Customer Success Stories

Working with Haller: Developing technology for good


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1:1,000
Extension officer to farmer ratio in Kenya

5 months
To develop a tester prototype

~50%
Of Kenyans used to own a smartphone
 
<1MB
Total size of the app

Haller-02

The Challenge

In December 2013, Red Badger teamed up with the Haller Foundation, a UK-based charity supporting subsistence farmers in Kenya to rehabilitate their land and achieve sustainable self-sufficiency. But with only 1 extension officer for every 1,000 farmers in Kenya, the process of reaching them was slow, inefficient and expensive. Haller approached Red Badger to explore how new technology could extend its initiatives to a much wider farming audience.

Mobile usage in Kenya is surprisingly high, with around 50% of Kenyans owning a smartphone, a number growing rapidly thanks to recent digital advancements. Using that communication power to launch an app designed specifically to support Kenyan farmers' agricultural improvements was the logical next step.

Our Approach

Red Badger worked pro bono alongside design agency Pearlfisher to provide the UX, visual design and development of a new mobile website that would let Haller deliver training to farmers across the entire country.

A prototype was delivered within 5 months and tested with different kinds of farmers in Kenya, surfacing vital feedback.

The app's design addressed all three: its total size came in under 1MB thanks to lightweight iconography, with the download stored on the device and only updated when needed; it was built multi-lingual in Swahili and English, with an audio feature carrying Swahili translations to address literacy issues; and it leant heavily on visuals and symbols to stay intuitive to use.

maanch-blog-haller
haller-2

The Results

The app launched successfully in Nairobi in November 2014, taking less than a year to deliver from first engagement, and is already being used by farmers. Red Badger and Haller both see huge potential to extend the technology to other parts of Africa and beyond.


But don't just take our word for it....

This web app fits perfectly with our approach – it releases potential through practical ideas that are collaborative, self-sustainable and resourceful

1711526866109
Founding Trustee of Haller Louise Piper

KEY TAKEAWAYS


Context
With just 1 extension officer for every 1,000 farmers in Kenya, the Haller Foundation needed a way to extend its land rehabilitation and self-sufficiency training to a much wider farming audience, using the roughly 50% smartphone ownership already in the country.

Approach
Partnered pro bono with design agency Pearlfisher to design and build a lightweight (<1MB), multi-lingual mobile app, with Swahili and English text plus an audio feature, delivering a tested prototype within 5 months informed directly by farmer feedback.

Results
Launched in Nairobi in November 2014, less than a year after the engagement began, with the app already in use by farmers and seen as a model for extending the technology across Africa.

Ways of Working
Tested the prototype directly with farmers across Kenya to surface real constraints, data costs, regional literacy rates, and English fluency, and designed the solution around them rather than around assumptions.


 

We solve complicated problems in complex places

Red Badger is the product transformation consultancy for blue chips. Our product design capabilities and technical pedigree build high-performance digital platforms that get you closer to your customers and embed new ways of working. Your journey to an agile, innovative digital product organisation starts today.

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