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Strategy & Design Consultant · Brand & Digital
2024 – 2025 · Lagos State, Nigeria (Remote)
WeCollect: Building Infrastructure for Africa's Data Gap
Strategy & Design Consultant · Brand & Digital
2024 – 2025 · Lagos State, Nigeria (Remote)
The Challenge
WeCollect builds data infrastructure for contexts where connectivity is unreliable and traditional survey tools fail. The company develops offline-first tools for field data capture, geolocation, and real-time analytics across Africa—places where electricity grids are unstable, internet access is intermittent, and accurate ground-truth data determines whether development programs succeed or fail.
When I joined in 2024, WeCollect had proven technology and early traction with NGOs, development organizations, but the brand and product experience hadn't caught up to the sophistication of the work. The platform looked like internal tooling. The website didn't explain the problem WeCollect solves. Field agents—the people actually collecting data in remote villages—struggled with workflows that assumed stable connectivity.
My role was to lead a transformation that integrated brand, product experience, and strategic positioning. Not as separate workstreams, but as one coherent effort to make WeCollect legible to the partners and clients it needed to scale.
Making the Invisible Visible
Most people outside development sectors don't realize how broken data infrastructure is in parts of Africa. Nutrition surveys rely on SMS forms that drop responses when networks fail. Electricity audits depend on paper forms transcribed weeks later, introducing errors and delays. Agricultural programs make policy decisions based on incomplete or outdated information.
WeCollect exists because conventional tools—Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, even WhatsApp—don't work offline. The company's technology lets field agents capture GPS-verified responses on mobile devices without connectivity, then syncs data when they return to areas with signal.
That's powerful, but it's also abstract. Potential clients—UN agencies, national health programs, agricultural consortia—needed to understand why offline-first matters and how WeCollect's approach differs from what they're already using.
I worked with the CEO to define a new brand narrative grounded in the gaps WeCollect addresses: Africa's connectivity, nutrition, and electricity data challenges. The story wasn't about the technology stack—it was about the problems that remain unsolved without better infrastructure.
That narrative shaped everything: the website redesign, the product messaging, the content strategy, the visual identity. We moved from "we build data tools" to "we make invisible problems visible through field-verified data."
Defining What Mattered
From the research, we identified 20 potential features that could improve the mobile banking experience: biometric authentication, real-time transaction tracking, in-app customer support, simpler interfaces, and offline access for certain functions.
We couldn't build all of them in version one. Budget and timeline constraints required prioritization. We worked with the bank's project team to narrow the list based on user demand, technical feasibility, and business impact.
Final priority features:
- Remote account opening (eliminating the branch visit requirement)
- Fund transfers
- Bill payments
- Balance inquiry
- Transaction history
- In-app customer support
- Biometric login
These weren't the flashiest features, but they solved the most common pain points. Our goal wasn't innovation for its own sake; it was reducing friction in everyday banking tasks.
Building the Flow
Once features were prioritized, I developed user stories for different user types: first-time users, returning users, and users with limited banking experience. Each story mapped a specific goal—open an account, transfer money, pay a bill—and the steps required to complete it.
From there, I created user flows. I started with low-fidelity sketches—whiteboard drawings, rough diagrams—to iterate quickly without getting attached to any particular solution. Once the structure felt solid, I moved to more detailed flow diagrams in Whimsical, then into wireframes in Figma.
The flows had to be simple. Every extra step was an opportunity for confusion or abandonment. For fund transfers, we reduced the process to: select recipient, enter amount, confirm. For bill payments: select category, choose biller, enter details, confirm. No unnecessary screens. No redundant confirmations.
One challenge: convincing stakeholders that simplicity was better than feature density. The bank's team wanted to showcase everything the app could do. I had to advocate for restraint—showing that users would trust the app more if it did a few things extremely well rather than many things adequately.
Finding the Visual Direction
UBC already had a brand identity—colors, logo, typography. My job was to extend that into a mobile interface without making it feel like a direct translation of their website or physical materials.
I developed a style guide: typography hierarchy, color usage, iconography, and layout patterns. The design needed to feel modern and clean while maintaining brand consistency. I tested different approaches with the team, iterating based on feedback.
The home screen went through three iterations:
First version: Clean and balanced, but stakeholders wanted quicker access to key actions.
Second version: Added quick links for transfers, airtime, and bill payments. User testing revealed confusion—airtime felt like it should be grouped under bills, not separate.
Third version: Simplified to two quick links—transfer funds and pay bills—matching what the majority of users said they'd do most often. That became the final direction.
Bringing It Together
Onboarding
The registration flow needed to be simple enough for first-time users but secure enough to satisfy banking regulations. I designed a step-by-step process with clear instructions at each stage: enter phone number, verify identity, set up biometric login, done. The copy was concise. The layout guided users forward without overwhelming them.
Home Screen
The main screen prioritized account balance and recent transactions, with the two quick links prominently placed. Everything else—more services, transaction history, support—was accessible but not competing for attention.
Transfers and Bill Payments
Both flows followed the same principle: minimize steps, maximize clarity. Users selected the action, entered details, reviewed, and confirmed. Each screen had a single focus. Error states were designed to explain what went wrong and how to fix it.
More Services
Additional features—airtime purchase, loan applications, account statements—lived under a separate section. The layout made it easy to browse without cluttering the primary interface.
Testing Under Constraints
Once the Android engineer built the screens, we ran usability tests with 15 participants via Zoom. Remote testing wasn't ideal—we couldn't observe body language or contextual behavior—but it worked.
Users found the app intuitive. They appreciated the simple interface and fast transaction flows. The main feedback: a few additional features users wanted (savings goals, spending analytics) and minor UI adjustments (button sizes, label clarity).
The feedback validated the core design decisions. We'd prioritized the right features and structured them in a way that matched user expectations.
What Made It Hard
COVID-19 disrupted everything. We couldn't do field research. In-person testing was impossible. Workshops moved to video calls, which made collaboration slower and more formal. Budget constraints meant we had to use free or low-cost tools—Google Forms for surveys, Zoom for interviews, and Figma for design.
Time zones added friction. UBC's project team was in Cameroon, and our team was in Nigeria. Coordinating meetings required flexibility. Aligning priorities required patience—banking stakeholders naturally think about compliance and risk, while design focuses on usability and flow. Bridging that gap took repeated conversations and clear documentation.
But the constraints also forced discipline. We couldn't afford to iterate endlessly. Every decision had to be justified. Every feature had to earn its place. That focus probably made the final product stronger than it would have been under looser conditions.
What Mattered
The project succeeded because we stayed focused on user needs while respecting business and technical constraints. We didn't try to build the most advanced app—we built the most usable one.
Three factors made the difference:
Research First
We didn't start with assumptions. We gathered data, talked to users, and analyzed competitors. That groundwork shaped every subsequent decision. When stakeholders pushed for features that didn't align with user priorities, we had evidence to guide the conversation.
Simplicity as Strategy
Every flow, every screen, every interaction was designed to reduce friction. We removed steps, clarified copy, and organized information hierarchically. That simplicity wasn't laziness—it was intentional design.
Collaboration Across Functions
I worked closely with the product manager to align on priorities. With engineers to ensure designs were feasible. With the bank's team to incorporate their expertise while advocating for users. That cross-functional collaboration kept the project moving even when challenges emerged.
What Stayed With Me
This project reinforced that good design often means saying no. No to features that sound impressive but solve no real problem. No to complexity that makes stakeholders feel innovative but confuses users. No to visual flourishes that distract from the task at hand.
Mobile banking isn't about impressing people; it's about helping them accomplish something quickly and confidently. UBC's app succeeded because it respected that principle.
The final product gave the bank a competitive mobile offering, reduced the need for branch visits (especially important during the pandemic), and positioned UBC as a player in Cameroon's growing digital banking market. For users, it made banking more accessible, more convenient, and less frustrating.
That's the work: solving real problems with clarity and care, even when the constraints are tight, and the context is unpredictable.