Case StudyCivic TechnologyiOS · Android · Web · SMS

Ushahidi/OSS

An end-to-end redesign of an open-source crisis-mapping and data-collection platform — simplifying how teams build deployments, surveys and submission forms, without giving up the configurability that makes it powerful.

Type

Civic tech · survey & data collection

Role

Lead UX / UI Designer

Channels

Web, mobile, SMS & messaging

Scope

Research → strategy → IA → UI → system

01 — Overview

A platform flexible enough for anything — and complex because of it.

Ushahidi is an open-source platform used for election monitoring, crisis response, humanitarian work and large-scale research. Organisations spin up custom deployments where participants submit reports through web, mobile, SMS and messaging apps.

That flexibility is the product's superpower — and its tax. Every deployment, survey, category and submission form can be shaped to fit a wildly different use case, and over time those workflows had grown hard to navigate. My role was to simplify the experience without removing the configuration teams depend on — working closely with stakeholders and real deployment users along the way.

Report channels

Workstreams led

Native apps · iOS & Android

Unified design system

02 — Responsibilities

Eight workstreams, one accountable lead.

UX research & audit

Interviews, deployment analysis and a full audit of existing flows.

Product strategy

Defining a path to simplicity without removing power-user capability.

Information architecture

Re-mapped the structure of deployments, surveys and submissions.

UX / UI design

End-to-end screen design for web, admin and submission surfaces.

Design system creation

Shared tokens and components spanning all platforms and channels.

Mobile app design

Native iOS and Android apps for submitting and reviewing reports.

Workflow optimisation

Simplified the most-used admin tasks: deployment setup, form building.

Stakeholder collaboration

Close work with the Ushahidi team and deployment users throughout.

03 — The key challenge

Configurable for any use case — without burying the user.

Supporting elections, disasters and research from a single platform created real complexity. The workflows for creating deployments, surveys, categories and submission forms had become difficult to navigate — powerful, but intimidating. The task was to simplify them without taking away the configuration teams rely on.

Needs

Deep configuration for every deployment

Risk

Setup workflows too complex to navigate

04 — Approach

Make configuration feel like a guided path.

The same principle across every surface: reveal one decision at a time, keep powerful options within reach, and let the map and the data do the talking.

/ 01 — Onboarding & deployment setup

Guided start

From zero to a live deployment in a few taps.

New users land in a clear, paced flow — search for their deployment, pick it from a list, and add it to their account — with a skippable path for anyone who wants to explore first.

Search-first onboarding — find a deployment by name or link, no jargon.
One decision per step — illustrated coach screens set context before action.
Skip-friendly — browse as a guest before committing to an account.

/ 02 — Map-first monitoring

See everything

A live map as the home base.

The core view puts incoming reports on a map, with a category-coded survey list down the left and filters for source, status, date and location across the top — so a flood of submissions stays readable.

Category legend — colour-coded surveys make clusters scannable at a glance.
Layered filters — source, status, date range and location, never a maze.
Shared context — the same map travels across web, tablet and mobile.

/ 03 — Survey & form builder

Configure without code

The hardest workflow, turned into a checklist.

Building a survey used to mean wrestling with scattered settings. Now it's a guided builder: name and describe the survey, drag in field types from a clear menu, and translate it into any language — each step tracked in a side checklist.

Typed field menu — short text, long text, number and more, explained inline.
Drag-to-arrange — reorder fields directly on the form as you build.
Built-in translation — manage every language alongside the default.

/ 04 — Submitting & reviewing reports

Capture & verify

Reporting that works the same everywhere.

Whether a citizen files from the field on mobile or a coordinator reviews on the web, a post shares one structure — title, description, incident date, location and media — so submissions stay consistent and easy to verify.

Structured capture — guided fields with helper text reduce bad data.
Location built in — a map plus latitude and longitude attach to each report.
Consistent post view — the same record, legible on phone and desktop.