Applying Human-Centered Design Principles to Digital Syndromic Surveillance at a Mass Gathering in India: Viewpoint

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Public Health Surveillance
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Digital health tools are increasingly used for public health, but many interventions lack success, sustainability, or scale.
• India is proposing significant changes to its digital health architecture, assuming widespread mobile health adoption.
• Clinician reluctance to use electronic health records suggests potential challenges for universal digital health uptake.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the implementation of a digital surveillance tool at a large mass gathering.
• To share generalizable lessons for designing successful digital health tools for individuals and populations.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a digital surveillance tool at a mass gathering of nearly 30 million people.
• Deployment under resource constraints in a dynamic and chaotic environment.
• Adherence to human-centered design principles, including contextual relevance, stakeholder participation, customizability, and rapid iteration.

Main Results:

• Near universal adoption of the digital surveillance tool.
• High end-user satisfaction with the implemented tool.
• Demonstration of successful digital health implementation in a challenging setting.

Conclusions:

• Human-centered design is critical for the successful adoption and satisfaction of digital health tools.
• Contextual relevance, stakeholder participation, customizability, and rapid iteration are key lessons for designing scalable digital health solutions.
• Digital surveillance tools can be effectively implemented even in resource-limited, dynamic environments.