Research · UX · AI · Human-centred design

Designing fintech people trust — through research, UX and human-centred AI.

Senior product designer and researcher working across cross-border payments, digital banking and trade finance. I use rigorous research and human-centred design to turn compliance-heavy, AI-assisted systems into interfaces people actually trust.

Portrait of Yego Kevins
Nairobi, Kenya

Featured case studies

Selected projects

01 · Cross-border payments
Gapstack admin console — payments dashboard, remittance volume and recent transactions

Gapstack — Trade Finance & Payments Platform

Designing end-to-end onboarding, KYC/AML and transaction flows for a multi-country, multi-currency B2B payments platform.

Oct 2024 — CurrentSnr. Product Designer
View case study
02 · Digital banking
Kwara neobank mobile app on a phone

Kwara — Neobank for Credit Unions

Pioneered a digital bank app integrated with SACCOs and credit unions, scaling to 400K new MAU and $200K MRR.

Apr 2022 — Jul 2024Snr. UX Designer
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03 · B2B ERP · Market expansion
Impacc franchise app screens

Impacc — Franchise App for the Base of the Pyramid

Led research and design for a B2B ERP franchise app, expanding into Ethiopia, Uganda and Ghana.

2020 — 2022Strategic Product Designer
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04 · Product research
Field research session with farmers in Tanzania

Mastercard Labs — Usability & Research Programme

Drove usability testing and data-driven research that lifted engagement 20% and new-user acquisition 10%.

Apr 2019 — May 2020Senior Product Researcher
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05 · eSIM · Travel tech
Roam Buddy eSIM app concept

Roam Buddy — eSIM for the always-connected traveller

End-to-end concept design for an eSIM marketplace across destination search, plan comparison, installation and a live usage dashboard.

Concept projectLead Product Designer
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06 · EdTech · Partner Pulse
Andela Partner Pulse dashboard with engagement and health indicators

Andela — Partner & Developer Platform

Designing trust into a remote-first marketplace: partner health, developer performance and mentorship in one platform.

2018Product Designer
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07 · E-commerce · FMCG
Sokowatch S-OKOA loan approval screen

Sokowatch S-OKOA — Instant Credit for Informal Retailers

UX research and design for an in-app credit product that lets small shopkeepers reorder stock when cash runs short.

Nairobi, KenyaUX Designer / Researcher
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08 · EdTech · Campaign distribution
Arifu content library in a browser

Arifu — Campaign Distribution Platform

Multi-channel content distribution for NGO learning — WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS and Facebook Ads in one unified tool.

Apr 2019 — May 2020Senior Product Researcher
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09 · Product design · Workshop
Prototyping and MVP workshop title slide

iBiz Women in Tech — MVP Workshop

Designed and facilitated a 2hr 15min Prototyping & MVP workshop for early-stage women founders at Strathmore University.

Strathmore UniversityFacilitator & Designer
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Design coaching & manifesto

How I think about craft

After a decade leading design teams and coaching the next generation of UX practitioners at Strathmore University, these are the principles I return to — for my own work and for the people I mentor.

01

Preserve the student in you

Study visual trends and technological shifts. Follow your industry leaders. Read widely and build a rich pool of inspiration — then let it ferment before you pour it into your work.

02

Do your research first

Understand the business model, then understand its users. Map their pain points. Solve for people while pushing measurable business goals — both at once, never in sequence.

03

Learn from the best

Benchmark every project — it surfaces best practices and sparks ideas. But don’t just replicate your heroes. Synthesise what you learn and find your own voice.

04

Keep it simple

Simplicity is hard work that always pays off. Pursue the unexpected, intuitive solution. The best interface is the one the user never has to think about.

05

Don’t trust just yourself

Prototype early and test under near-real conditions. Listen more than you talk. Don’t defend features you love if users don’t get them — let the data decide.

06

Think holistically

Design systems, layout grids, pattern libraries — these aren’t overhead, they’re the foundation. Consistency across touchpoints is how products earn trust at scale.

Interested in 1:1 coaching or a team workshop?

Get in touch →

Career timeline

2012 — current

2024 — Now

Gapstack — Senior Product Designer

Designing the operational control plane for a cross-border payments platform: partner onboarding and KYB/KYC, treasury and FX, compliance and entitlements.

2022 — 2024

Kwara — Head of Product Design & Research

Created a digital bank mobile app on top of SACCOs, plus the design system behind it.

2020 — 2022

Impacc — Strategic UX Lead & Research

Expanded the product scope to Ethiopia, Uganda and Ghana.

2019 — 2020

Mastercard Labs — Senior UX Researcher

Conducted research using a wide variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, in person and remote.

2017 — 2019

Andela — Senior Product Designer

Led design and UX strategy across multiple product lines during Andela’s growth to unicorn status, integrating third-party APIs and building a high-performing design team.

2014 — 2017

Phink Digital Studio — Co-Founder & Product Lead

Co-founded a design studio shipping e-commerce and mobile products, including a grocery delivery app and M-PESA payment integration for clients across fintech and agritech.

2012 — 2014

Ogilvy & Mather — Front-End Developer

Built e-commerce apps and M-PESA payment integrations; developed 20+ websites and contributed 8 PRs to open-source projects.

Since 2018

Strathmore University — UX Design Instructor

Teaching asynchronous and synchronous UX courses, plus running agile collaboration workshops for distributed design and engineering teams.