How can we be better at data for development?

Last week I attended a data for development event with the ICT4D community here in London. It was a very thought-provoking evening with some great examples of how data is collected and used in a development or humanitarian context. Data – one of development’s toughest challenges When I hear about data for development, my first thought…More

Getting into Product Management

Here’s some of the questions I get asked by people interested in product management. What is a Product Manager? In a nutshell, a Product Manager oversees a team of engineers, designers and testers to develop a product, bring it to market and grow it. A Product Manager sits at the interface between design, engineering and…More

My Whatsapp advent calendar

After my relatively negative experience with a mobile mental health service I had an idea of my own. Especially after a friend recently opened up about his challenges with mental health. Since it was December 1st I decided to create my own Whatsapp advent calendar*. Using Whatsapp’s ‘broadcast list’ feature, I sent 16 friends of…More

Send ‘HAPPY’ to 12345

Last weekend I saw an ad on the train about getting free mental health advice via SMS. All I needed to do was to send ‘TIPS’ to a shortcode.  I decided to sign up for two reasons: 1 I am quite a typical A-type neurotic millennial living in the big city. Stressed out is my default.…More

On the female PM debate

I read Marty Cagan’s article on why women make the best Product Managers with utmost interest. I agree that to some extent the qualities society rewards in women are beneficial to the role of Product Manager — such as emotional intelligence and humility. On the other hand, qualities associated with masculinity may be not be as beneficial.…More

What I meant to do differently after MTPcon

The day after MTPcon I wrote down a list of things I want to do or do differently after hearing all these inspirational presentations. However, it’s been three weeks and I have done exactly none of them. Here is my list: 1 Regroup with the members of my team individually to understand whether the way we…More

How to pretend to be a great Product Manager

Step 1: Show that you understand and know everything tech-related Repeat the techie words your developers use with an air of superiority to show that you know what they mean, especially if you have no clue. Maybe start a conversation about the advantages and drawbacks of different programming languages. Explain how you’re currently dabbling in…More

Work vs. family – how do men do it?

Today I was at a women and tech event. This isn’t the first one I’ve been to and I noticed that some of the usual questions came up. Questions about how to give young girls role models in tech, how to bring opportunities to primary and secondary schools, about what ‘in tech’ really means, until…More

Why NGOs never fail

Ask any NGO workers about failures in their organisation, it’s likely they are going to struggle to come up with an answer. Especially if they are business development people, they probably won’t tell you about a failure. However, many NGOs fail, and often. But the way the system is constructed doesn’t allow for the concept…More

Why UX design matters in ICT4D interventions

Joe Dollar-Smirnov, UX Trainer at General Assembly, defines user experience (UX) design as the act of designing an intuitive and rewarding product or service around the needs of the end user. When working on products at OneWorld, I keep two objectives in mind: When interacting with the technology, the user needs have a successful and…More