Best Practices - Application Creation

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.

APPLICATION PLANNING

We have created an excel template that we like to use as an application spec. It's proven useful for defining and sharing the proposed application before starting to build it. If you choose to build your application first in the form builder/HQ, you can now generate a document very similar to the application spec. This is found in the form builder under “advanced” -> “export form contents.” You can then select all and copy the contents into an Excel document. Exporting or working with the content in an Excel document makes it easy to show the overall structure of a form, which is useful for sharing and discussing.

Download the Example Spec

APPLICATION DESIGN

Naming Conventions: Question IDs/Labels

It is important to have a consistent and clear naming convention for your question IDs and item labels. When you export your data the question ID/label is the only way you will be able to identify your data. Having long question IDs does not cause any technical issue with CommCare. It is critical that your names be descriptive. A good rule of thumb is that someone else should be able to look at your data and know exactly what each column means. If you want to ensure that your question ID/item labels are sufficiently identifiable you can "export form contents" (under advanced) and then look at the question IDs in the column titles to verify that they make sense on their own.

 Here are examples of how question IDs can be very descriptive:

It is also important to be consistent with your case property names. If you are dealing with one property and call it woman_phone_number in one form and mother_phone_number in another form, then it will be much easier to accidentally have property names that do not match in the case configuration.  As a result, the data will not be linked.

We also recommend the following for question IDs/labels:

• use underscores: spaces are not allowed and underscores make for easier reading
• use all lower case! The case property names are all case sensitive so if you use different capitalizations in different parts of your app, your data will not link up

• avoid using symbols like "&" ">" and "<" in form names, module names, or display text without double-checking that they show up as intended (this should be fixed in the near future)

• when you are dealing with "previous" case property values, use a consistent naming convention (i.e. prev_<case_property_name>).  See "Loading Case Data" in the Beginner's Tutorial

Naming Conventions: Modules and Forms

 Your users will navigate through the application via the form and module names. As such, they should be clear and succinct. Avoid making form/module names that do not fit on one line on the phone's screen.

 If you have modules that have forms with the same function (i.e. registration, referral, etc.) they should have similar names and be in the same order in both modules.

Case Management

Case management, and associated settings, are what make CommCare uniquely useful. It is important to spend some time considering how the users will navigate through the application and what they will be able to see about their cases. Pick two or three major details about a case that the user can use to distinguish and locate cases in their case list. You can also add filters for case properties to allow the user to filter what they see in their case list (i.e. they enter the name of a village and see only cases from that village).

Be careful about designing case management screens. You want to limit the number of case properties that are shown in the case list view (usually only two or three) and order them such that the most important ones are at the top of the detail view.

Multimedia

Before deciding to include multimedia in your application, think carefully through what the role of multimedia will be in your application.

• 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 the volume in your recordings and test out playing the audio in the environment.

Audio

• 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.
• Official health messages are often written in very formal language. When making recordings, try using colloquial language that will be widely understood by the intended audience.
• See more detailed recommendations in our Audio Recording Guide.
• Have all the audio scripts defined, reviewed and approved by the partner organization prior to completing the recording. 

Images

• If possible, consider using a local illustrator.  Use the actual uniforms/dress of local health professionals.

• If there is more than one single-select question in a row, it is important to change the image for each picture. If the image is the same, it's 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

We haven't used video very much yet, so give it a try and post your recommendations here!

Data

• Sometimes data is treated as an afterthought to design of the application. However it is important to keep in mind what data you will want to see at the end and make sure you are designing your application and asking questions that can provide the information that you need. For example, it is possible track referrals or children of a given client without using subcases (by using case properties and filters), but if you do use subcases, it may be easier later on to analyze referrals and children data, when it is time to export that data and analyze it. 
• Do a data export as part of your testing process to see what data is automatically captured and don't ask anything you don't need to. For example, the user ID is automatically captured, so it might not be necessary to ask the user to enter their ID.

CommCare Settings

• For low literate users, it is best to use "CommCare Sense" mode, which can be configured on the main Application page under "CommCare Settings"
• In multi-lingual apps be sure to translate any user-interface strings that are not already translated (i.e. "form is loading", "back", etc.)

Language Support

• Translate all the display text in the application such as question titles, option values and possibly menus translated way before the implementation/launch. This often is a very time consuming step, one that requires ownership by the partner organization, project team and users. The translations also require the organization to use unicode friendly software, which might in itself be a learning curve. Prepare for translations in advance as much as possible. Not a trivial task.
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FORM DESIGN

Overall Form Structure

General Advice:

• 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 the user 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 (see the Beginner's Guide)
• 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.

Question Types

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.

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 for a response, 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 user and can be intimidating for many users. Where possible these questions should not be required and there should be a workaround to gather the information.

Numeric Input (Integer, Decimal)

Make sure you choose carefully whether you want an integer or decimal number in you data and choose the question type accordingly.

Keep in mind that neither integer nor decimal questions keep leading zeros. If you need to maintain leading zeros choose text input (see Common Logic and Calculations). By editing the xml you can make the number keyboard show on the screen, instead of the alphabetic keyboard.  You need to find the question in the "Edit Source XML" box and add appearance = "numeric" as below:

<input ref="/data/phone_number" appearance="numeric">
                <label ref="jr:itext('phone_number-label2')" />
</input>

In the near future there will be a new "phone number" question type that will allow you to store long integers, but until then, if you want to store a number greater than 8 digits, you should choose "text" input. By editing the xml you can make the number keyboard show on the screen, instead of the alphabetic keyboard, as above.

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)

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 so the user knows which button to push)

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 type confusing to use. The user has 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 by doing the following:

• 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 preceding it with a single-select question so that the multi-select question is only displayed if applicable.

• 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

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 a user enters data 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

• 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.