Project Details:

Conducted extensive cultural and contextual research on Kenyan daily life, digital habits, and mobile money practices (mPesa) to understand barriers to online security for older adults.

Collaborated weekly with university students in Kenya through cross-cultural co-design sessions, sharing research insights and aligning on user needs and local constraints.

Identified a high-impact problem: older Kenyan adults struggle with password creation and secure digital account management due to device limitations, literacy barriers, and phishing risks.

Led structured ideation sessions including affinity mapping, rapid brainstorming, sketching rounds, and concept voting to generate a wide range of solution directions.

Designed and developed AutoKey, a lightweight mobile tool that helps users securely generate, save, and retrieve passwords without relying on English literacy or complex UI patterns.

Built multiple low-fidelity prototypes (paper sketches, storyboards, user flows) and progressively refined them into interactive digital prototypes using iterative critique and peer reviews.

Integrated feedback from Kenyan partners to make the design culturally relevant—incorporating offline functionality, SMS-friendly processes, and low-data UI patterns.

Evaluated prototypes through remote usability testing and walkthroughs, refining the design to improve simplicity, comprehension, and trust.

Delivered a final presentation showcasing research findings, design rationale, and the AutoKey prototype to faculty, peers, and international collaborators.

Participated in an intended exchange program where Kenyan students would visit the U.S. and vice-versa—an initiative ultimately cancelled after the Trump Administration pulled funding, further highlighting the importance of global ICT4D collaboration.

Project Status: Prototype Completed

Project Timeline: January 2025 - April 2025