Role: Engagement Consultant, Researcher & Designer.

“Data to Action” was a six week research and design consultancy project – a partnership between WSUP (Zambia) and NEEEU Spaces GmbH (in partnership with LWSC). The overall objective of this consultancy was to develop user interfaces, designed to demonstrate the impact of effective data management in the pursuit of building pit emptying businesses.

The project was to focus on converting the existing database (housing information from data collection activities in 2017), through co-creation with private service providers and government agencies, into a user-friendly digital tool. Applying a human- centred design approach, we conducted in-depth research with multiple stakeholders across the FSM Sector to ascertain the most useful means through which to effectively utilise data use. Upon completion of this research, we designed and tested, in collaboration with service providers, an integrated method for data collection, management and, in part, visualisation.

Illustration: Sheila Decloedt

Role: Communications designer & project co-ordinator.

Remote citizens across the world can struggle to engage with governing bodies who often reside in (and prioritise) urban areas. As mobile prevalence increases, SMS is becoming a practical tool for improving information sharing and active citizenship within more remote populations.

Working with award-winning communications agency – On Our Radar, we built a unique communications system that connect remote citizens to their local councillors using SMS. Across Sierra Leone and Kenya, we invited farmers, teachers, full time mothers, students and traders to participate and become community reporters. Each was training to used text messaging to highlight issues of local concern to their local councillors, by sending them anonymous micro-reports via SMS. Each report includes factual material crowdsourced from their communities, covering any of the five thematic areas: youth, governance, access to services, gender, and justice and security. These messages are received by participating local councillors, who also received training. The councillors are asked to respond via SMS and explain to reporters their planned response to the problems raised. Rather than going from handset to handset, the SMS reports were transmitted via On Our Radar’s custom-built online platform, which stores the reports online, so they can be tracked by theme, location and councillor responsiveness.

I managed the network of both of these projects and worked to develop engagement strategies that took into account a range of issues related to user connectivity, capacity and confidence.