Abstract:
Blood transfusions at the right time and in safe clinical settings are lifesaving. However, blood for transfusion is scarce and is in high demand globally. Because blood cannot be manufactured donations are the only means of obtaining blood and keeping blood banks sufficiently supplied. In Khartoum, Sudan, in spite of the increasing number of donors and donation rates, blood banks are struggling to provide enough blood to meet the high demand. In addition, blood donors are unlikely to donate repeatedly due to a lack of motivation. In this thesis, we aim to design a blood donation service that can be used to motivate blood donors and improve the blood donation process. The two research questions are (1) what are the current practices of blood donation in Khartoum, Sudan, and (2), how may those practices be improved through the design of IT-supported services. In terms of methods, a service design approach was used, where semi-structured qualitative interviews, observations, and the collection of documents were used to gather empirical data on the current blood donation practices in Khartoum, Sudan. A thematic analysis was used to analyze interviews data. Findings show that in the current practices, although blood donors consider blood donation an act of humanitarian goodwill, family replacement donors are used more than a voluntary donation. Furthermore, current practices have many limitations that lead donors to be unsatisfied and not motivated to give their blood repeatedly. To mitigate and improve these practices the study examined the design implications for improving these practices with ICT, and a new suggested blood donation service was implemented which has two components, namely, a web-based application and an Android app. To validate and evaluate the prototype, a questionnaire and interviews were used to measures the satisfaction with the new service from the viewpoint of the stakeholders i.e. donors and blood banks. The results of these inquiries show that the new blood donation service prototype can potentially be used to support and improve the current practices of blood donation in Khartoum- Sudan. Donors can, for example, be motivated to give their blood frequently. Finally, recommendations and future extensions to the prototype are presented.
