Would you buy contraceptives from a vending machine?
Did you know? More than 214 million women and girls in the developing world lack access to modern contraception.
Women with the ability to control their fertility have better access to education and employment opportunities, bringing economic benefits and improved livelihoods to their families and communities. Many obstacles can stand between a woman and easy access to life-saving contraceptives; because of these barriers, 40% of all pregnancies each year are unintended.
Young women often lack easy and confidential access to contraceptive products and services even where local providers and products are available. Lack of information, stigma and discrimination all stop young women from getting the contraception they need. To address these barriers to contraceptive access, Population Services International (PSI, a nonprofit organization working in global health) and Novek (a Kenyan startup) are implementing a pilot project to design, build and deploy smart contraceptive vending machines in Nairobi, Kenya.
So, what have we learned so far? Check out some of our newest insights below, and be sure to read more about the problem we are trying to solve here and here.
Can Smart Contraceptive Vending Machines overcome contraceptive barriers?
The smart contraceptive vending machines will utilize the internet-of-things, enabling them to connect to the internet and unlocking convenient features they would not otherwise be able to access. The vending machines will allow users to provide themselves with access to contraception, affording them the privacy they want when making a potentially delicate purchase. The vending machines also allow payments with mobile money, limiting the need to manage and transport cash from the machine and reducing security risks. The connectedness of the machines also allows for real-time data on usage, stock levels and machine functionality.
Our first step: generating insights from potential users
PSI conducted research among potential users of the machines in Nairobi and Machakos counties so that we could develop insights to build our first prototype. We sought insights on the desirability, ease-of-use and convenience of contraceptive vending machines for the young men and women in both urban and peri-urban Nairobi and Machakos counties. We also sought to understand user preferences for payment options when buying products at the contraceptive vending machines, the potential location they would like the vending machines to be placed, and the range of contraceptive and non-contraceptive products they would like to access from the vending machine.
The findings of the qualitative research validated many of the assumptions we had made about young peoples’ experiences with purchasing contraception in Nairobi and Machakos. They experience stigma in accessing contraceptives and other sexual and reproductive health products and services. They’re much less stressed if they can buy these products without having to talk to anyone.
Young people in Kenya will typically buy contraception from private pharmacies as opposed to health facilities, and sometimes travel further to buy from outlets where they are less likely to meet someone that they know. They will often look for a pharmacy with a youthful vendor who they perceive to be less judgmental. Some respondents reported that, before entering the pharmacy to buy contraceptives, they would walk by several times to assess the number of customers in the shop and would only go inside to ask for condoms or other contraception when they were comfortable with the number or type of clients inside. Some young clients will typically buy from one outlet they are familiar with, where the vendor gets to know what they want and their purchases are completed without mention of the products or prices, often using code words.
“I go to a place where I feel comfortable, like the chemist near my hostel, on Mondays. When you produce 200 shillings you are given an E-pill (emergency contraception) right away without uttering a word.” — Female Respondent, Nairobi.
How did people respond to smart vending machines?
We also sought to find out how our target consumers would respond to the concept of purchasing contraception from a smart vending machine. Here are the insights we gathered:
· Most young people we spoke with were familiar with similar vending machines, had seen them working well, and knew they would trust this kind of machine, too.
· They were also particularly attracted to the idea of purchasing contraception from a vending machine because it would eliminate human interaction and potential stigma.
· They suggested that the vending machines could sell a mix of products — like snacks and menstrual hygiene products — that would eliminate stigma by disguising their intention to purchase contraception.
· They also wanted us to ensure that the products were high quality and obtained from a reputable manufacturer.
· Ideally, the vending machines would be in a public, easily accessible location, and would offer privacy to those who are using the machines.
· The respondents were comfortable with the use of mobile money at the vending machine and wanted us to ensure that the machine would be reliable, fully and reliably stocked, and accessible 24/7.
What’s next?
For the next sprint of the project, we’re moving on to build our first prototype vending machine. Here’s how we’ll do it.
1. With user-centered design, we’ll undertake research to optimize the physical and software design of the vending machine.
2. We’ll use these insights to move from testing the concept to testing the features and build.
3. Then, we will test different configurations of the mobile money payment options to select the optimum payment solution based on user experience.
4. Next up, we’ll assess options for the machine’s product selection that would best attract our target audience and minimize the stigma associated with use of the vending machine.
5. Finally, we’ll design the machine’s system to provide contraceptive product information to customers, and in turn find out what information customers are willing to share with us so that we can understand our typical client profile.
At the end of the sprint, we aim to have a prototype vending machine that we can deploy for testing with consumers in the market.
