We believe behavioral science and HCD can improve people's lives

We work with impact investors, social enterprises, NGOs, and multilateral organizations to trigger positive change for people at the BoP. Our goal is impact at scale that is meaningful and measurable.

Check out our recent projects

WFP Adventure in the Kingdom of Food: Nurturing Healthy Eating Habits in Cambodia’s Primary School Students

Asia
Health & wellbeing

Recent studies have shown worrying trends in the dietary habits of Cambodian primary school children, including high consumption of unhealthy snacks, and low intake of nutrient-rich foods...

Marketing Strategy & Toolkit for Piped Water Delivery to Low-Income Rural Ugandans

Africa
Health & wellbeing

As the regional governmental authority for water and sanitation, the Mid-Western Umbrella (MWU) has recently made great strides in extending piped water into more rural communities around Fort Portal, Uganda.

Supporting global diagnostic advocacy with UNICEF

Global
Health & wellbeing

81% of people in LMICs have little to no access to diagnostics, other than HIV and malaria. (Lancet, 2021)

Learning and iterating for better hand hygiene

Asia
Health & wellbeing

Cambodian healthcare facilities participating in the CHAMP project show early promising results in hand hygiene protocol but there is still room for improvement...

Equipping our partners to design for impact through human-centered design

Asia
Economic & financial inclusion

When an organization like GRET, who has worked in the country for over 32 years in a variety of sectors, comes to you and asks for help to create more measurable impact through human-centered design, you jump at the opportunity.

Tweaking daily rituals to be safer during COVID-19

Asia
Health & wellbeing

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Cambodia in early 2020, as part of the USAID-funded Promoting Healthy Behaviors Project (PHB), 17 Triggers was asked to develop a campaign to specifically reach elderly people...

Plastic recycling for people on the go

Africa
Environment & climate change

288 tons of plastic waste is produced everyday in Abidjan. Coliba, an Abidjan-based startup supported by GSMA, is a pioneer of plastic bottle recycling in Côte d’Ivoire...

Ancient traditions inspire fight against COVID-19

Asia
Health & wellbeing

In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic grew rapidly and globally, the USAID-funded Promoting Healthy Behaviors Project (PHB) team had to find solutions to help Cambodians protect themselves and their families from disease...

a tailor in her shop

Product design to help small businesses manage risk

Africa
Economic & financial inclusion

In Zambia, only 1% of micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) owners have insurance. With irregular and inconsistent incomes and a high number of dependents, these business owners can easily fall back into poverty...

Selling healthy snacks to kids

Asia
Food & sustainable agriculture

Cambodia is at a nutritional crossroads. While under-nutrition continues to be an issue in many areas, cheap, flavorsome, and often unhealthy foods are more accessible, especially for school children...

two women sit on the steps of their new blue latrine, next to the old one

Residents defy cholera with upgraded latrines

Africa
Health & wellbeing

Lusaka Sanitation Program (LSP) engaged 17 Triggers to design and execute a marketing and sales strategy focused on creating ground up demand for a new suite of sanitation products and services...

Marketing sprint to get the value proposition right

Africa
Economic & financial inclusion

Zoona, a leading mobile money service provider in Africa was expanding their services to meet the growing demand among Zambians for a safe place to keep their money...

Changing vendors’ default to reduce plastic bag use

Asia
Environment & climate change

In 2015, the average Cambodian used more than 2000 plastic bags per year; approximately 40 bags per week. That’s around five times the average bag usage in Europe and the highest plastic bag use per capita in the world...

Real enough to feel, HCD for senior management

Asia
Economic & financial inclusion

In December 2016, 17 Triggers was hired by MetLife Foundation to host a peer learning event with a brief to avoid “death by PowerPoint"...

Farming Co-op pushes to design user-centered financial products

Asia
Economic & financial inclusion

Farming cooperatives in Myanmar were largely reliant on a 10-year loan from the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM) - which makes up 92% of their assets...

More than rice for babies

Asia
Food & sustainable agriculture

In Myanmar, 27% of children under 5 are stunted, with feeding behavior in the first 1000 days of life being a critical factor...

Environmental nudges in labor & delivery

Asia
Health & wellbeing

Although infant mortality is dropping in Cambodia, neonatal mortality is still high due to infections that happen during childbirth and immediately afterwards...

Knowledge and delight – two ingredients to help kids eat their vegetables

Asia
Food & sustainable agriculture

Malnutrition causes illness, infections, increased risk of mortality, delayed cognitive development, and in Cambodia, it is the primary cause of stunting...

Changing perceptions about improved cookstoves in Kakuma Refugee Camp

Africa
Health & wellbeing

Current cooking practices in Kakuma Refugee Camp imply the use of a lot of firewood and charcoal, which implies high expenses, and increases safety risks, environmental degradation and health issues.

Leveraging markets for disaster-resilience

Asia
Environment & climate change

The Philippines falls victim to an increasing number of typhoons, landslides, and earthquakes each year destroying the homes of vulnerable families.

Ensuring finances don’t dry out: drought insurance for farmers

Africa
Economic & financial inclusion

With the onset of climate change, farmers in Malawi are increasingly vulnerable to late and erratic rains. Insufficient risk mitigation strategies can lead farmers into a downward spiral of worsening situations over time...

Treating TB, a new family habit

Asia
Health & wellbeing

Despite significant progress in recent years, Cambodia remains one of the 30 high-burden Tuberculosis (TB) countries in the world...

Child friendly sanitation solutions for internally displaced populations

Asia
Health & wellbeing

People who have been internally displaced (IDP) and living in camps face many difficulties - from a lack of personal security, health, hygiene, and nutrition....

Increasing connectivity amongst garment factories in Cambodia

Asia
Health & wellbeing

Cambodia had a swift response to COVID-19 and ultimately managed to protect its residents for the first year of the pandemic. However, in February 2021...

What our clients have to say

I was particularly impressed with 17 Triggers’ human-centered service research and design. The 17 Triggers team worked very well with UNCDF, and our private sector partners in our ecosystem – a FinTech, a microfinance company and a mobile network operator. 17 Triggers consistently incorporated the voices and stories of customers, frontline mobile money staff, and other value chain players into their innovative designs and recommendations.

Nandini S HarihareswaraDigital Finance Regional Technical Specialist, United National Capital Development Fund

Throughout the process, the 17 triggers team have been exemplary in building and maintaining relations with UNICEF staff and partners, organising logistics, updating all stakeholders on progress and adapting to new findings and requirements. They demonstrated solid knowledge of behaviour change, participatory approaches and human centred design.

Alessia RadiceCommunication for Development (C4D) Specialist, Social Norms C4D Section | Programme Division

17 Triggers’ approaches and processes have been innovative, insightful, and fun. I am particularly proud of the Super Mom campaign. The campaign had strong influence, positive results, and gave us a good product for visibility. The process of designing, creating, and the end product have added learnings to SNV and I still refer to them regularly.

And remember - feed your children two fists of vegetables every day!

Marieke van SchieProject Manager - Agriculture, SNV Cambodia

We were very pleased with the skill and efficiency with which 17 Triggers delivered a design sprint for us for a plastic recycling project in Cote d’Ivoire. 17 Triggers managed to quickly grasp the project background, bring all stakeholders together to align on a “vision of perfect” and quickly start delivering value. Their facilitation was simple and engaging, particularly as our project team was new to design thinking.

Finally, 17 Triggers kept the project at the centre and delivered what’s best for the project team rather than anything else. These values and the quality of work makes us want to continue to work with 17 Triggers.

Rinchin GaekwadMonitoring and Evaluation Manager, GSMA Mobile for Development

As our design partner, 17 Triggers is an invaluable member of the Promoting Healthy Behaviors (PHB) Activity, bringing energy and creativity to our social and behavior change (SBC) design process. Through a rigorous human-centered design approach, the 17 Triggers team ensures that SBC tools and activities are grounded in a deep understanding of people’s and communities’ motivations, fears, hopes and barriers to healthy behaviors. It’s exciting to see this design process in action, and see the resulting SBC activities across a number of health areas including family planning, maternal and child health, COVID or sanitation, have resonance and impact in the communities we are serving.

Jim MalsterChief of Party, Population Services International