Building mobile applications for social good

by kiwanja

“If you were thinking of designing or building a website, you’d be in luck. If you were thinking of writing a suite of financial management tools, you’d be in luck. If you were even thinking of creating the next big video game, you’d be in luck. Visit any good bookstore and the selection of self-help books and “how-to” guides leave you spoilt for choice.

Unlike the plethora of self-help guides on the more established topics, if you were looking to do something with mobile phones you’d likely have mixed results. There are plenty of books available extolling the virtues of Java, Python, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, C++, Symbian, Android and just about any other development environment or platform out there. Combine that with the growing field of mobile UI (user interface) design and you’d think that pretty much everything was covered. But there is one thing missing, although you’d probably only notice if you’re one of a growing number of developers turning their attention to the developing world”.

I’m talking about a guide on “Building Mobile Applications for Social Good“. Although just a start, this article – written for The Testing Planet – in part aims to fill that gap. At conferences and seminars I often talk about our experiences developing FrontlineSMS, and the thinking and fieldwork behind it, but until now much of this wasn’t particularly well captured in written form in a single place.

A PDF of the “Building Mobile Applications for Social Good” article is available via the kiwanja website here [2 Mb]. A PDF of the full edition of this month’s Testing Planet is available on their website here.

The Testing Planet is a magazine produced by The Software Testing Club and its community members. The magazine is published in print, ebook, Kindle, PDF and web format. You can follow them on Twitter at @testingclub

Further reading
Check out an earlier article – “Mobile Design. Sans Frontieres” – co-written with friend and colleague Joel Selanikio, and the wider “Mobile apps development” category in this blog.

80 comments

1 Fr@nthro { 11.29.11 at 3:57 pm }: #anthro blog post: Building mobile applications for social good: “If you were thinking of designing or buildi… http://t.co/JPBpOfWQ
2 Ken Banks { 11.29.11 at 3:57 pm }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
3 Justin Long { 11.29.11 at 3:58 pm }: RT @kiwanja mobile, social change: PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/BKqNYk2e (cc @mobileminmag @soonguy)
4 Mobile Ministry Mag { 11.29.11 at 3:59 pm }: RT @kiwanja mobile, social change: PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/BKqNYk2e (cc @mobileminmag @soonguy)
5 Joy Kendi { 11.29.11 at 4:01 pm }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
6 Mercy Deche { 11.29.11 at 4:02 pm }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
7 김병환 Byunghwan Kim { 11.29.11 at 4:03 pm }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
8 Spot A Cheetah { 11.29.11 at 4:03 pm }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
9 Mobile Ministry Mag { 11.29.11 at 4:06 pm }: [Resource] @kiwanja Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/EGCLMCUI #mobmin
10 Robson Santos { 11.29.11 at 4:11 pm }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/N0uV0NDB #m4d
11 Moses Sitati { 11.29.11 at 4:30 pm }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
12 changefeed { 11.29.11 at 4:36 pm }: ->@kiwanja: Building mobile applications for social good http://t.co/UUJHl4iH
13 Aleksei { 11.29.11 at 4:41 pm }: Hi Ken!

IMHO You’d better write /Myth #1: “High-end is better than low-end”/ instead of just /“High-end is better than low-end”/ and so on, because these topics looks like lessons and statements, not myths =)

– Kind regards, Aleksei
14 FrontlineSMS o/ { 11.29.11 at 4:49 pm }: Lessons learnt from the FrontlineSMS experience. "Building Mobile Applications for Social Good". http://t.co/l32Jh6kR #m4d
15 Martin Tisne { 11.29.11 at 4:51 pm }: Lessons learnt from the FrontlineSMS experience. "Building Mobile Applications for Social Good". http://t.co/l32Jh6kR #m4d
16 paul albert { 11.29.11 at 5:28 pm }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
17 Mo James Apted { 11.29.11 at 5:51 pm }: Lessons learnt from the FrontlineSMS experience. "Building Mobile Applications for Social Good". http://t.co/l32Jh6kR #m4d
18 Martine Koopman { 11.29.11 at 6:04 pm }: Lessons learnt from the FrontlineSMS experience. "Building Mobile Applications for Social Good". http://t.co/l32Jh6kR #m4d
19 ICFJ Knight { 11.29.11 at 6:15 pm }: Lessons learnt from the FrontlineSMS experience. "Building Mobile Applications for Social Good". http://t.co/l32Jh6kR #m4d
20 in2mentalhealth { 11.29.11 at 6:29 pm }: Gr8 RT @FrontlineSMS: Lessons learnt from FrontlineSMS experience. "Building Mobile Applications for Social Good". http://t.co/GcoXalfG #m4d
21 John Brugge { 11.29.11 at 7:07 pm }: Good experiences, good read RT @TopsyRT: Building mobile applications for social good http://t.co/1FiRc5iH
22 ICTDxCMU { 11.29.11 at 7:25 pm }: Building mobile applications for social good by @kiwanja http://t.co/MmWAONlk #m4d #ict4d
23 Ananda Galappatti { 11.29.11 at 7:53 pm }: Lessons learnt from the FrontlineSMS experience. "Building Mobile Applications for Social Good". http://t.co/l32Jh6kR #m4d
24 CTIA Shows { 11.29.11 at 8:25 pm }: Looking to build an #app for social good? RT @kiwanja Downloadable PDF on Building #Mobile Apps for Social Good.http://is.gd/rH2FVH #m4d
25 Tony | IEDay News { 11.29.11 at 8:59 pm }: Building mobile applications for social good, especially for the Majority World http://t.co/NQtCUvcj #mobmin #missions
26 Gamos { 11.29.11 at 9:22 pm }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
27 Building mobile applications for social good | Global Health Hub { 11.29.11 at 9:51 pm }: [...] See more here: Building mobile applications for social good [...]
28 elogika IT { 11.30.11 at 12:02 am }: Building mobile applications for social good | Build it Kenny, and they will come… http://t.co/zwTNWKTm
29 Rob Rubinoff { 11.30.11 at 3:25 am }: Building mobile applications for social good http://t.co/Yxzyrp1s
30 Koketso Moeti { 11.30.11 at 5:32 am }: cc @ORooigrond RT @ICTDxCMU: Building mobile applications for social good by @kiwanja http://t.co/l9BQHkJS #m4d #ict4d
31 Luis F. Solorzano { 11.30.11 at 6:27 am }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
32 Operation: Rooigrond { 11.30.11 at 6:53 am }: Thanks ☺ RT @Kmoeti: cc @ORooigrond RT @ICTDxCMU: Building mobile applications for social good by @kiwanja http://t.co/3rv6QtQz #m4d #ict4d
33 Kantideep Thota { 11.30.11 at 8:38 am }: "@kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/g7NF57HQ #m4d"
34 Paul Polak and team { 11.30.11 at 8:46 am }: @ outofpoverty http://t.co/tHP20Vn3
35 Paul Polak and team { 11.30.11 at 8:46 am }: @OutofPoverty http://t.co/tHP20Vn3
36 Ken Banks { 11.30.11 at 10:51 am }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
37 Muraya Kamau { 11.30.11 at 10:54 am }: Building mobile applications for social good http://t.co/7uDLLHLJ
38 Lukonga Lindunda { 11.30.11 at 10:54 am }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
39 BongoHive { 11.30.11 at 10:54 am }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
40 Charitha Ratwatte Jr { 11.30.11 at 10:58 am }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/eYGUcaP1 #m4d
41 Stephen N. A. Sowah { 11.30.11 at 11:00 am }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
42 eDOT Geek { 11.30.11 at 11:01 am }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/AqEzsTaA #m4d
43 Emeka Azuka Okoye { 11.30.11 at 11:06 am }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc #m4d
44 Tom Marentette { 11.30.11 at 1:54 pm }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/WuMAGsJ8 #m4d
45 Cybertheology { 11.30.11 at 4:57 pm }: Building mobile applications for social good | Build it Kenny, and they will come… http://t.co/bDnU2yBh
46 Paul Polak and team { 11.30.11 at 5:55 pm }: Building mobile applications for social good by @Kiwanja http://t.co/5sZNzcSG kp
47 Philip Auerswald { 11.30.11 at 6:00 pm }: RT @OutofPoverty: Building mobile applications for social good by @Kiwanja http://t.co/2ak8NDn8 kp (check this out. very cool.)
48 socialedge { 11.30.11 at 7:28 pm }: Advice on how to go about building #mobile apps for social good http://t.co/fiCzvCFl #m4d (via @kiwanja)
49 Chris O'Sullivan { 11.30.11 at 7:28 pm }: Advice on how to go about building #mobile apps for social good http://t.co/fiCzvCFl #m4d (via @kiwanja)
50 New Media Project { 11.30.11 at 7:30 pm }: MT @justindlong: RT @kiwanja: PDF on Building Mobile Applications for Social Good. http://t.co/pFKIVKdc (cc @mobileminmag @soonguy)
51 HealthcarePromotions { 11.30.11 at 7:30 pm }: Advice on how to go about building #mobile apps for social good http://t.co/fiCzvCFl #m4d (via @kiwanja)
52 Lawrand { 11.30.11 at 7:33 pm }: Advice on how to go about building #mobile apps for social good http://t.co/fiCzvCFl #m4d (via @kiwanja)
53 Soren { 11.30.11 at 7:34 pm }: Advice on how to go about building #mobile apps for social good http://t.co/fiCzvCFl #m4d (via @kiwanja)
54 Rowan Emslie { 11.30.11 at 7:54 pm }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/r7HID620 #m4d
55 James Slevin { 11.30.11 at 8:01 pm }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/r7HID620 #m4d
56 MobileActive { 11.30.11 at 8:36 pm }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/KNjbK4vN #m4d via @kiwanja
57 Yangbo Du { 11.30.11 at 8:45 pm }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/KNjbK4vN #m4d via @kiwanja
58 Omidyar Network { 11.30.11 at 8:59 pm }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Apps for Social Good. http://t.co/iOanW7pP #m4d
59 Sian Morson { 11.30.11 at 8:59 pm }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/KNjbK4vN #m4d via @kiwanja
60 Steve Bridger { 11.30.11 at 9:02 pm }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Apps for Social Good. http://t.co/iOanW7pP #m4d
61 Paul Hilder { 11.30.11 at 9:06 pm }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Apps for Social Good. http://t.co/iOanW7pP #m4d
62 AkkerCo { 11.30.11 at 9:07 pm }: Advice on how to go about building #mobile apps for social good http://t.co/fiCzvCFl #m4d (via @kiwanja)
63 SOCAP Markets { 11.30.11 at 10:00 pm }: RT @socialedge: Advice on how to go about building #mobile apps for social good http://t.co/Pvbj4Mfa #m4d (via @kiwanja)
64 Chris Noble { 11.30.11 at 10:28 pm }: Building mobile applications for social good – http://t.co/MbKjgg1U
65 Peter Rawley { 11.30.11 at 10:29 pm }: Building mobile applications for social good – http://t.co/MbKjgg1U
66 Stefan Laurell { 11.30.11 at 10:31 pm }: Advice on how to go about building #mobile apps for social good http://t.co/fiCzvCFl #m4d (via @kiwanja)
67 colin falconer { 11.30.11 at 10:41 pm }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Apps for Social Good. http://t.co/iOanW7pP #m4d
68 sachin { 12.01.11 at 2:52 am }: Advice on how to go about building #mobile apps for social good http://t.co/fiCzvCFl #m4d (via @kiwanja)
69 Tanja Hichert { 12.01.11 at 4:42 am }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Apps for Social Good. http://t.co/iOanW7pP #m4d
70 kirstenarcadio { 12.01.11 at 6:47 am }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Apps for Social Good. http://t.co/iOanW7pP #m4d
71 media man { 12.01.11 at 10:46 am }: http://t.co/4UyeflZu Building mobile applications for social good | Build it Kenny, and …: If you were thinkin… http://t.co/aD3rVbjO
72 Jaume Fortuny { 12.01.11 at 6:40 pm }: Interested in mobile? Social change? Advice on how to go about building mobile apps for social good. http://t.co/q8xKwmNa #m4d via @kiwanja
73 emerbeamer { 12.01.11 at 8:54 pm }: Building mobile applications for social good http://t.co/bIbu8dhb (via @martinekoopman, @MurayaKamau) #mobile #progress
74 rick passo { 12.03.11 at 10:41 am }: Building mobile applications for social good by @Kiwanja http://t.co/5sZNzcSG kp
75 rick passo { 12.03.11 at 10:43 am }: from Paul Polak:
http://t.co/DGxExdow
Unlike the… http://t.co/p8CfTBGy
76 Grocerocity2 { 12.03.11 at 11:09 am }: Building mobile applications for social good by @Kiwanja http://t.co/5sZNzcSG kp
77 moneymobilemass { 12.04.11 at 12:30 am }: Building mobile applications for social good | Build it Kenny, and … http://t.co/x7SVAsk5
78 Agnes Lesage-Possolo { 12.06.11 at 6:32 am }: RT @kiwanja: Interested in mobile? Social change? Downloadable PDF on Building Mobile Apps for Social Good. http://t.co/iOanW7pP #m4d
79 Laura Midan { 03.31.12 at 5:06 am }: Building mobile applications for social good http://t.co/EorrHdSu
80 Ken Banks { 04.20.12 at 4:23 pm }: @hannahmlane @jpgninja @TechChange This article best sums up my thoughts on building/deploying #m4d tools. http://t.co/vSYu4xLc