3.2 Bridging the Technical Gap

Some organizations have a technical team who have already developed and launched digital tools. Other organizations are just starting and have very little or no technical capacity. Whatever your situation, there are some principles and best practices that your organization should follow. This will help you to build solutions that have a positive impact.

If a tech solution is to be useful and valuable, you’ll need to consider the following:

• To start the process, you need to define the problem and understand the target audience’s needs. You also need to find out if they have access to technology. And you need to know what languages they speak.

• It’s important to build a solid use case. To develop a use case, the organization needs to know who they want to reach. They need to know where the communication gaps are, and what impact they are hoping for.

• Technical solutions should start with the problem and aim to solve it, not the other way around.

• The solution should become part of programs that are already running and should deal with current communication problems.

• A well-defined use case and problem statement will make the project more successful. It will also have a bigger impact than if the solution is driven by tech.

• It’s important to involve users, the target audience, and those working on the design process. They should be involved at all stages. This will make sure that the solution is user-centered. It should then also reflect the needs and hopes of the target audience and the aims of the organization.

To learn more about how to develop a strong use case and identify program requirements, please see Section 4. Finding use cases that will have an impact