Case Study — Healthcare · E-Government
EVAX —
Tunisia's National
Vaccination Platform
I designed both the citizen portal and the health worker backoffice for Tunisia's national digital vaccination platform — initially launched during COVID-19 to coordinate 13 million vaccine doses, then expanded in 2024 to cover all routine immunizations for the country's entire population.
International Recognition
Presented at Council of Arab Ministers of Health · Supported by German Development Cooperation (GIZ/BMZ)
Launched by Tunisia's Minister of Health Ali Mrabet (June 2024) · Featured as success story at international digital health forums
01 — The Problem
Paper records, fragmented data,
and a pandemic
Before EVAX, Tunisia's vaccination system was entirely paper-based. Parents carried physical vaccination booklets that could be lost, damaged, or forgotten. Each region and health center maintained separate records with no centralized database — making it impossible for the Ministry of Health to get a national overview of vaccination coverage.
When COVID-19 hit, Tunisia needed to coordinate mass vaccination for 12 million people with no existing digital infrastructure. There was no registration system, no reminder mechanism, no way to verify vaccination status, and no real-time data for the Ministry to plan vaccine distribution.
Before EVAX
Fragmented paper records
24 regional health directorates maintaining separate records. No centralized database. Health workers spending hours on manual data entry and report generation.
The Catalyst
COVID-19 exposed every gap
12 million people needed coordinated vaccination. No existing digital platform. Manual processes would take months. Real-time tracking was impossible without a digital solution.
02 — My Specific Contributions
What I personally
designed and delivered
Working within the EY UX team, I contributed across the full design cycle — from initial research and benchmarking through wireframes, high-fidelity UI, and design system creation. The project ran across 17 sprint deliverables.
Research
Discovery & Analysis
Competitor analysis of international vaccination platforms including the French system and European digital vaccine passport. Benchmarking of global e-health platforms. User personas (2 types). Customer journey maps. Workshop facilitation with Ministry of Health stakeholders.
Design
UI & Systems
Wireframes and high-fidelity UI design for both citizen portal and health worker backoffice. Design system creation with component library. 50+ prototyped screens. 17 sprint deliverables. 30+ hours of workshops and usability testing sessions.
03 — Design Process
5 phases from research
to product delivery
Study & Alignment
Collected data on Tunisian and international vaccination systems. In-depth benchmarking. Strategic vision alignment workshops with Ministry of Health. Mapped the existing vaccination schedule across age groups and life events.
User Stories & Journeys
Identified 4 persona types: Tunisian citizens (CIN/non-CIN), foreign citizens, child citizens (pre-school/school age), and vaccination agents (managerial/assistant). Created detailed customer journey maps for each. Built the full product backlog.
Prototyping & Validation
Designed wireframes and prototypes across 3 use cases: landing/citizen space, citizen registration flow, and vaccination agent workflows. Iterated through 17 sprints with continuous stakeholder validation and feedback cycles.
Usability & Ergonomics
30+ hours of workshops and usability testing sessions. Functional and ergonomic tests across both portals. Demo sessions with Ministry stakeholders. Validated accessibility and user comprehension across diverse literacy levels.
04 — Benchmarking
Studying international
vaccination platforms
I studied international vaccination platforms including the French vaccination system, European digital vaccine passport solutions, and regional digital health initiatives. The benchmarking compared features, user flows, and accessibility standards across platforms — structured as a detailed comparison matrix.
Competitor Analysis — comparing features across French, European, and regional e-health platforms
05 — Personas & Stakeholders
The people behind
the platform
I identified two groups: the project stakeholders (TCM, Ministry of Health, CIMS, GIZ) and the end-user actors. For the platform, I defined 4 persona categories: Tunisian citizens (CIN holders and non-CIN holders), foreign citizens, child citizens (pre-school and school age), and vaccination agents (managerial and assistant roles). Two detailed primary personas were developed with goals, frustrations, motivations, and technology behaviors.
User Personas — citizen and health worker personas with goals, frustrations, and technology behaviors
Stakeholder & Actor Map — project stakeholders and 4 end-user categories
06 — Customer Journey Maps
Mapping the full
vaccination journey
I created detailed customer journey maps for both primary personas — tracking their experience from awareness of vaccination need through registration, appointment booking, vaccination event, and certificate download. Each CJM mapped touchpoints, emotions, pain points, and opportunities across each stage of the journey.
Customer Journey Maps — end-to-end vaccination journey for citizens and health workers
07 — The EVAX Ecosystem
How all the pieces
connect
EVAX is not a single app — it's a connected ecosystem linking planification (campaign planning), inscription (registration), vaccination (dose administration), réclamations (complaints), stock management, and all 1,240 vaccination centres. The ecosystem diagram shows how data flows between modules and how different user types interact with different surfaces.
L'écosystème de EVAX — planification, inscription, vaccination, réclamations, stock, and 1,240 centres
08 — Backlog & Sprint Delivery
17 sprints, 50+ screens,
190+ person-days
The product backlog contained all user stories for both the citizen journey and the vaccination agent journey, as well as backend flows. Stories were prioritized by impact and delivered across 17 sprints — with continuous stakeholder review at each sprint boundary. The implementation phase totalled 190+ person-days with the development team.
30+
Hours of workshops and usability testing sessions
50+
Prototyped screens across both portals
190+
Person-days with the implementation phase
Sprint Cycle — 17 sprints from Sprint 1 through Sprint 17 with backlog and deliverables
09 — The Solution
Two-portal architecture —
citizens and health workers
EVAX was designed as a two-sided platform: a citizen-facing portal for registration, appointments, and certificate access — and a health worker backoffice for vaccination management, stock tracking, and reporting.
Portal 1 — Espace Citoyen
Citizen Portal
Register using national ID card. View complete family vaccination history. Book appointments at nearest centres. Receive SMS reminders for upcoming doses. Download official digital vaccination certificates. Mobile-responsive design with simple, intuitive interface.
Portal 2 — Backoffice
Health Worker Portal
Dashboard with key metrics. Citizen search and record management. Stock declaration (Déclarer le stock). Complaint handling (Réclamation). Adverse event reporting (Signaler des MAPI). Vaccination campaign planning and automated reporting.
The platform covers all vaccine types: children from birth to 18 (complete national calendar), pregnant women, seasonal flu, rabies, travel vaccinations, and exceptional vaccinations for outbreaks. The EVAX ecosystem connects planification, inscription, vaccination, réclamations, stock management, and all 1,240 vaccination centres nationwide.
Espace Citoyen — the citizen-facing portal in Arabic with vaccination history and certificate access
Backoffice — health worker portal with campaign management, stock tracking, and MAPI reporting
10 — Key Design Decisions
Choices that shaped
the product at scale
Decision 01
Two-portal split
Separating citizen and health worker experiences completely — different login, different flows, different mental models. Citizens need simplicity. Health workers need density. One interface couldn't serve both.
Decision 02
Modular design system
Building reusable components instead of one-off screens. This added time upfront but meant the system could extend to routine vaccinations in 2024 without a redesign — and 2 Ministry departments adopted the library.
Decision 03
SMS-first for low literacy
Registration available via SMS ("Evax" to 85355), USSD code (*2021#), toll-free phone, and pharmacy walk-ins — not just the web platform. This ensured citizens with limited digital literacy could still register.
Modular design system — built for EVAX, adopted across 2 Ministry of Health departments
11 — Outcome & Impact
From crisis tool to
national health infrastructure
EVAX was initially launched during COVID-19 as an emergency vaccination coordination tool. By 2024, the platform was officially expanded to cover all routine immunizations — becoming Tunisia's permanent national vaccination record system.
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Registered users | 8 million+ (⅔ of population) |
| COVID-19 doses tracked | 13 million |
| Vaccination centres | 1,240 connected nationwide |
| Health professionals | 6,190+ onboarded |
| Routine child vaccinations (post-2024 expansion) | 469,785 doses given · 65,184 children registered |
| Regional coverage | 24 regional health directorates · 221 constituencies |
| Prototyped screens | 50+ across both portals |
| Sprint deliverables | 17 sprints · 190+ person-days implementation |
"EVAX is a digital tool that enables all Tunisians to make appointments with doctors and get vaccinated by simply registering using their ID card. Since the launch, more than eight million Tunisians have registered."
BMZ Digital.Global (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation)
12 — Reflection
What I learned about
designing under crisis
EVAX taught me that constraints force clarity. When you're designing under pandemic pressure with compressed timelines, you're forced to ruthlessly prioritize — which flows matter most, which edge cases to defer, which components to make modular so they survive beyond the immediate crisis.
The decision to build a modular design system instead of one-off screens was the single most important choice I made. It would have been faster to ship custom screens. But building reusable components meant the Ministry could extend EVAX to routine vaccinations in 2024 without us — and that's what sustainable design looks like.
The multi-channel registration approach — web, SMS, USSD, toll-free, pharmacies — was a lesson in equity. A platform that only works for digitally literate users in a country where many citizens have limited internet access isn't a national platform. It's a tool for the privileged. Making EVAX accessible through every channel ensured it could actually reach 8 million people.