A talk given by Thoughtworks at UKPA UK's 'World Usability Day' event - 10 November 2016. The challenge of reconnecting unaccompanied child refugees with their loved ones is a growing problem with the global refugee crisis. In Kakuma refugee camp filmmaker Lieven Corthouts sought out a solution after living there for 5 years and talking with refugees struggling to find their families. ThoughtWorks collaborated with Lieven to design and user test a ‘Find Me’ web application with refugees, which exposed the challenges of cultural barriers, limited technical literacy and the western bias applied within the design process. Mike Gatman is a project manager and coach from ThoughtWorks who looked after the Find Me initiative. He is an agile/lean enthusiast who brings the user to the heart of every delivery, with a background in digital projects across media, telecommunications, banking and retail. Find Me was his first foray into the humanitarian sector.

1. FINDING KAKUMA

2. Kakuma refugee camp, NW Kenya
Established in 1991
Over 193,000 refugees
53% are from South Sudan, mainly Nuer
12,700 South Sudanese children are
registered as unaccompanied (UNHCR)

3. LIEVEN CORTHOUTS

4. DISCOVERY

5. To help refugees in
Kakuma find missing
relatives through a web
application which
refugees are both
involved in designing
and, by its design, are
given choice and
self-determinism

6. PRINCIPLES OF THE FIND ME APP
CHILD SAFETY IS
PARAMOUNT
COMMUNITY-LED,
COMMUNITY-DRIVEN KEEP IT SIMPLE
● Minimise human
interaction
● Only store necessary data
● Secure data storage
● Concept originated in the
community
● Community to facilitate in
data entry
● Idea will spread through
word of mouth and
through community
establishments
● Limited data capture
validation
● Engaging, simple user
interface
● Technology and services in
line with Kakuma
capabilities

7. DISCOVERY INSIGHTS
Low level of literacy and technical ability for South Sudanese refugees
Refugees are usually familiar with SMS based services, such as M-Pesa
Unaccompanied children often arrive in a guardianship arrangement
Smartphone usage is growing in the camp; everyone knows someone with a
smartphone
Facebook and WhatsApp are popular amongst smartphone users
Given the prevalence of unaccompanied children from South Sudan, the
primary focus would be the population of South Sudanese refugees

8. PERSONAS

9. CHUOL
8 year old Nuer boy from South Sudan
who lives in Kakuma with a guardian
His goal is to let his mother know where
he is
Low English literacy and technical ability
Very playful
His guardian could decide that she can
no longer care for him, making him
vulnerable to gangs

10. BENCEE
20 year old South Sudanese
teacher who can act as a facilitator,
speaks Nuer, English and Swahili
Lived in Kakuma for 3 years, good
level of literacy and smartphone
awareness
Gained credibility within Nuer
community in Kakuma, has a goal
to help others
May wish to leave Kakuma, or
could lose interest in the facilitator
role due to conflicting priorities

12. INVISION PROTOTYPE

13. USER TESTING

14. Confirmed that Somalis and
Ethiopians are sufficiently tech
savvy to understand Find Me
Nearly all South Sudanese
struggled with navigational
patterns and the wording of
questions, and would need a
facilitator
Iterative updates to the flow and
questions, with Lieven retesting
each new version
UI was adapted to the point it was
understood by smartphone aware
refugees

16. SECOND ITERATION

18. REUNIFICATION
ECOSYSTEM
?SNAPSHOT

22. LESSONS

23. Establishing a culture’s relationship with technology is essential - be
prepared to trial a number of ideas
Stopping is not necessarily failure: think alternative success models
Any example of:
● A changed practice
● New business model
● Or new technology
can be disruptive in the humanitarian space but must be facilitated by a
shared write up
Insights into technology, UX and typical organisational challenges allow the
discovery of new partnership opportunities

24. THANK YOU