Design for
Social Impact

The desire to improve the world by humanizing technology is at the core of our mission as a company. We made a commitment to social innovation by focusing on projects that create a meaningful impact. From education to disaster preparedness to human-centric healthcare, we are passionate about leveraging our advanced technology and thoughtful design to create effective ecosystems to drive social change.

Mobile Mandate

A collaborative platform to amplify the positive social impact of mobile technologies and the transformative power of design

Mobile networks have demonstrated their ability to drive massive economic and social change in communities around the globe. But their potential impact cannot be fully realized until social innovation initiatives incorporate the technologies and networks that are necessary to reach communities on a large scale. Through Mobile Mandate, we partner with NGOs and entrepreneurs to explore new models for engaging individuals and communities in making meaningful improvements in areas such as health, education, energy, and economic well-being. We do this by combining a deep understanding of social networks and mobile communication technologies (a critical leverage point in transforming these relationships) with an open, collaborative design process (to unlock new ideas and put them into action rapidly and iteratively). Our programs are not limited to emerging markets, yet these invariably present the biggest opportunities for achieving positive impact on a large scale.

frog + UNICEF

frog has entered a strategic partnership with UNICEF's Innovation Group to help the iconic non-profit move from a focus on technologies to solution sets that various country offices can deploy to meet their needs. This ensures that the work they do is scalable and replicable in multiple markets. We’ve already partnered on Project Mwana, a major mHealth initiative to improve maternal and infant health and welfare in urban Malawi and rural Zambia. Moving forward, we'll be looking at how to support Community Health Workers (CHW)—the “Last Mile” in global healthcare delivery. Finally, frog will help UNICEF take a broader look at the role of design in their organization, leading to a broader definition of a strategic design model that can engage UNICEF's country offices, governments, and other constituents.

Mobile Money

frog Executive Creative Director Jan Chipchase traveled to Afghanistan in the summer of 2010 to conduct a field study of the nation's nascent mobile phone-based financial service, M-Paisa. The service, modeled after the successful mobile money transfer system in Kenya called M-PESA, was started in 2008 as a way to securely pay salaries to the national police force. It is now taking hold with the general public, but challenges remain. frog published a small book on Chipchase's findings from the field study, which was presented to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2011. The project was funded by the Institute for Money, Technology, and Financial Inclusion at the University of California at Irvine.

Project Masiluleke

According to The Economist, Project Masiluleke is “the world’s largest field trial in mobile health technology.” It is the first ever attempt to tackle the HIV epidemic in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, with a mobile solution, starting with a single text message sent to 1 million phones. The voice mail and text-messaging campaign helped triple the average daily call volume to the National AIDS Helpline, encouraging more than 150,000 people to reach out for information. Since the initial launch, we’ve done more extensive user testing while adding treatment and compliance reminders in the form of an SMS-based alert system for HIV and TB patients.

Movirtu

Movirtu is a for-profit social enterprise that provides innovative mobile technology and business models for wireless telecommunication service providers in rural poor communities in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It enables shared access to basic mobile-phone services for people earning less than $2 a day. frog provided in-kind design research, user testing, and user interface design services for the first large-scale pilot test of Movirtu’s MXShare service in Kenya. Movirtu and frog were recognized for their work when they received the MEX Award for Best Innovator in 2010.

E-Monitors

Supported by European Union R&D funding, E-Monitors is a joint effort of frog, Flextronics, and the Politecnico di Milano to create an open hardware, software, and service platform for remotely monitoring medical patients at home. The platform is capable of aggregating vital signs from various sensors and making them available to health professionals. frog’s Milan team analyzed the market landscape, available technologies, and key telemedicine trends before designing a personal eMonitor device that gathers and transmits EKG data from cardiac patients convalescing at home to healthcare professionals.

Other Social Impact Programs

PopTech

frog serves as a design and innovation partner of PopTech, a social innovation network and thought leadership forum. We helped PopTech launch an incubator program for social innovation projects, and we support its Social Innovation Fellows Program through lectures and programs.

MTV

frog partnered with MTV and the College Board to launch the Get Schooled College Affordability Challenge, a national competition asking current and aspiring college students to re-imagine the financial aid process. Three finalists worked in two frog studios to realize their ideas.

Vittana

Vittana works with microfinance institutions around the world to develop student loan programs, often in countries where no loan program exists. frog provided UI and website designs for the company.

Reaction Housing Project

After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, frog Senior Designer Michael McDaniel created the Reaction Housing System, an emergency housing solution that is both efficient and cost-effective.

TeachDesign

frog started TeachDesign, an initiative that exposes high-school students to design methodologies through immersive, real-world projects that have a lasting positive impact on the community.