About me
Michael believes that building genuine connections with people is the heart of successful research. With over 15 years’ experience social work, design, experiential marketing and communications, Michael believes in a multidisciplinary approach to solving challenges, where all the voices are heard and considered throughout the design process.
Michael has worked on successful behaviour change communication and experiential marketing campaigns for Africa’s most dynamic markets such as Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, DRC, Zambia, Tanzania and Uganda.
In his previous capacity as Creative Director in a pan-African marketing agency, Michael led creative processes to develop successful campaigns for some of the continent’s top brands such as Diageo, Nestle, Safaricom, Visa, MTN and Tigo.
Michael attributes his track record for successful creative concept development to innovative research methods that generate unique insights. He has pushed the boundaries of ethnographic research by opting to embed himself in the environment of the people he designs for to build empathy and learn from them. This has seen him live for extended periods in remote and informal settlements, becoming part of the community and building long-lasting relationships that uncover latent needs, wants and behaviours that would have otherwise been missed.
Mr. Ngigi has extensive experience conducting immersive, ethnographic research with vulnerable groups to improve acceptance and access to services, products and rights that improve their lives. Most recently, Mr. Ngigi spent four months in hard to reach areas in rural Tanzania conducting ethnographic research and co-designing with adolescent girls in a project aimed at increasing acceptance and uptake of family planning in the rural-coastal strip.
Michael also leads the internal project technical support component for Thinkplace projects in Africa. His role is to provide support and build capacity of our teams in field to deliver quality outputs as per Thinkplace methodology and expected project outcomes. As technical lead Michael is constantly on call to address any technical queries that the teams may raise as they execute a project in any part of the world.
Michael also develops interactive qualitative research tools both as a hobby and also as part of his role at Thinkplace. One such tool he developed was Thinkcards (thinkcards.org) which are meant to help in breaking down communication barriers between researchers and research participants. These have also proved to be valuable in breaking the ice during facilitation and as such they have been translated into Somali, Swahili, French, Mandarin and Portuguese.
Mr. Ngigi currently serves as a technical advisor (Youth SRHR) on the Board of Advisors to the HCD Global Health Forum facilitated by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and U.S. Agency for International Development, and aimed at bringing together donors, implementers, and innovators to explore the linkages between Human-Centered Design and Sexual and Reproductive Health. Mr. Ngigi has contributed to the development of an exchange platform (www.designforhealth.org) which aims to support global health practitioners who are trying to better understand how to engage design in their work.
I like your style… looking forward to reading your work.
ydee
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November 3, 2010 at 3:54 PM
Thank you. I will work hard at it.
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November 4, 2010 at 2:54 PM
i love you blog…
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November 11, 2010 at 11:04 PM
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Is someone getting the best, the best, the best of youuuuu? Love that song
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January 23, 2011 at 5:49 PM
i would like to guest blog for you. i have a range of topics. so how can i get them to you.
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February 24, 2011 at 3:55 PM
Hey you’re very welcome to be a guest on my blog. You can send them to me : ngigi@urbanlegendworldwide.com
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February 24, 2011 at 4:11 PM
Hey Mister
Been a while jus sayin hi…..and I will be in 254 pretty soon.
Clearly ur doing good.
Miss you loads!
Cheers
Chris
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March 4, 2011 at 11:38 PM
Christine! Nice to hear from you. Can’t wait to see you! 🙂
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March 7, 2011 at 12:50 PM
Coming soon to a town near you…..
Will hit you up..
Mad love.
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June 1, 2011 at 8:39 PM
I love your writing. You give it a whole new meaning. I love your creative mine and how yo able to capture the readers (my) attention. Cant get enough of your writing. Keep it burning
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March 19, 2011 at 7:50 PM
Ngigi…finally. Karibu member.
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March 21, 2011 at 11:30 AM
thanks bro! 🙂
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March 21, 2011 at 11:46 AM
I think those are interesting articles you’ve got thea…saying words people hate to love!
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March 30, 2011 at 11:57 AM
….and others love to hate!
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March 30, 2011 at 11:58 AM
Thank you Graciela.I will work harder to keep you glued here 🙂
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March 30, 2011 at 12:20 PM
Michael, you are talented.
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April 4, 2011 at 3:09 PM
Thank you Karen. I am blushing. Thank you.
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April 12, 2011 at 9:41 AM
Michael, i move around reading blogs but have never quite read a blog twice, as for your blog, am totally hooked. Its incredible and most readers can relate to lots of topics.
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April 15, 2011 at 5:05 AM
hey Njeri, I do this for you. I will work at making this the best blog ever. I hope you show up at the launch when I announce the date! 🙂
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April 15, 2011 at 10:41 AM
There’s a launch? Awesome. I shall be there.
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April 18, 2011 at 5:39 AM
you’d better not miss….
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April 19, 2011 at 2:59 PM
Hey you.. I can’t believe I am seeing your comments almost two months later! Damn! I would love to discuss possibilities… Hit me up… info@cocomalaika.com
Cheers!!!
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May 18, 2011 at 10:21 AM
Your story tells it all ..i like it man
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June 15, 2011 at 2:19 PM
Good wak
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June 15, 2011 at 2:19 PM
http://Www.ndagdidgendonga.com
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September 28, 2011 at 1:40 AM
http://Www.ndag>didge>ndonga.com
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September 28, 2011 at 1:41 AM
I like you creativity. Keep on 🙂
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October 6, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Nice work bro, very creative mind.
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November 21, 2011 at 7:27 AM
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its my first day here and u have blown me away
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March 28, 2014 at 2:06 PM
Your colour scheme gave me a headache….woi, but love your latest piece! Don’t agree with all of it, but………
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June 19, 2014 at 1:30 PM
GOD bless you brother..!
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March 5, 2015 at 9:07 AM
i stumbled upon this blog just the other day……its dope…..i love reading naked truths.keep it up.
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March 20, 2015 at 5:39 PM