R. Bekele, I. Groher, J. Sametinger, T. Biru, C. Floyd, G. Pomberger, P. Oppelt: User-centered Design in Developing Countries – A Case Study of a Sustainable Intercultural Healthcare Platform in Ethiopia, Symposium on Software Engineering in Africa (SEiA 2019), colocated with ICSE 2019, Montréal, Québec, Canada, May 25 - June 1, 2019. doi:10.1109/SEIA.2019.00010


User-centered design (UCD) is a well-established development methodology that focuses on the users’ goals and context during the whole design process. This is especially important in software development projects in developing countries, where there is typically a large divergence between the development and the use situation. We are currently conducting a joint research project in which technology enabled maternal and child healthcare is pursued in rural areas of Ethiopia. In this paper, we report our findings and lessons learned from employing a UCD approach to address the challenges stemming from lack of education, training, and mostly illiterate users.

User-centered Design in Developing Countries – A Case Study of a Sustainable Intercultural Healthcare Platform in Ethiopia