Drawing from the research, I created medium-fidelity wireframes to illustrate what screens could look like for tasks such as generating reports (top) and entering loan repayment receipts (above). I refined the design with HCI methods and user testing.

Micro-what?

Microfinance helps the poorest of the poor by giving them access to much needed credit to build a new home, pay for education or create a self-sufficient business to improve their lives. For our capstone project for Carnegie Mellon’s Master of Human-Computer Interaction program, my colleagues and I designed Mambu, a new vision for enabling microfinance throughout the world. Mambu is an online portfolio management software for growing microfinance institutions, the product of an intensive design process to isolate a viable opportunity for emerging markets.

Research

We conducted contextual inquiries and expert interviews with staff, domain experts and clients in the field in Mozambique, and secondary research to understand the banking domain and potential opportunities. I researched mobile and financial design patterns as well as emerging technologies in the domain, and guided the design based on the research.

Generated an activity model based on research to identify and determine how to support critical activities and tasks.

Design Process

We used a combination of service design, human-centered software engineering and human-computer interaction methods to ensure that the software would support the core needs of MFIs. We created diagrams, storyboards and wireframes and validated concepts with users at key points. l led interaction design decisions for the project, conducting user testing with methods such as cognitive walkthrough, which I deemed applicable to refine system interaction.

Concept Video

I created this video sketch to illustrate the main ideas reflected within our final design concept. More details can be found at http://mambuonline.com.

“I think that you have done a wonderful job. I’m sure that you have a brilliant future waiting for you.”

—Unsolicited client feedback

Created a flow model to map out the coordination, interaction and responsibilities of roommates shopping for a couch.

Designing a digital whiteboard for collaborative shopping

My team and I used the contextual research and design process to design a tool for online shopping. We designed the Get•It•Board to allow group members to post and organize online finds, and discuss them as a group. I contributed to every phase of the research, design and evaluation process. I worked with teammates to generate literally hundreds of concepts through brainstorming and to choose the items that best tackled the problems isolated in the research. We used the contextual design process to analyze the workflow of roommates looking for a couch and identify breakdowns in the process that could be supported by an online system. We realized that simply equipping a collaborative system with voting or star ratings actually limited the types of interactions that were part of the process, so we designed a digital whiteboard where users could post their online shopping finds and get a richer discussion going.

Expanded item view. Placement on the board would indicate where the particular item stood in the rankings. Any user could move a magnet to any area on the whiteboard, leaving a comment along the resulting path.