Empowering Cities
Overview
DoubleGDP was a seed-funded, SaaS startup for property developers in Africa and Latin America, focusing on planned communities and special economic zones.
As the sole product designer, I managed the design process from ideation to validation, performed scrum duties, and contributed to the product roadmap. I collaborated with cross-functional teams to create new features and integrations for payments and communication.
TIMELINE
September 2021 – October 2022
ROLE
Lead Designer — design, scrum product owner, project management
TEAM
10 globally staffed Engineers
Product Designer (me)
TECH STACK
React and Ruby
Challenge
Designing a digital product for countries that heavily relied on paper processes, had inconsistent internet access, and low device adoption rates.
User Need
Employee users struggled to complete tasks on their work computers due to unreliable internet connections. Additionally, they faced challenges in performing well with their managers because the workflow did not align with their methods of working.
New cities lacked infrastructure and required efficient ways to manage people, utilities, payments, and property.
Business Need
As a startup, we needed to meet the needs of our existing customers while simultaneously developing features for new ones.
Additional Considerations
Social differences among ethnic groups
Government instability
Limited computer ownership
Most people owned mobile phones, but not everyone
Outcome
Although we did not address all of the issues before our funding ended, we successfully created a digital product that met our adoption rates and engagement KPIs.
User Value
Employee users were able to complete their work using mobile devices because the app was fully responsive.
Our efforts established a strong foundation for our new cities to create a stable infrastructure.
Business Value
We developed a customizable app that is now open source, allowing our cities to continue enhancing and growing it independently.