The document summarizes the development and deployment of CycleTel, a mobile health application in India that sends SMS alerts to women about their fertile days using the Standard Days Method. It describes how formative research including focus groups and user testing was conducted during the proof-of-concept phase to design messages and the service appropriately. This established demand and helped refine the product before significant resources were invested. The document outlines various partners needed for full deployment and sustainable scale-up, and emphasizes that the deployment process is more complex than anticipated requiring careful planning, communication with partners, and leveraging open source resources and literature on new product development.

1. CycleTel™ in India: From
Proof-of-Concept to
Deployment
Meredith Puleio & Victoria Jennings
Institute for Reproductive Health,
Georgetown University
mHealth Working Group Meeting
January 18, 2011

2. 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

3. From Formative Research to
Deployment
Continuou
Product s M&E
Launch
Test
Market
Technology
Developme
nt
Proof-of-
Concept
Testing

4. Structure of CycleTel Proof-of-Concept
3 Phases Objectives
Focus Group  Understand phone use patterns
 Determine potential interest among
Discussions target audience
54 participants  Explore appropriate messaging and
preferences for the service
Cognitive Interviews  Verify comprehension of messages
18 participants  Adapt and finalize messages
Manual Testing  Enroll women for 2 cycles to assess
26 women/couples in feasibility, satisfaction and correct
Lucknow method use (using FrontlineSMS
80 women in New Delhi open source software)
 Troubleshoot problems and
determine how to improve service
 Determine target audience

5. Value of Formative Research ―I am mostly free
at that time of
―This is an idea day. It maintains
Established Need & Demand that can change privacy.‖ –
 Both men and women are interested your life!‖ –Male Female
 100% wanted to continue the service
 All would recommend to friends
Determined 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)

6. Beyond Proof-of-Concept: Identifying
Partners
 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

7. Mapping Development & Deployment
Partners

8. What’s in a Tech Partner?
 Agile—constant feedback & communication
loops
 How do they describe & embody innovation?
 Local knowledge of technology/mobile
environment
 Importance of global scope
 Social impact interest

9. 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

10. 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/

11. Thoughts? Ideas? Email
mp447@georgetown.ed
u