Research Overview

Problem Statement

Zika is an infectious disease caused by a virus transmitted primarily by mosquito bites. These mosquitoes bite during the day and night and are predominantly found in certain regions. Learn more about Zika from CDC and WHO.

The virus can also be transmitted from a pregnant woman to her foetus, through sexual contact with an infected person, and possibly via a blood transfusion.

Currently, there is no vaccine or medicine for Zika virus, leaving certain groups at a significant risk:

• Pregnant women and those trying to conceive

• Men with a pregnant partner or those with a partner planning pregnancy

• Outdoor workers, and travellers in/out of Zika affected countries

Zika virus infection can cause a variety of adverse health effects - the most severe being brain defects in foetuses and newborns.

The goal is to create an app that will provide timely and useful alerts to individuals potentially at risk of Zika.

Research Goals

Our primary objective is to develop an app that effectively alerts the target audience about the risks of Zika virus. We aim to:

• Understand the current awareness levels and information sources for health-related risks like Zika

• Identify key features users value in health alert apps

• Determine the primary concerns users have regarding Zika and similar outbreaks

Target User Groups

For this research, we will focus on the groups most at risk of exposure to Zika virus:

• Pregnant individuals and their partners

• Women and men planning to conceive

• Outdoor workers in Zika-prone countries

• Travelers to and from Zika-affected areas

Research Methodologies

Our research approach will be to use several methodologies to gain a broad understanding as well as specific insights about user needs and behaviours:

Literature Review

To identify any missing information from academic and medical resources that can help shape our problem statement and solution.

Competitive Analysis

To understand how other apps in this space provide alerts and how users interact with these apps.

Surveys

To get a broad sense of user behaviors and to identify prevalent patterns and attitudes.

Deliverables

The outcome of this research process will be:

• A competitive analysis report, literature review

• A report summarising key findings from survey data with actionable insights

• A synthesised data analysis

Based on research analysis:

• UX research report with user personas, journey maps, and development recommendations