Fatima: The researcher verdict

Fatima is the Here I Am research platform that delivers ethical research anywhere, in minutes, not months.

To date Fatima has been used by 24 organisations in 17 geographies, including Sudan and Ukraine, so we thought it was time to hear why so many researchers are choosing Fatima to conduct their rapid, ethical research.

We spoke to ethical field researchers (and Fatima fans) Precious Antoinette Chrysanctus, Kossy Okonkwo, Tolulope Kolawole and Vershima Tingir about their recent experience using the platform to conduct field research in Nigeria.

Fatima devices

How does Fatima differ from research tools you’ve used in the past?

Fatima ensures that the rights of research participants are protected at all times, especially for vulnerable groups such as minors. It ensures that the proper consent is sought, ensuring that participants understand what they are consenting to and that this consent is confirmed to be received before the data is collected and can be used. - Vershima Tingir

I have been a researcher since 2014 and I have used a variety of research data collection tools, permit to say that Fatima is the only tool that I have used which allows you to schedule interviews ahead, and has a call-in feature within the app. - Precious Antoinette Chrysanctus

Fatima is like a one stop shop for everything research data collection and analytics, the fact that I can schedule any kind of interview, make a direct call for an interview and get it transcribed instantly is incredible. - Kossy Okonkwo

What is your favourite feature within Fatima?

The transcription feature for voice interviews - Tolulope Kolawole

The fact that you can remotely conduct interviews and more so that the respondents don't need to have data enabled devices to participate. The minimum requirement for them is their availability and a mobile phone. - Vershima Tingir

It would be the call-in feature. This allows for smooth remote data collection, and eliminates the need for researcher and participant to share their phone numbers with each other - which does create a risk of harassment. - Precious Antoinette Chrysanctus

The transcription feature. - Kossy Okonkwo

How did Fatima make your job easier in your recent project?

It has saved me the stress of transcribing and taking notes during interviews, significantly reducing the overall time spent on them. - Tolulope Kolawole

Fatima made it possible collect different data formats in one place (images, audio and text). We were able to collect both quantitative and qualitative data in one survey. Fatima also made it possible to easily collect audio recordings and it automatically transcribes them for me - Vershima Tingir

As someone who is clutter sensitive, I didn't have to worry about carrying around different interview guides. - Precious Antoinette Chrysanctus

I could go back to check things I missed out during an interview, I'm always settled knowing that Fatima has got me. - Kossy Okonkwo

What would you tell a fellow researcher about Fatima if they were considering using it?

Fatima eliminates the hassle of transcribing interviews, saving you valuable time. - Tolulope Kolawole

You should definitely give it a try. The good thing is that it’s so easy to use that you can immediately get on with it with little or no training and you can always figure out the rest as you go! - Vershima Tingir

Data collection is efficient and optimal using the Fatima tool. - Precious Antoinette Chrysanctus

Use Fatima to collect interview data without stress, it helps you to schedule interviews, both in person and virtual interviews, helps you to transcribe and analyse your interview, it's a beautiful and a productive solution for researchers, I think product managers can also benefit a lot from Fatima aside core researchers. - Kossy Okonkwo

Thank you to Precious, Kossy, Tolulope and Vershima for taking the time to share their feedback.

What to know more?

If you’ve been using Fatima and have some feedback to share, we’d love to hear about your experience.

We offer a free plan to non-profit and humanitarian organisations, so if you’d like to learn more about using Fatima for one of your projects then get in touch.

Email us at fatima@hereiamstudio.com

Find out more at hellofatima.com

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