Kër Santé :E-learning platform for CHWs

Contexte de la recherche

In the village of Nganda, as in many rural areas of Senegal, access to healthcare is limited. Community Health Workers (CHWs) therefore play an essential role: they raise awareness among families, guide them toward health facilities, and intervene on vital issues such as maternal and child health, nutrition, or the prevention of chronic diseases.

Traditionally, the Foundation for a Healthier Senegal (FOHSEN) organized in-person training sessions for CHWs. However, these sessions are costly (travel, accommodation, mobilizing trainers), infrequent, and do not allow CHWs to review or update their knowledge continuously.

Objectives

The goal is to provide CHWs with a mobile learning application for continuous training, in order to strengthen their skills.

The project ambitions are as follows:

Reduce dependency on costly and infrequent in-person training.
Strengthen CHWs’ skills through accessible continuous training.
Provide a simple, bilingual interface (Wolof/French), adapted to low literacy levels.
Integrate multimedia content (videos, quizzes, case studies).
Enable progress tracking and certification.
Create a peer-to-peer exchange space.

Image © FOHSEN. Used with permission for this UX/UI case study.

Research Phase

Benchmark

Before designing, I carried out a benchmark of e-learning applications (particularly in the medical and community fields). This allowed me to identify recurring design patterns:

Short, progressive modules with progress tracking.
Interactive assessments (quizzes, case studies, games).
Collaborative spaces to encourage peer learning.

These insights guided the definition of the first set of features.

Field Survey

We then conducted a questionnaire with 19 CHWs in Nganda to understand their practices and needs. These interview questions were designed to guide key design decisions regarding the community health workers’ learning preferences, language constraints, internet accessibility, and the type of technical support the application should provide. Understanding these elements helped ensure that the e-learning experience would be practical, inclusive, and aligned with the realities of their working environment. Here are a few questions we asked them :

"What are the biggest challenges you face with your current training?"
"How do you prefer to learn new information?"
"How often do you have access to the internet?"
"Which language do you prefer for your training?"

Key Insights

89.5% currently receive training in person, only 10% online.
The most useful formats are videos and hands-on practice.
The main obstacles cited are the lack of training materials and equipment.
A majority own a smartphone (73.7%), but internet connectivity remains irregular.
78.9% are okay with French, but more than half report occasional comprehension difficulties; Wolof translation is seen as secondary support.
Comfort level with apps: only 15.8% feel very comfortable, while 57.9% feel not very comfortable.
Features expected to ease use: simple instructions (63.2%) and visual guides (31.6%).

MVP and Design

To align the application with the most urgent needs of community health workers, I conducted a feature prioritization exercise using sticky notes on FigJam. This allowed me to categorize all potential features into two groups: essential elements for the MVP, secondary “nice-to-have” features and innovative features such as the AI option. This visual sorting helped clarify the scope, prevent feature overload, and ensure that the first version of the app remained simple, focused, and impactful.

In co-creation with the FOHSEN team, we defined an MVP centered on three main features:

Course modules divided into chapters, with progress tracking.
Discussion forum to encourage peer support.
Interactive assessments (quizzes, case studies).

Instead of creating low-fidelity user flows and wireframes, I designed mid/high-fidelity wireframes directly. This was a strategic choice because CHWs have limited comfort with abstract interfaces. so screens close to the final product would facilitate understanding and testing.

Here are the first screens designed to be tested by the CHWs :

User Testing

We conducted usability testing with 7 community health workers of varied profiles based on the criteria of ease with the French language and ease with mobile applications on a scale of high, medium and low ease. The candidates were required to complete 4 tasks :

Task 1: Access the training modules
Task 2: Open the current module
Task 3: Complete the interactive quiz
Task 4: Visit the discussion page

Results

5 participants found the app simple and intuitive.
2 participants, with low digital literacy, struggled to navigate modules and open quizzes.
Several expressed the need for introductory training to use the app.
Most successful tasks: accessing the forum and completing a quiz.
Main friction points: navigating modules and text readability.

The key insights from the user testing were that the app is perceived as useful and clear by most users. However, the success of the tasks depended strongly on the digital comfort level of CHWs. Tasks 1 and 2 were identified as the most challenging: accessing the training modules and opening the current module. To address this, we are considering simplifying the language by renaming “Module” to “Lesson,” updating the icon for better clarity, and increasing white space around the active module to make it stand out more. This will be complemented by a technical training component during rollout to ensure all CHWs can use the platform effectively.

Next Steps and Deployment

After conducting the user testing, some minor changes have been made to improve readability of the content. After that, I designed the other screens like the profile page, modules list and the new discussion screen.

Currently, the app is ready to move into development for the first functionalities. Educational content is also still being produced.

The strategy for the next phase includes:

Initial training of CHWs on how to use the application.
Gathering feedback from real-world use.
Iterations to improve usability (readability, navigation, Wolof translation if needed).
Gradual addition of new features (certification, reminder notifications, additional multimedia resources).