenya
The project was commissioned by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Other partners include the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), St.Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC), and University of Michigan (UM).
This project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Hormonal contraceptives, though effective, often bring about menstrual bleeding changes, which many women find undesirable. This issue is one of the main reasons women stop using contraceptives, coupled with a fear of infertility. To address these concerns, high-quality contraceptive counseling and follow-up care are crucial. The Innovations in Counseling and Follow-up (ICAF) project seeks to create interventions that improve how healthcare providers help women manage bleeding and other side effects. Derz was brought on board to dive deep into understanding women’s contraceptive concerns, designing new counseling strategies, and developing tools that would make contraceptive use more aligned with women’s preferences, ultimately empowering them to make informed choices.
A Human-centered Design (HCD) approach was employed to delve deeper into findings from the formative research that was conducted initially. The HCD process lasted 18 months and consisted of the following activities.
- Insight gathering: Conducting qualitative insight gathering through interviews with women and healthcare providers in public facilities in Addis Ababa and Nairobi
- Synthesis: Synthesizing findings using journey maps, personas, storytelling and through formulating insight statements
- Prototyping: Conducting two rounds of prototype testing with women and healthcare providers in both countries
- Co-creation: Facilitating all-partner collaborative working sessions (both in-person and remotely) throughout the process. This involved researchers, designers, and funders from Ethiopia, Kenya, and the United States
- Community engagement: Facilitating a total of 6 community design workshops, held at critical stages of the process, in both countries
Outputs
- Personas that articulate new and repeat users’ needs
- Journey maps for public health facility users
- Rough prototypes that aim to test how we might enhance counseling and follow up services
- Final solutions across the journey
- Reports at key stages of the process (insight gathering, prototype testing, and final intervention package)
The project is in the pilot phase, the first pilot will be in Addis Abeba. Derz has handed over the final design to the piloting team.
