Just when the swamped app store was beginning to attract a collective yawn enters the MyDawa app.
Unless you just got out of prison, you must have heard about MyDawa, an e-health innovation that promises cheaper prescription drugs via your phone.
The e-health platform is the property of ION Equity; an Irish based corporate finance firm and private equity investor.
MyDawa has been specifically designed to offer medicine and health products conveniently and at an affordable rate.
What this means is that you will no longer have to hang around the pharmacy while your medicine is being fetched by a mean-looking and bored pharmacist who keeps patting to and fro only to report that the drugs are not available.
From here, the script is very predictable: He or she then referrers you to XYZ, a privately-owned chemist located just seventeen meters from the hospital. Swindlers!
Those who have been to government pharmacies can totally relate to this.
MyDawa promises to salvage the situation. It comes with the promise of convenience and affordability.
I have been using the app for close to seven days now. I can, therefore, point out the good, bad, and ugly.
Is the MyDawa app worth all the hype?
General Information
App version: 3.0.3
Platforms: Android, Web
Developer: ION Equity
Downloads: 10,000+
User Interface
MyDawa app has one chance to make a good first impression and it seems to take full advantage of this opportunity.
The User Interface (UI) is A-Okay as it is easily understandable and has taken into account small screens.
The UI is also unobtrusive and all design elements are well placed. Chances of misclicks are very low.
That’s not all:
The MyDawa app prioritizes on the primary task it was designed to support.
Load Time and Performance
I give it a B+.
We can all agree that slow internet is more painful than a tongue bite. If you have good internet connection, then you are in luck. If not, you may need a little patience.
In the app world, a bad day can either be caused by a slow loading, crashed, or a frozen app. The MyDawa app did behave all seven days. This is a good sign.
Mobile Friendliness
Since 2015, mobile friendliness has become non-negotiable. A developer who has not complied with this should probably change careers. I hear there is a lot of money in Shylocking!
The MyDawa app is mobile friendly.
The app passes the mobile-friendliness test given the generous spacing between various items and the prudent choice of topography.
Even on a small screen, the app is quite responsive.
Usability
The app is both innovative and user-friendly. This means that it meets user needs and is easy to use.
It also offers a logical path for easy navigation as the various categories have been well placed.
Even better, you can access various sections of the app with just a few taps.
You also get to complete what it is that you came to do successfully.
You can get a wide range of medication and wellness products and these include medicine, hygiene products, beauty, and skin care.
In case the ‘embarrassment’ that comes with buying a condom in public prevents you from plugging that funnel. The MyDawa app has got you covered.
In some cases, a trip to the pharmacy is akin to signing a death wish. The issue of fake medication has been rampant in Kenya but MyDawa promises to provide genuine products.
You can upload your prescription with doctor’s illegible font (keep neatly written bills to yourself) either by taking a photo or choosing one from your files.
To access these items, all you have to do is browse the catalog, add the items to their cart and pay using M-PESA.
It gets better:
The app only includes basic features that are useful to users. There is nothing as annoying as navigating an app with dozens of features.
MyDawa features only a few basic but important features such as a cart, phone number, notifications button, and a home button.
The presence a landline number signals ready customer care representatives. However, it would be better if they would add Safaricom or Airtel numbers. Landline numbers are a bit intimidating and they always give the impression of expensive call costs.
The drop down menu adjacent to the MyDawa logo is well placed and it created a sense of order.
The search bar is functional but it would have been better if it had an autosuggest feature. Some people cannot correctly write some medicine names correctly but would definitely recognize the correct spelling.
Since some users may want to confirm the availability and price of a certain prescription before buying, the autosuggest feature would make the search process easier.
Finally, the MyDawa app promises an easy, private and secure way to access a wide range of quality medicines and various wellness products. So far so good and we can only hope that it gets better.
You can download the app from the Play Store.
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