The project, coordinated by Suzette Snyman as part of the third year Imaging and Visualisation subject, was themed “Mobile Solutions for Social Change” and required students to develop a mobile phone application that could be used to improve the lives of people living in poverty.

The project leader, guest lecturer Nina Honiball, worked closely with London-based Jonathan McKay, Praekelt’s creative director, to provide guidance to the students for the duration of the project. The students were commended for the very high standard of the work at a presentation to Gustav Praekelt, founder of the Praekelt Foundation, and Jonathan McKay (via Skype). One deserving group was offered an extensive internship at the Praekelt Foundation. The selected group, consisting of Cleo Venter, Tamsin Madden, Robyn Horwitz and Stacey Kelsey, developed a mobile phone system called Diamobi to promote the distribution of diabetes health care information in impoverished communities.

The winning group

According to the students, “Diamobi is a system which provides health-related information to diabetes patients directly onto their mobiles. Diamobi would be available on two different text-based platforms and one audio platform, in accordance with the most commonly used phones within the demographic community researched.”

Social innovation is becoming increasingly important within a South African context and can be a powerful way to address many of the social problems that the country is faced with. In light of this, the project was able to inspire the students to consider the human implications of design.