The Ask

Design a digital information service that will promote more data-driven program design and program implementation among small & medium-sized NGOs given that most of them have significant resource constraints.

The Observation

The influence donor organizations and other funders have on how small and medium-sized NGOs chose grants to apply for and how programs are implemented is understated when designing data services for this segment.

The Process

UX Research Study.

We conducted field studies in four cities (Lagos and Abuja - Nigeria, Dakar - Senegal, Dar Es Salaam - Tanzania) across Africa involving small and medium-sized NGOs, donor organizations, and a couple of edge cases in the same field. The study’s aim was to understand the needs, constraints, and aspirations of the target users in relation to the project. The findings from the study would guide the consortium on how best to tackle the problem. 

5-day Design Sprint

After the research study, we facilitated a 5-day design sprint involving the consortium partners (Code for Africa, iSC, africa practice), a rep from the project funder, and potential users of the service from the countries we ran the study. The design sprint offered an opportunity to share study findings and work jointly with the participants to build and test a prototype of Takwimu. We documented the design sprint & UX study in video format.

Continued UX Support.

Post workshop, iSC worked closely with Code for Africa who are the technical implementation partner to ensure the development still kept the user at the center of everything. We have done two rounds of usability testing and an expert design review exercise. Takwimu is an ongoing project and iSC is continuing its role as the UX expertise provider.

The Outcomes

The final output of the engagement was a digital information service targeting storytellers and development officers. The service allows them to quickly and easily pick data/information that they can use to get buy in from colleagues or tell stories using data. Along the way, the target changed based on user feedback and data constraints. Takwimu is still being developed based on user feedback and a road map we have. 

To get to where we are, we had to go through the design thinking process. iSC’s key outputs during the journey were:

• Field study report detailing findings from field visits to Tanzania, Senegal, and Nigeria
• The first prototype at the end of the design sprint
• Periodic usability and expert review reports

Takwimu was recently launched to the public on 17th June 2019. iSC is taking the lead in the roll out and growth of the service.