As we continue work on the WASHCost Calculator, feedback from users is continually shaping development of the tool. The Stockholm World Water Week provided a fantastic opportunity to gather comments and questions on the basic version of the water and sanitation calculator. Fifty individuals, representing local authorities (national to district level), international NGOs, universities and private sector, had an opportunity to try out the tool.
Published on: 11/10/2013
The general feedback on the calculator was positive; testers see the value of the tool for planning purposes, as it gives users an idea on the total costs for providing a service over a period of 10 years. They also indicated that the tool is useful as an educational platform, prompting users to actively think about the life-cycle cost approach and implications for their own programs.
Testers loved the simplicity of the tool: the overall user interface is very clear and easy to work with. In a brief video below, Tom Laari Chimbar and Joseph Abisa explain why the calculator is important to their work with districts in Ghana and Uganda.
So what were the main take aways from the testing?
We started each testing session with a video on the tool. This provided a clear and motivating introduction to the tool, but we found that it would be useful to add some more on what people can expect from the WASHCost calculator. For example, not every tester understood that tool allowed exploring the impact of different cost scenarios for a service area, rather than finding 'ideal' costs.
Feedback on the basic version of the calculator included:
If you are interested to be a user tester for the advanced version of the tool, please indicate this by sending an email to washcostcalculator@irc.nl.