CycleTel ™ in India: From Proof-of-Concept to Deployment

Meredith Puleio & Victoria Jennings

Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University

CycleTel™ in India: From Proof-of-Concept to Deployment

CycleTel™ Concept Facilitate use of the Standard Days Method® by alerting women of their fertile days via SMS

Target Audience Women/couples who:- are non-method or traditional FP method users- own a mobile phone- send/receive SMS

From Formative Research to Deployment

Proof-of- Concept Testing

Technology Development

Test Market

Product Launch

Continuous M&E

Structure of CycleTel Proof-of-Concept3 Phases Objectives

Focus Group Discussions54 participants

Understand phone use patterns Determine potential interest

among target audience Explore appropriate messaging

and preferences for the serviceCognitive Interviews18 participants

Verify comprehension of messages

Adapt and finalize messagesManual Testing 26 women/couples in Lucknow80 women in New Delhi

Enroll women for 2 cycles to assess feasibility, satisfaction and correct method use (using FrontlineSMS open source software)

Troubleshoot problems and determine how to improve service

Determine target audience

Established Need & Demand

Both men and women are interested

100% wanted to continue the service

All would recommend to friendsDetermined Product Design Before Investing Significant Resources 100% said it was the right # of

messages Timing of messages should be

between 5-10pm Messages should be in Hinglish Hotline is a necessity 100% of users would pay for the

service on top of the normal cost for sending messages (range: Rs25-50 per month)

Value of Formative Research“This is an idea that can change your life!” –Male

“I am mostly free at that time of day. It maintains privacy.” – Female

Software development company Hosting environment SMS gateway provider v. telecoms Call center support SMS aggregator Research organization(s) Marketing agencies Donors Ministry of Health? Government

Officials? Non-profit organizations

Beyond Proof-of-Concept: Identifying Partners

Mapping Development & Deployment Partners

Agile—constant feedback & communication loops

How do they describe & embody innovation?

Local knowledge of technology/mobile environment

Importance of global scope Social impact interest

What’s in a Tech Partner?

Planning for Sustainable Scale-up

Decide “ownership” Establish technical

advisory group Apply a model for

scale-up Plan for M&E of scale-

up Test business models Identify & mitigate

risks along the way The ExpandNet/WHO Scaling-Up Model Refer to http://www.expandnet.net/tools.htm

Key Considerations for Launching an mHealth Application

Value of formative research & leveraging open source software

Deployment environment is much more complex than anticipated

Don’t underestimate timeline of events & value of solid partners

Plan, talk, listen, plan: People are willing to help! Look to “new product development” literature

Citation: Chris Blow, Ushahidi Community Member Available at: http://blog.ushahidi.com/index.php/2010/05/19/allocation-of-time-deploying-ushahidi/

Thoughts? Ideas? Email

mp447@georgetown.edu