The Ask

• First - we are struggling to understand our current software vendor as we don’t have experience in software development and they are speaking a lot of jargon. We would like to have a technical project manager work with us.
• And then - before we launch the awards platform, work with us to run usability tests
• Lastly - work with us to rebuild the awards platform to suit the needs of our users

The Observation

When building for a wide set of user segments, focusing on the extreme case can pay a lot of dividends. For Epic Africa, the focus was on the user segment with the lowest digital literacy and internet access. Once the solution worked for this segment, it worked for everyone else

The Process

Key activities:

• Technical advisory - Made provided a technical project manager to act as a liaison between Epic Africa and the software vendor. The PM acted as a go-between between the two parties and explained what each meant
• Usability testing - Made conducted three sets of usability testing exercises. The locations were Nairobi, Jo’burg, and Dakar 
• Redesign and development of the awards platform 

Technology choices:

• Award application front-end - ReactJs
• Award application back-end - Python/Flask
• Management Dashboard - Apache Superset
• Deployment - Amazon RDS
• Database - Postgres.

Outcomes

With technical support from Made, Epic Africa was able to successfully run the first edition of the CSO Excellence Awards. Our work allowed them to:

• Allow CSOs to conduct a self-assessment exercise based on the organizational pillars of strength outlined by Epic Africa. Organizations got a diagnostic report post-assessment
• Allow CSOs to apply for the award by filling out the application form online. The final process was based on 3 sets of usability tests
• Allow the Epic Africa team to support and follow up with applicants who were stuck. They were provided with a back-end dashboard to do so
• Allow Epic Africa to shortlist applicants moving to the next stage based on how they scored. The initial part of the scoring was done by code and then by the Epic Africa team

In total, there were 972 registrations, 389 completed the first round, and 49 were shortlisted for the final round. Epic Africa now has a rich database of CSOs across Africa. We are working with them on the second version of the awards program.