Level Zero: User Research and Digital Design for AI-Enabled Global Health Tools
Join us in Bangkok on December 1st 2026!
This free, full-day, in-person workshop shows participants how user-centered, context-specific research leads to better and more inclusive digital and AI health tools in low- and middle-income countries. We will cover two key aspects:
1) What good user research and digital design look like for GenAI tools used by communities, global health funders, nonprofits and other key actors.
2) How to apply a set of free digital public goods to real scenarios.
Participants leave with hands-on practice, a clearer view of what their own project needs, and a certificate of completion. Apply here to join us on Tuesday 1 December 2026, 9:00am to 4:30pm, at Centara World in Bangkok. Lunch and refreshments are provided. Attendees must cover their own travel costs.
Who is this course for
This workshop is designed by The MERL Tech Initiative for people working on or funding AI for global health. It is particularly relevant for:
- Funders exploring AI for global health
- Researchers, engineers, and data scientists building or testing AI health tools
- Nonprofit program and portfolio managers and M&E staff who oversee or commission this work
- Start-up founders and teams with early-stage AI health tools
What Participants Will Learn
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Discuss research and design questions for GenAI in global health, for both communities and health workers
- Explain how GenAI changes user research and digital design compared with earlier digital tools
- Weigh the risks, benefits, and ethical questions of GenAI in global health using case studies
- Describe what good user research and digital design look like, including gender and inclusion considerations
- Use free digital public goods to look at connectivity, digital readiness, and user personas
- Draft a research plan and assess a project proposal against Level Zero standards
- Set the foundations for what still needs to happen after the tools, such as co-design and ground truthing.
Space is limited, so if you’re planning to be in Bangkok on December 1, and you’d like to join, be sure to submit your application for the workshop by November 15th, 2026.
Further details will be shared with confirmed participants.
Get to know the facilitators
Linda Raftree
Linda (she/her) founded the MERL Tech Initiative (MTI) in 2014, building on two decades of work at the intersection of community development, gender, youth participatory media, rights-based approaches, and digital development. She is a well-known expert on responsible data approaches, AI policy and governance, inclusive digital approaches, safeguarding, and safe tech-enabled program design, and MERL Tech. Linda excels at organizational and sector strategy in times of political flux and technological change. She runs sector-wide convenings through MTI and the New York City Technology Salon, which she started in 2011. Linda is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP & CIPM). She also serves on CDAC’s SAFE AI Pool of Experts and teaches AI and MERL at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Linda leads and manages MTI overall, joins MTI teams for specific projects, and takes on independent projects in her areas of expertise.
Dr. Savita Bailur
Savita (she/her) is a Core Collaborator at MTI, where she works with clients at the intersection of digital, AI, and inclusion. She was previously a Senior Research Director at Caribou Digital, with clients including the Gates Foundation, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, Mastercard Foundation, UN Women, UNICEF, and the World Bank, among others. Savita holds a PhD and an MSc from the London School of Economics, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she teaches user research and digital development to Masters students.