As a designer, part of my job is to sit with young people and understand the kind of information they need, what kind of services they’re looking for, and how they actually want to receive those services. Last week, I met with a group of young boys and girls at a youth center in Kigali, Rwanda to test a new component of a digital health education program that connects users to high-quality, youth-friendly services at local pharmacies.
The room was filled with a flurry of noise and excitement as we worked together to test and iterate on the prototypes. And suddenly, a thought came to me: Three short years ago, I was the young person sitting across the table being interviewed about this very product called CyberRwanda. I was the person who was invited to co-design a solution to a problem that I saw and identified in my life. And now, I am the designer leading these workshops……………………………