Helping Female Market Traders Expand their Businesses
Website to share progress and deliverables with internal stakeholders
Impact
Project's success resonated with top leadership, earning us strong internal advocacy. As a result, we secured initial support to develop the application with a dedicated product team. However, as priorities shifted, the project was de-prioritized within the company and ultimately handed off to the Bank to carry forward. This transition underscores the enduring value of the work, as the Bank continues to leverage the foundation we established to advance financial inclusion.
Forged key partnership with large Bank in Nigeria, introducing them to an innovation-driven approach to problem-solving.
Guided internal organization in adopting a "test-and-learn" methodology—marking a pivotal shift in how we approach customer-centric solutions through a structured process of co-creation and user testing
Opportunity
The financial inclusion team at a global payment technology company aimed to create 500 million new digital payment accounts over the next three years. To achieve this, we partnered with a local bank in Nigeria, one of the largest markets of the emerging middle class, to deliver a scalable solution designed to help female market traders. These traders are vital to the economy but often lack the education and tools needed to grow their businesses.
Team
I lead all aspects of design and research for this project while partnering closely with a creative technologist and business strategist.
Initial field study conducted across three different markets in Nigeria
Research + Design Activities
Field study conducted across three different markets.
Moderated interviews, informing two archetypes used throughout project.
Conducted ideation session, resulting in 4 prioritized concepts.
Built low-fidelity prototypes for both smart and feature phones (which were still widely used).
Conducted preference testing on initial concepts, and created a final concept used in country.
User segmentation
Concept ideation session
Early wireframes designed to demonstrate one of four finalized concepts and used for in-country validation
Pop-up research locations set up in the market, minimizing time away from shops
Participants downloaded an instance of the app, allowing us to simulate real payment transactions for a more authentic evaluation
Kickoff with partnering bank in Nigeria, activity to understand market hierarchy and players
Early concept testing
Smart phone screens
Final concept testing
