MWash
This project was implemented while I was working as the Country Manager at Code for Sierra Leone. It is one of the 3 projects across Sub Saharan Africa currently being supported by the Engine Room under its Matchbox Program
About the Project
MWash aims to bridge the information and communication gap related to water sanitation and health between the government and the people. It provides users with an interactive access to data related to the locations of water and sanitation points in Freetown via a web application. It would also enable the citizens to submit updated information related to the water and sanitation points in their own localities via an SMS service that would be linked with the main application. This way, it would improve the transparency in critical water and sanitation information sharing between the consumers, the utilities providers and the elected officials.
The Objectives of the Platform
To provide information about basic facilities in ensuring the provision of safe drinking water for citizens in Sierra Leone
Improve on information dissemination on sanitation and hygiene in the country especially slums and riverine communities
To use technology (in the form of a mobile app and a scaleable web app) to improve on information about water and sanitation at community level.
The First Prototype
The prototype of MWASH can be accessed at this link
The following is a screenshot of the prototype
The Design Research Methodology
Code for Sierra Leone partnered with The Engine Room to conduct design research to test out the existing prototype
Employed a user-centered approach with mixed method research
Focused largely on contextual inquiries and experience mapping for citizens and waterpoint managers.
The Design Research Output
You can read the results of the design sprint conducted by the Engine Room and Code for Sierra Leone below.
Improving Access to Water Services
Code for Sierra Leone undertook a further design iteration, with this time the intention being to explore ways of integrating mobile money in the water service delivery in Freetown. You can check out our results below.