Designing Inclusive, Multilingual Health Technology Chatbot Tools

Context

Role: UX Research Consultant
Timeline: (3 years)
Research group: AI4Afrika

Project Overview

AI4AFRIKA was a cross‑sectoral research initiative focused on developing responsible, equitable, and culturally inclusive artificial intelligence technologies with an emphasis on African perspectives and users. The project brings together academics, technologists, artists, and community partners to build tools — including health‑focused mobile applications — that serve diverse linguistic and cultural communities.

In this context, the UX engagement centered on guiding research strategy and methodology for a health app designed for African users in countries such as Ethiopia, with emphasis on multilingual access, cultural appropriateness, and everyday health behaviors.

Role & Responsibilities

As a UX Research Consultant, I collaborated with a multidisciplinary team of developers, designers, and researchers within the AI4Afrika Research Group at UW–Madison. Key responsibilities included:

Advised on research methodology and planning for user studies.

Defined research goals that aligned with both technical feasibility and cultural context.

Supported the design of interfaces that were functional and culturally appropriate for target users.

Ensured the research component was robust and ethically grounded.

Problem Statement

The AI4Afrika team aimed to create a health‑focused mobile application that enables users from diverse African linguistic backgrounds — such as Swahili, Hausa, and Oromo speakers — to access essential health information in their native languages. However, the team lacked strategic guidance on how to structure user research that meaningfully captures lived experiences, health behaviors, and contextual needs from geographically dispersed and culturally varied user groups.

Research Objectives & Question

Capture longitudinal insights through diary studies to understand real‑world interaction patterns.
Address health‑specific usability needs, such as a period tracker.

Methodology

Method: Diary Studies for Longitudinal User Insight

To understand how prospective users interact with health information and mobile technology in their daily lives, we conducted diary studies over multiple weeks.

Rationale:

Captures rich, temporal insights into habitual health behaviors, workflows, and challenges.
Ideal for a virtual study across geographically dispersed participants, overcoming online participation barriers and enabling asynchronous engagement in real contexts.

Participants:

Prospective health app users were young female teens under 18 from Ethiopia, representing diverse health needs within that group. The study was conducted in collaboration with CARE Ethiopia, leveraging their local networks to ensure cultural relevance, trust, and participant support.

Outcome: This approach allowed the team to gather contextually grounded, longitudinal insights that directly informed evidence-based design decisions for culturally inclusive and user-centered mobile health tools.

Findings & Insight

While some findings were redacted in the original portfolio [due to confidentiality], the available insights clearly reflect user needs and design implications:

Users expressed a desire for simple, daily‑use health features such as medication reminders and symptom trackers.
Diary studies revealed gaps in digital health literacy, indicating a need for intuitive onboarding experiences and in‑app usage support.
Health advice presented in contextually relevant language and culturally familiar terms increases perceived usefulness and trust.

These insights underline the importance of usability, simplicity, and culturally relevant communication in health‑focused interfaces for multilingual populations.

Design Implications & Recommendations

From the research, clear UX directives emerged to guide the UI and interaction design for the health app:

Intuitive Onboarding: Guide users through setup with localized language prompts and simple task demonstrations.
Daily Health Task Support: Provide clear interfaces for medication reminders, symptom logging, and trend feedback.
Culturally Aware Content: Localize content to reflect colloquial health expressions, cultural norms, and region‑specific health practices.
Accessibility & Clarity: Use visual cues, icons, and clear labeling to lower barriers for users with limited digital literacy.

Outcome & Impact

The research established a methodologically sound foundation for capturing user needs across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts. It ensured that the design process was:

User‑centered: Grounded in real user behaviors and longitudinal data
Contextually relevant: Reflecting everyday health management practices

Culturally appropriate: Aligning design with linguistic and cultural norms