Ari Nation

Empowering Menstrual Health Management Organizations in Kenya with Data-Driven Insights to Ensure Effective, Equitable Pad Distribution

Interactive Data Dashboard and Strategy (Client)
Group | 6 Weeks

Project Overview

Ari, the Pad ATM, provides hardware for self-service pad dispensers to women and girls in Kenya, along with the necessary technical and educational support for implementation in public washrooms and schools.

They were looking to build an interactive dashboard to offer their menstrual health management (MHM) partners data-driven insights, enabling program improvements and better resource allocation.

This was a group project, my colleagues being Teaghan Phillips and Whitney Cover. I was involved in all stages of the process, but played a particularly prominent role in facilitation, business analysis, software analysis, competitor and contextual research, strategy and product definition, interactive map development, and high-fidelity prototyping.

Methods and Deliverables:

Facilitation | Business Analysis | Service Blueprint | Heuristic Evaluation | Accessibility Audit | Software Analysis | Competitor Analysis | User Interviews and Usability Tests | Affinity Maps | User Modeling | Sketches | Mid-Fidelity Prototype | High-Fidelity Prototype | Interactive Map | Development Handoff Package | Product Roadmap and Strategy Document

Tools:

Adobe Illustrator | Canva | WebAim | Zoom | Google Meet | Dovetail | Balsamiq | Glide | Mapbox | Figma | Figjam | Pen and Paper

Outcomes:

  • We enhanced and consolidated Ari’s existing website, PDF reports, partner dashboard, and site readiness surveys into a single solution.

    Inspired by interviews with individuals from pad manufacturers, NGOs, county governments, and research institutions in Kenya, the refined partner dashboards feature customizable distribution metrics and reports, stock alerts, recommendations for program improvement, and personalized maps of sites served and pad ATMs.

  • Our interviews with key stakeholders revealed a need for clear visualizations of aid distribution and need across Kenya to identify gaps and reduce disparities. Contrary to our client's initial assumptions, stakeholders were also eager to learn from others through shared data, best practices, and research. These insights led the client to reconsider their approach.

    In response, we designed an interactive map displaying sites served by Ari and other MHM organizations in Kenya, with a toggle for displaying a heatmap of national need levels. This public-facing map will be hosted on Ari’s website, offering immediate insights and encouraging registration for full access.

    Partners will have exclusive access to an open-source knowledge repository with shared resources, research, and data, promoting collaboration within the MHM community.

  • By presenting Ari as a thought leader and data hub, we challenged our client’s assumptions and inspired them to change their strategy. Additionally the client is now using our research as part of a report to justify the need for publicly accessible menstrual health data to potential funders and government bodies.

Dashboard Walkthrough

Interactive Map Stills

(click to expand)

Open-Source Map

Open-Source Heatmap

Partner Map (Schools)

Partner Map (ATMs)

Client Testimonial

— Munira Twahir, Founder and CEO

Addressing the Brief

Prior to working with Shani and her colleagues, I had never had the opportunity to work with a design team before. Therefore for this project, I deliberately left the brief vague as I was not sure what direction the design project would take.

Despite a very scanty brief the team delivered everything I had envisioned but was unable to articulate. Working with Shani and the team has been a truly exceptional experience. Their dedication to the work went above and beyond my expectations.

Research

The research was a game-changer. It challenged some of our assumptions, validated others, and gave us a much deeper understanding of our users and how they interact with the problem we wanted to solve. Shani and the team’s rigorous approach ensured that the final product was grounded in real user experiences and needs.

It also allowed us to clearly articulate user stories and refine exactly what we wanted to solve and for whom, which was something we struggled with before our interaction. I especially enjoyed the incorporation of our culture and language into the user personas, which made it that much more relatable and authentic.

Visual Design

The visual design is absolutely fantastic—clean, intuitive, and user-friendly especially with the short sprint time we had. It makes navigating the platform a breeze and intuitive as it has considered all our user needs.

I appreciate the visual elements that made interacting with our platform easier and central to the user experience. I particularly liked that the spirit of our existing design work was retained and our maximalist style was incorporated while still keeping it clean.

Strategy

The business and marketing strategy developed was equally impressive. The roadmap, positioning, and vision for the product provided us with an angle we had not thought about.

I was particularly impressed with how it picked up on key elements and themes in our conversations that I was not cognizant of and provided us with a clear path forward, ensuring that we can continue to grow and scale our impact.