Fighting Corona with CoronaMelder

When I was asked to become the product owner of CoronaMelder, the official Dutch COVID-19 exposure notification app, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. I was exited to join the team and do something about the state we’re in with Corona. We just got our third kid during the first nationwide lockdown and after a while of working on some side projects I was eager to work together with a team of professionals again.

I joined the team just before the official launch of the app. Together with the developers, designers, copywriters and translators we got the app in the right shape to help fight COVID-19. It was a hectic period within the project and also for me personally, getting to know the team, the product and the organisation. But we delivered a successful app that notified people of an exposure to Corona.

But just launching the app is half of the story. We gradually improved the app week after week, including a connection to other European apps, a pause functionality, and changes according to new LCI (National Coordination of Infectious Disease Control) guidelines.

This was one of those project where working ‘agile’ was not agile enough. This was one of those project where working ‘agile’ was not agile enough. Because of the important role for the national healthcare at the time, the team put everything in place to deliver an app in the shortest time possible with the highest quality, security, and privacy standards.