Village Life

A game-like digital fundraising platform for a Finnish charitable organization, in which virtual villages represent actual locations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Individual or group donors choose a village and a specific item or service to donate via easy, immediate online payment or by SMS billing on their mobile phones. The result of their donations, such as constructing part of a school or supporting a local social worker for the village, is immediately visible to the donors. The site also includes a news section where the organization’s workers in the real villages can post updates from the ground.

Sponsored by the Finnish Ministry of Culture, Village Life launched in 2004 with much attention from the media. It won several awards including first prize for The Best Consumer Service at the Grand One digital industry awards in Helsinki in 2005. After six years of service the site closed in 2010.

As the lead Concept Designer, I helped develop the site from initial ideation phase to content strategy to wireframes to a successful launch.