Mitura
Designing a sustainable solution to identify and provide nutrition to the underserved during the Sri Lankan food crisis
- Final design
Role
Product Designer
Team
Duration
2022 (4 months)
Activities
User research
Ideation
UX Design
Usability testing
How it all started
Background
In June 2022, I participated in UMO Design Challenge collaborating with a global team. We were united by one single goal, that, what we design should go beyond a simple hackathon in order to make an impact in the actual world. The brief asked us to rebuild the world with empathy, sustainability, and a positive citizen experience during a crisis.
My role
Getting started
I initiated my team to kickstart a collaborative project with The Asia Foundation, a NGO that works with the Sri Lankan government to mitigate the ongoing food crisis in Sri Lanka. I was responsible for driving the whole UX design process from initial discovery to final proposal handover while collaborating with a geographically distributed cross functional team.
- Meet the team
Project outcome
Impact
The final outcome included:
a collaborative project with The Asia Foundation called Mitura- a digital platform to collect data, support donations and coordinate nutrition package collection or delivery for middleclass households in Northern Sri Lanka.
submitted proposal for pilot study in Point Pedro in northern Sri Lanka.
Mitura was shortlisted to top 10 entries in UMO Design Challenge 2022.
Let’s talk context
Background
From being a role model of social development and well being in the 1970s, Sri Lanka today is showcased as a failed state facing an acute humanitarian crisis. According to WFP’s report from July 2022, 57.4% of the Sri Lankan population were food insecure.
Who is the new poor?
Sources indicated the middle class as the most vulnerable as they fall of the grid with the existing social safety nets. More objective and targeted mapping regarding this were yet to be done. There also existed concerns that significant proportions of the needy may fall off the grid of social welfare support and economic rehabilitation interventions due to errors of inclusion and exclusion.
% Food secure
% Food insecure
Source: WFP Report, July 6 2022Semi-structured interviews & insights
Discovery
I conducted semi-structured interviews with policy experts and third party consultants. From these interviews , we identified the following underlying issues:
Nutrition delivery program
There is an existing small scale nutrition delivery program targeted only to limited users in Karaveddy in northern Sri Lanka. But, in order to scale-up the program, they need more physical and financial resources.
Resistance of target audience
Due to decades long war, the community in the Northern Province have several prejudices against participating or volunteering in programs.
Top down approach
Target users are identified by the authorities. The beneficiaries have no way to register in the system by themselves.
E-governance
Digital literacy & internet penetration is high in the Northern Province due to E-governance introduced by a young government.
Accessibility
There are about 500 physically challenged users in the area due to the war, apart from senior citizens. So, the design has to address accessibility issues to be inclusive.
Sustainability
The solution has to be sustainable in order to be scalable and inclusive.
Why the Northern Province?
Urgency & location
- Sri Lanka map
The Northern Province presents an interesting crucible to locate this intervention.
The province has two of the most poor districts in Sri Lanka.
Citizens suffer from deep social and economic marginalization arising from 30 years of civil war.
High risks of squandering the hard-earned peace dividends.
An estimated 200 million USD diaspora money floats in the local economy calling for more targeted applications.
So, we asked ourselves,
How might we scale the existing nutrition program in northern Srilanka to support the underserved middle class households?
Who is our target audience?
User group
The primary target group includes the underserved middle class households. Secondary users include government and third-party organizations who are in charge of the program. We will also need the support of more volunteers and donors to scale up the program in the future.
“ The beneficiaries have no way to register in the current system. They are identified and allocated by government institutions. “
- Third party consultant
“ The North has gone through several years of war and people have many prejudices against participating in volunteering activities. So, the government has to often intervene. “
- Policy expert
- Priority matrix
Key problems
Insights
From all the data gathered, we identified three key challenges that need to be addressed:
Screening test
A bottom up approach screening test have to be developed that will help the underserved register for the nutrition program themselves.
Deliver nutrition
The target audience have to be informed and provided guidance on how to collect monthly nutrition packages.
Scaling the program
In order to scale the program, additional support is required in the form of volunteering and donations.
We decided to focus on the first two challenges for the pilot study.
Crafting the user journey
Initial ideas
- Translating insights to the initial user journey
Designing for scalability
Our initial idea was to add a screening test to check the user’s eligibility as soon as they log in to Mitura. However, this was changed to ensure the scalability of the application to include other government programs in the future.
- Final user journey
Low fidelity designs
Iterating designs
A glimpse of my initial designs. My focus was mostly on helping identified users collect monthly nutrition packages. There were several pitfalls in the screening test that I will learn soon during the usability testing.
- Wireframes
Usability testing insights
Iterating designs
Screening test data updates
Monthly income required to meet the monthly expenditure of a middle class household had increased significantly in the past few months due to inflation.
Location name instead of a map
I found out that most of the users were very familiar with their locality. The distribution center name helped them better than navigating through a map.
Coupon approach
Users were more familiar with a coupon based approach for collecting governmental benefits. Moreover, there are several shadow regions in the North with low internet connectivity due to the war. So, an OTP system was introduced to send the coupon via SMS.
High fidelity design
Humanity-Centered design
This is one of my favorite projects because it involved understanding the users and the complex roots of the context so deeply to create a humanity-centered design. The final design involved three user journeys:
Screening test to identify the underserved target audience.
Claiming monthly nutrition coupons.
Updating personal information on the portal.
The screening test
Additional information was added to guide the user in every stage. Existing schemes were also included to the test to avoid errors of exclusion and inclusion.
- Screening test user journey
Claiming monthly nutrition
A coupon based approach was used to match the existing mental model of the users.
1. Log in to Mitura using NIC number
2. Verify mobile number to receive coupon via SMS
3. Use the coupon link or the barcode at the center
4. Coupon will be marked as redeemed after usage.
- Collecting monthly nutrition user journey
Onboarding
The onboarding process supports localization by assisting users in customizing Mitura to their desired language preferences. Furthermore, it is structured with scalability in mind, envisioning Mitura as the ultimate platform for all government-related e-services in the future.
Personal data protection
Mitura is integrated with the government portal, allowing users to verify and log in using their national identification number, known as the NIC number. Additionally, users are required to verify their NIC number in order to access and modify their personal information within Mitura.
- Final design mockup
Impact & sustainability
Outcome
Inclusivity
By empowering the beneficiaries to register for the program, Mitura enables identification of the most vulnerable.
Localization of technology
It showcases localized technology by providing anonymity to beneficiaries, fostering greater local support for community welfare programs despite cultural hesitancy in the Northern Province.
Empowering the underserved
The app empowers users to manage their own data and nutrition, contrasting the current scenario where beneficiaries lack any control over the program.
Sustainable tomorrow
In the long term, it will create a modern centralized digital database to track the entire vulnerable population, facilitating easier and more efficient program communication and management during future crises.
- A number of sustainable development goals were considered for the full scope of Mitura
Reflecting on my
Learnings
1. Design is everywhere
I learnt that design inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of places demonstrating that design surrounds us in various forms. I looked for inspirations from diverse domains ranging from car pooling apps to initiatives focused on medical supply and food donations.
2. Do not assume, test
Many of my assumptions were debunked during the usability testing sessions. It became apparent that user’s mental model may function in ways that diverge from our expectations. This is why continuous feedback is imperative throughout the UX design process.
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