This page outlines recommendations for designing and building useful CommCare applications. These are compiled from collective experience in app construction and are only recommendations. Individual projects could vary substantially and the overall best practice is to go through extensive user testing and piloting to identify and correct language, media, or work flows that are confusing.
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- Are the images and audio recordings for the person using the phone, or for that person's client? This is particularly important for audio, because the language should be consistent with the intended audience.
- Do your users want multimedia? Sometimes users, especially advanced or highly trained users, will not want any multimedia, because they have extensive training in how to deliver messages/counsel their clients. Before preparing multimedia for an entire application, work with your user base to gather feedback and test your multimedia.
- What environment is your application going to be used in? If it is going to be used outside and images do not show up well on the phone you are using then either the images have to be edited appropriately or should not be included. If it is a very loud environment make sure you maximize volume and test out playing the audio in the environment.
Audio
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- Involve representative from partner organization on site for recording session and/or a staff member who understands local dialect. Although scripts can be followed, presence of native speakers will ensure integrity of message content.
- See more detailed recommendations in our Audio Recording Guide.
Images
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If possible, consider using a local illustrator. Use the actual uniforms/dress of local health professionals.
- If there are multiple single select questions in a row, its important to change the image for each picture. If the image is the same, its easy for the user, especially illiterate users, to get confused or think the application is not working properly.
- User-test your images- sometimes what you may think is a clearly understandable symbol may not be understood by users or their clients. For example, in one case an artist drew a digital thermometer and only upon asking users did the designer discover that they all thought it was a pen, not a thermometer.
Video
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We haven't used video very much yet, so give it a try and post your recommendations here!
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- Take advantage of calculations in forms to minimize errors. For example, if you are asking for a birth date, add a label afterwards that shows the calculated age. This may highlight an error in date entry if the age appears different than what was expected.
Use labels to force the user to stop and verify their information. You can add a label that shows the user data they entered and encourages them to verify if it is correct (see Common Logic and Calculations ).
- Use groups to prevent writing the same display logic (and having to update it) for related questions. Groups also make it easier to manage large forms in the designer.
- Consider including a success/you're done with the form label as your last question. This can be particularly useful on J2ME phones by giving the user an opportunity to correct any errors and make it clear to the user that the form is ending..
Don't try to do too much in one form. If you make a simple form that is easy to use it has a higher probabilty of success than a complex one that tries to tackle too much.
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While selecting a question type may seem very straight forward, there are some interesting usability issues associated with different questions that are important to consider.
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Text Input
Text input is the most time-consuming and error-prone type of question. Wherever possible replace text questions with single select questions. If there are a lot of options consider breaking it down into several shorter lists (i.e. first ask which village, then depending upon that answer ask which part of the village). Text input questions are especially difficult for any illiterate CHW. Where possible these questions should not be required and there should be a workaround to gather the information.
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Numeric Input (Integer, Decimal)
Make sure you choose carefully whether you want an integer or decimal number if you data and choose the question type accordingly.
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If you need to have a number of a specific length (i.e. for an ID number), put a string-length constraint on the question (see Common Logic and Calculations)
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Single-Select
- Many applications have lots of yes/no questions. Keeping the order of these consistent makes it easier for the user to navigate through the forms more quickly. However, varying the position means that the user has to pay more attention to the actual answer.
- If a single select question dictates what the next question will be (if yes show question A, if no show question B) it is best to make the single select question required.
- On J2ME phones add the appropriate numeral before each display text (i.e. the first option should have "1." before it)
Multi-Select
Multi-select questions allow the users to choose more than one answer from a list. While this may seem relativley straight forward we have found that the use of these question types can be extremely confusing and error prone:
- On J2ME phones the check box for multi-select questions can be very difficult to see and the multi-select question difficult confusing to use. The user hsa to select each answer individually and then navigate to the bottom of the list of choices to select “done.” This is very different from how the other question types work, so users sometimes end up selecting and then un-selecting the same choice in their attempt to complete the question.
- On smartphones (ODK), when swiping from one question to another some users accidentally select additional options from the list.
As such, we recommend that you minimize the use of multi-select questions . You can do that byby doing the following:
- breaking Break multi-select questions into a series of single select questions. A multi-select question with four options, "Which pregnancy danger signs are you experiencing, if any?" can become four, quick, single-select questions asking yes/no if the user is experiencing each symptom. This is worth doing if there are up to 4-5 options and if it is useful for the client or user to be asked these questions directly.
- Overall, it is best practice is to have 1 yes/no such as 'is patient experiencing symptoms' and then multiple single select yes/no questions for all the symptoms. This will make the form longer, however, is more user-friendly. Having single select yes/no questions for each symptom also forces the user to really acknowledge each symptom; sometimes if they are in a list, they will not carefully read all the choices.
If you do choose to use a multi-select question, we strongly recommend that you do the following:
- Keep the list short enough so that it all shows up on one screen. If you have to scroll to get to the bottom of the list, the user will often miss those options. If your list is too long consider breaking it into more than one question.
- You could also consider breaking the list into multiple questions single-select questions or preceding it with a single-select question so that the multi-select question is only displayed if applicable.
SINGLE-SELECT
- Many applications have lots of yes/no questions. Keeping the order of these consistent makes it easier for the user to navigate through the forms more quickly. However, varying the position means that the user has to pay more attention to the actual answer.
- If a single select question dictates what the next question will be (if yes show question A, if no show question B) it is best to make the single select question required.
- On J2ME phones add the appropriate numeral before each display text (i.e. the first option should have "1." before it)
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If "none" is one of your choices make a validation condition that prevents user from selecting "none" in addition to other options (see Common Logic and Calculations). And then make sure you add a descriptive validation message!
GPS
- If you are going to add a GPS question make sure that GPS works well on your phone in the areas you will be working. Don't make GPS questions required unless you're sure you can get them every time.
- Consider what the user should do if they can’t get a GPS reading while they are in the field. This could include a follow up question that is displayed if the GPS question is left blank, and asks the reason.
Logic Properties
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Validation
Creating a validation condition for input-type questions can be very useful as a way to minimize the risk of users entering erroneous data. However, you should keep the following in mind:
- Validation conditions should always be accompanied by descriptive constraint messages that will clearly inform the user what they need to correct. You can also add audio to constraint messages. For example, you may want to put a limit on a birth date to make sure the user doesn't accidentally put a date in the future. But if you don't put a constraint message the user may not understand why their answer was not accepted. This can be very frustrating for the user.
- You want to be careful about your validation - if there is data present in the field that doesn't fit your validation rule, this could prevent your app from being used. Make sure that your conditions are realistic and consider allowing an extra margin on your allowed values to permit extreme cases.
Display Logic
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- You can make very "smart" display logic but it is critical that the trainers and field staff understand that logic very well. Otherwise they, along with the users, may be very confused by why certain questions show up in some cases but not others.
Required Question
Required questions prevent the user from moving forward in the form without entering or selecting a value. Be careful when specifying a question is required - if the user of the application cannot determine the value for a particular question (ex. they are transcribing from a paper form and the particular value is not filled in), this can prevent them from submitting any data. If necessary, you can add a follow-up question that asks why a particular value was blank.
The types of questions that generally need to be required are ones that "name a case" or that determine what subsequent questions will be displayed.