I've been using ODK intensively for about 5 years now (almost on a daily basis) and most of my projects relies on it. It's ease to use and implement on the field, very flexibe, and has strong form logic and data validation while creating surveys. Furthermore the ODK Collect app is incredibly reliable even in very poor connectivity scenarios. The ODK Central ads a huge layer of data security and auditing and provides data sharing with almost everything, from ODATA implementantion out of the box to connectors for Python and R. There is also a vibrant user community that helps a lot for support and inspiration and the Insiders group which brings active members closer to developers team. Absolutely recomended!
ODK is used by many humanitarian agencies including the one I work for, so clearly has a great user experience.
I will comment from the perspective of a *software developer*, as I build tools that leverage ODK underneath:
- I never have to worry about ODK as part of my technology stack. It is always reliable and available when needed.
- The design has been well thought out for easy interfacing with other tools.
- The developments are ongoing & ODK continues to innovate new ideas to enhance user experience.
- The dev team is very approchable and receptive to user feedback.
- Their code is fully open-source and development practices transparent.
Overall I wouldn't consider switching to other tools, as ODK is clearly the front runner in this space.
Keep up the good work!
BM
Baptiste M.
Program Manager at Sucden Coffee | Regenerative Agriculture | Agroforestry🌳
ODK is accessible and user-friendly at all levels, including for project managers like myself, field teams, and analysts. Its simplicity makes it one of the most robust software solutions for data collection. The recently released entities function, continuous improvements, clear documentation, and active community support enable the design of strong workflows.
ODK lets you build powerful forms to collect the data you need wherever it is. Join the leading researchers, field teams, and other professionals using ODK to collect data that matters.