USAID & IGES
Creating a youth-led digital tool for real- time tracking of mosquito-borne diseases in Peru
WHAT?
The GO Mosquito Habitat Mapper (GOMHM) is a citizen science app developed by IGES as part of the Zika Grand Challenge. It equips young people to identify mosquito breeding grounds in their communities and contribute data to global health efforts. While the app showed promise, it struggled to engage students when integrated into classroom settings.
Dalberg Design was invited by USAID to lead a five-week design sprint focused on understanding and improving this experience. We worked closely with students aged 10–13 in both urban and rural schools in northern Peru, using participatory design to reimagine how the app could align with their learning environments and lived experiences.
WHY?
In the fight against mosquito-borne diseases like Zika, youth engagement is crucial. IGES envisioned an app that would not only collect valuable mosquito habitat data but also allow children to play an active role in protecting their communities. But early pilots revealed a key issue: students struggled to understand the app’s structure, and teachers skipped over long instructions—undermining both participation and data quality.
To truly scale the GOMHM as a community science tool, it had to be reimagined from the perspective of its youngest users. This meant centering their experience, redesigning how information is delivered, and making the process of contributing to science feel exciting and meaningful.
“I skip the intro. It's too long. If it's the first time I am using
it, it’s ok that I am seeing it. But after a while its too much.”
— 15 yrs student, Negritos
OUTCOME
The redesigned app experience empowered students not just as learners, but as active citizen scientists. It made it easier—and more fun—for youth to identify and report mosquito breeding sites, transforming their neighborhoods into areas of community-led monitoring. The app helped students visualize their personal impact, while enabling schools to build shared goals around public health.
As students used the app to flag breeding grounds, their findings were shared with local government agencies, creating a feedback loop between youth-led data collection and municipal action. Importantly, the app’s influence extended beyond the classroom: children, teachers, and parents began collecting data together, encouraging each other and expanding the tool’s reach to neighborhood groups and community institutions.
"The app informs my daughter, then she informs me
and then I can tell my neighbor. It’s beautiful because then
all of us learn and have the information and now we can
prevent diseases and even talk to the mayor about it."
— Parent, Negritos
DURATION
2 months, 2019
LOCATION
Peru
MY ROLE
Led Design Research
Co-designed Mosquito Habitad Mapper
Led rapid prototyping
TEAM
Pragya Mishra
Daniela V Sanchez
HOW?
We applied a human-centered design approach over five weeks, combining usability studies, user research, co-creation workshops, and concept development:
Usability analysis: We conducted a full analysis of the app and reviewed pilot feedback. We spoke with stakeholders to understand what users were being asked to do and why the current flow wasn’t working.
Research planning: Based on insights from the analysis, we identified opportunity areas and designed a research plan that included field-testing the existing app, prototyping, and co-creation sessions.
Field research: We partnered with three schools in and around Piura, Peru, conducting research with students, teachers, and parents in a variety of learning environments (urban and rural). Through testing and storytelling exercises, we surfaced key usability pain points and new ideas.
Synthesis and co-creation: We translated findings into a framework for redesign and held a co-creation workshop with stakeholders to align on new concepts. This session helped us prioritize the most impactful improvements.
Concept development: We delivered UX recommendations, interface sketches, and a concept narrative to guide future app iterations. All outputs were aligned with IGES and USAID priorities for scalability and school integration.
