Designing User‐Centered Humanitarian Technologies with Displaced People in Iraq: Lessons from Refunite's Mobile Family Tracing Platform
| Published date | 01 April 2019 |
| Author | Sacha Robehmed |
| Date | 01 April 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12525 |
Designing User-Centered Humanitarian
Technologies with Displaced People in Iraq:
Lessons from Refunite’s Mobile Family
Tracing Platform
Sacha Robehmed*
ABSTRACT
As almost all adults in Iraq own a mobile phone, there is great scope to reach and engage with
internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq through mobile technologies. This article argues for
the importance of a user-centered design approach when using mobile technologies in humani-
tarian response. A user-centered approach considers context and places IDPs’lived experiences
as active technology users at the forefront of project design and implementation. The argument
is supported by a case study of Refunite, a family tracing platform that uses mobile technolo-
gies to help people find their missing loved ones. This article seeks to address the gap in the
literature on user-centered humanitarian mobile technology projects, particularly in relation to
the Middle East. Given the current lack of guidelines on mobile technologies in humanitarian
response, the article concludes by recommending that humanitarian practitioners draw on an
existing framework, the Principles for Digital Development (2016).
MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES AND HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
Over the last decade, mobile technologies have become more prevalent globally, which has
impacted humanitarian response. The tipping point was arguably during the response to the January
2010 earthquake in Haiti, when “for the first time, members of the community affected by the dis-
aster issued pleas for help using social media and widely available mobile technologies”(HHI,
2011: 8). Since then, humanitarian organizations have begun to explore the role of mobile tech-
nologies and other new technologies in humanitarian response (IFRC, 2013). Mobile technologies
have become widespread and widely used, including among displaced populations. Mercy Corps’
team in Greece reports that Wi-Fi is one of the first things refugees arriving on European shores
ask for, and that “nearly every group of refugees that arrives has at least one smartphone –and one
person who knows how to use it –among them”(Cogan, 2016). Some humanitarian organizations
are even looking speculatively to the future, for instance exploring the potential of using messaging
apps in humanitarian response (ICRC et al., 2017).
Extensive mobile phone ownership and usage offers great scope for humanitarian responders to
communicate with and provide services for displaced persons through mobile technologies. To do
so effectively, this article argues for adopting an approach from the field of human-computer inter-
action: user-centred design. The argument is supported by a case study from Iraq of Refunite, a
* Researcher, Beirut
doi: 10.1111/imig.12525
©2018 The Author
International Migration ©2018 IOM
International Migration Vol. 57 (2) 2019
ISSN 0020-7985Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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