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Girl Effect · 2016 to 2018 · Kano & Edo, Nigeria
Girls
Connect
Stories and a trusted role model, one phone call away.
No smartphone, no data, no app. Built for the basic phone already in the house.
My role
Lead DesignerStorytelling, voice tech and a call centre, for girls aged 14 to 17
Co-created with girlsWorkshops in Kano, then live testing in their communities
Piloted in Kano2016 to 2017
Launched July 2018In Kano and Edo, with iSON as our call centre and tech partner
The brief
Girls growing up in the shadow of conflict had almost no one to ask. Reach them on the phone already in their hands, with stories worth calling for.
How it worked
Call. Listen. Talk.
01 CallA girl dials in from any phone, free on partner networks, and picks Hausa or Pidgin.
02 ListenShe hears a story about a girl like her, drama with real life lessons inside.
03 TalkThen she can speak to a trained young woman, her role model, who helps her take the story into her own life.
What changed
Shortlisted, GSMA GLOMO Awards 2018
240Kgirls called Girls Connect in ten months.
800K+calls to the line across two seasons.
11Kcalls in the first two days after launch.
98%of the times a girl logged feeling low before a call, she felt better after it.
Girls told us what it changed for them. Going back to school, starting small businesses, managing their periods and seeking protection from harassment.
"I started a business and split my income into three piles: one for me, one for my sister, one for school. It is because of Efe's story that I did this, and now I have started going back to school!"
Girls Connect caller, Kano
Designed with girls
Their stories, their voice
The characters, the storylines and the role model's voice were shaped in workshops with girls in Kano, then tested live in their communities before we scaled.
At launch, the brand spoke the way they did. Bold, bright and made to be passed on.
What girls taught us
We designed for one girl. She rarely called alone.
The call data and girls' own diaries showed us how Girls Connect really lived in their homes.
1 in 2girls had to ask permission to make the call.
1 in 3called with friends or sisters, listening together on speakerphone.
1 in 10calls came late at night, when tariffs were cheaper and chores were done.
So we redesigned around them. In season two, stories played back to back for groups and stayed open around the clock.
Where it led
From a role model on the line to a human behind every chat
Girls said talking to their role model felt like talking to a big sister. That is exactly what our AI health chatbots set out to be today, and a trained human is still always one step away.
See where it led: AI Health Chatbots →
What I learned
Design for the phone she has.Not the one we wish she had. A basic handset and a voice call reached girls no app ever could.
The human is the product.Girls loved the stories, but some asked to skip straight to the role model. The conversation with a real person is what they came back for.
Every menu is a door that can close.We cut registration, added rejoin after dropped calls and made it free. Every step between a girl and help costs you girls.
Next project
Champions App →