theWambuidesign

Product Designer, open to what’s next.

I design digital products that solve real problems for real people.

Over four years, I’ve worked across product design, UX research and strategy, from mobile health products to commercial platforms. I bring together user research, systems thinking and business context to create experiences that work across different markets, languages and levels of connectivity.

Download my CV Email me

Open to full-time, contract and consulting roles · Nairobi, Kenya (EAT) · Remote-first.

Black-and-white portrait of Diana Wambui smiling, glasses pushed up on her head.
  • 50K+ users reached across four countries
  • $100K+ in first-year sales as Tikomatata co-founder
  • 4 years across product and experience design

What I bring to a product team

Product thinking beyond the interface

I look at the problem, the people using the product and the business behind it. As co-founder of Tikomatata, I led brand identity and UX strategy, helping bring the product and its digital presence together.

Design that moves towards implementation

I work beyond Figma, using Claude Code to build and test interfaces and explore ideas in a working environment. This portfolio is one example of how I bring design and implementation closer together.

Research grounded in real users

I’ve worked on products across African markets, designing for different languages, devices and connectivity conditions. My experience includes research and usability testing with participants in Kenya, as well as product design for Champions, which reached 50,000+ users across four countries.

Selected work

Four projects, with what I personally did on each. Full case studies are linked.

Champions community-health app on two phones, showing a sessions library and an example agenda.
  • Mobile · Offline-first
  • Community health

Champions

An offline-first facilitator app. Community health workers and young women use it to prepare and run health sessions on immunisation, HPV and sexual and reproductive health, with people who have limited or no access to reliable information.

Role
Product Designer
Team
Girl Effect & Here I Am Studio
Status
Live in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Ethiopia · 50,000+ users

What I did

  • Led UX research and UI design, including co-creation workshops with community health workers in Kenya and Nigeria
  • Optimised onboarding and core flows for low-bandwidth, offline-first conditions
  • Helped the product scale to 4 countries and 4 languages as one system, not four separate builds
Read the full case study
Tikomatata event app shown on a laptop and phone, listing upcoming events and festivals.
  • Brand · Product · Web
  • Event ticketing

Tikomatata

An event-discovery platform built from the ground up: brand, product and website designed as one system rather than three disconnected pieces.

Role
Co-Founder & Creative Director
Scope
Brand identity, product UX, website
Status
$100K+ in year-one ticket sales

What I did

  • Led brand identity and UX strategy for a Kenyan event-ticketing platform
  • Designed the mobile-first ticket-purchase flow, simplified to three steps
  • Carried the commercial risk as co-founder, not just the design risk
Read the full case study
The redesigned RSH safeguarding platform homepage, with a search-led hero and geometric brand illustration.
  • Responsive web
  • Accessibility · 18 languages

RSH Safeguarding Hub

A platform helping organisations across the humanitarian and development sector prevent sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment: 2,000+ resources across 18 languages and 8 regional hubs, rebuilt as one coherent, accessible system.

Role
Product Designer
Client
Terre des Hommes & Here I Am Studio
Status
Live at safeguardingsupporthub.org

What I did

  • Ran user interviews and live usability testing with 9 users across 7 countries
  • Contributed to the new information architecture and designed the regional hub pages, resources listing and account flow
  • Owned most of the accessible design, built to WCAG 2.2 AA with full right-to-left language support
Read the full case study
The YONA owner home screen on a purple panel: a greeting, an in-progress session card, and today’s schedule.
  • Mobile app
  • Bookings & payments

YONA

A Kenyan startup building booking and business software for service businesses: salons, barbershops and spas. I came in as product designer to take it from a booking tool to a platform that could run the whole business.

Role
Product Designer
Engagement
Nairobi
Status
In pilot

What I did

  • Mapped end-to-end journeys with two business owners and validated the flows through playback sessions
  • Defined three roles (owner, cashier, staff) and a five-pillar information architecture
  • Designed the transaction flow: tips and discounts, M-Pesa/cash/bank payment verification, and net earnings vs. commission
Read the full case study

Research

I research with communities, not just about them.

Co-design workshops with community health workers, field interviews on sensitive topics, and usability testing across seven countries, plus quick remote chats when budgets are tight. What people tell me shapes every decision that follows.

  • Co-design workshops
  • Field interviews
  • Usability testing
  • Remote research
  • Consent & safeguarding
  • 7 countries of user research
  • 50K+ users of a product co-designed with health workers
  • 18 languages of content made findable
  • Workshop participants reviewing a wall of sticky notes mapping the Champions programme setup and session prep.
  • A facilitator leading a Champions co-creation workshop discussion in Abuja.
  • A small group in an outdoor research session, reviewing notes around a table.

From the Champions co-creation process, Kenya & Nigeria.

Experience

Product Designer & Consultant

2026 – Present

Independent · Nairobi, Kenya

Working with startups and established businesses on digital products, user experiences and business workflows, with a focus on African and emerging markets.

Engagements

  • Girl Effect (April 2026): Planned and facilitated usability testing for a mobile health product with participants in Nairobi and Migori. Synthesised findings into actionable recommendations to inform product improvements.

Product Designer

April 2023 – July 2026

Here I Am Studio · London, UK · Remote, part-time

Worked across multiple client projects at a London-based design agency, contributing to product discovery, UX research, interface design and delivery for digital products across health, education and social impact. Collaborated with clients, programme teams and developers to translate diverse requirements into useful, accessible and scalable experiences.

Highlights

  • Champions: Contributed to the expansion of a community health-education app to 50,000+ users across Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Ethiopia, designing for different user needs, languages and low-connectivity environments.
  • WAZZII: Designed UX and conversational flows for a WhatsApp-based sexual and reproductive health chatbot. Its pilot reached 5 million young people in three months, with 50,000 chatbot users.
  • Cross-client delivery: Contributed to projects for organisations including Girl Effect, Malala Fund, UNHCR and Terre des Hommes, adapting design approaches to different audiences, programme goals and project requirements.
  • Design systems and collaboration: Created reusable Figma components, developed prototypes and worked with multidisciplinary teams to refine designs, incorporate feedback and support implementation.

Co-Founder & Creative Director

2023 – 2025

Tikomatata Limited · Kenya

Co-founded an event-ticketing platform, leading brand identity, UX strategy and the mobile-first ticket-purchasing experience. Contributed to more than $100K in first-year sales.

UI/UX Designer Intern

Oct 2022 – Mar 2023

Buy Cars Africa

Designed user flows for an online car marketplace, covering vehicle listings, search and the buyer enquiry journey.

Data Analyst Intern

Feb 2022 – Jun 2022

SYBYL

Built dashboards and data-analysis workflows to make information easier to interpret and use.

Skills

Figma-first, research-led, and fluent with AI in the workflow: from prototyping through to shipping real code.

Product Design & Strategy

  • User and field research
  • User flows and information architecture
  • Wireframing and prototyping
  • Design systems
  • Usability testing
  • Product strategy and workshop facilitation

UI, Interaction & Accessibility

  • High-fidelity interface design
  • Responsive web and mobile design
  • Interaction design
  • Accessibility and WCAG 2.2 AA

Tools & Development

  • Figma and FigJam
  • Framer
  • Miro and Notion
  • HTML and CSS fundamentals
  • Claude Code
  • AI-assisted prototyping and research synthesis

Education

Degree

BSc Computer Technology, Technical University of Kenya

Certificate

Google UX Design Certificate

Download my CV Connect on LinkedIn

Let’s build something useful.

I’m looking for a product team where I can contribute to product decisions, work closely with engineers and researchers, and turn complex problems into useful digital experiences.

Hiring for a Product Designer, or looking for contract support?

Email me directly WhatsApp

Also available on LinkedIn.