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BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
Published in: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 1/2021

Open Access 01-12-2021 | COVID-19 | Research article

Learnings from the design and acceptance of the German COVID-19 tracing app for IS-driven crisis management: a design science research

Authors: Alina Behne, Nicolai Krüger, Jan Heinrich Beinke, Frank Teuteberg

Published in: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making | Issue 1/2021

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Abstract

Background

This article investigates the research problem of digital solutions to overcome the pandemic, more closely examining the limited effectiveness and scope of the governmental COVID-19 tracing apps, using the German COVID-19 tracing app (Corona-Warn-App) as an example. A well-designed and effective instrument in the technological toolbox is of utmost importance to overcome the pandemic.

Method

A multi-methodological design science research approach was applied. In three development and evaluation cycles, we presented, prototyped, and tested user-centered ideas of functional and design improvement. The applied procedure contains (1) a survey featuring 1993 participants from Germany for evaluating the current app, (2) a gathering of recommendations from epidemiologists and from a focus group discussion with IT and health experts identifying relevant functional requirements, and (3) an online survey combined with testing our prototype with 53 participants to evaluate the enhanced tracing app.

Results

This contribution presents 14 identified issues of the German COVID-19 tracing app, six meta-requirements, and three design principles for COVID-19 tracing apps and future pandemic apps (e.g., more user involvement and transparency). Using an interactive prototype, this study presents an extended pandemic app, containing 13 potential front-end (i.e., information on the regional infection situation, education and health literacy, crowd and event notification) and six potential back-end functional requirements (i.e., ongoing modification of risk score calculation, indoor versus outdoor). In addition, a user story approach for the COVID-19 tracing app was derived from the findings, supporting a holistic development approach.

Conclusion

Throughout this study, practical relevant findings can be directly transferred to the German and other international COVID-19 tracing applications. Moreover, we apply our findings to crisis management theory—particularly pandemic-related apps—and derive interdisciplinary learnings. It might be recommendable for the involved decision-makers and stakeholders to forego classic application management and switch to using an agile setup, which allows for a more flexible reaction to upcoming changes. It is even more important for governments to have a well-established, flexible, design-oriented process for creating and adapting technology to handle a crisis, as this pandemic will not be the last one.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Footnotes
1
WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard, see https://​covid19.​who.​int/​. Accessed 18 April 2021.
 
3
RKI stands for Robert Koch Institute, which is the central institution of the German Federal Government in the field of disease surveillance and prevention, see https://​www.​rki.​de/​, accessed 18 April 2021
 
5
See https://​www.​coronawarn.​app/​en/​. accessed 18 April 2021, see Fig. 7 in “Appendix”.
 
7
SAP is a large publicly traded software company commissioned to develop the CWA.
For more information about SAP, see https://​www.​sap.​com/​index.​html
 
10
The prototype is accessible via https://​t1p.​de/​bisecwa-en (English version).
and https://​t1p.​de/​bisecwa (German version). We also provide a demo video: https://​t1p.​de/​wzu8.
 
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Metadata
Title
Learnings from the design and acceptance of the German COVID-19 tracing app for IS-driven crisis management: a design science research
Authors
Alina Behne
Nicolai Krüger
Jan Heinrich Beinke
Frank Teuteberg
Publication date
01-12-2021
Publisher
BioMed Central
Keyword
COVID-19
Published in
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6947
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-021-01579-7

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