Category Podcasts

Publication Date: 04/08/2023

NoAppForThis Podcast Series will feature interviews with six developers from the experimental incubator and guests from the medical, tech, legal, and human rights fields. Topics covered will include the health app development process, AI, data privacy, data regulation, and the ecosystem of health apps in Kenya and many more. This podcast was made possible by Wellcome Trust (UK) and is produced by Open Institute, a Kenyan non-profit organisation that is empowering communities to drive sustainable development through use of data and evidence. If you’d like to join the show as a guest or learn more about the project, please reach out to us through [email protected] or @Open_Institute on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.

The Wellcome Trust Project is a interdisciplinary project implemented across 3 countries (Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa) by Open Institute, The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), and The Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) working in collaboration with the of University of Warwick, in the UK University of Nairobi, and University of Witwatersrand in South Africa


The process of developing an app can be long and complex, involving many stages including ideation and execution. In the ideation phase, the focus is on generating and refining ideas for the apps, while in the execution phase, the focus shifts to the building and launching of the app.

In this inaugural episode, 3 of the designers, Roy Waswa and Kiprotich Kimutai, led by Terry Gichuhi, discuss their ideation process – from how they come up with their ideas to how they experiment on ones they think are viable/feasible (or both) and those that are not. They also discuss how they have been balancing between novelty, viability/feasibility, and relevance during the ideation phase. In this episode they will also address the following: What have been the trade-offs so far between novelty and feasibility/viability in their designs and what has informed it? We also ask them, if there were no restrictions in terms of resources and expertise, what would they do with their designs in creating an MVP?

Image: The Designers recording this podcast; from left to right: Roy Waswa, Kiprotich Kimutai, Terry Gichuhi

You can listen to the episode using the button below