Terms of Reference UI/UX Designer (Individual Consultant)

Top Line Objective:

Girl Effect Kenya is looking to procure the services of a UI/UX /Designer who will serve as support and additional capacity in the Experience Design practice at Girl Effect over the next 1 year. You will be designing and prototyping analogue and increasingly digital experiences with human-centered insights and needs at their core. You’ll be inspired by how technology can unlock new possibilities and choices for our audiences and imagine new uses for technology to address access, literacy, security, and other barriers.

Who We Are

Girl Effect is an international non-profit that builds media that girls want, trust and need. From chatbots to chat shows and TV dramas to tech, our content helps adolescent girls in Africa and Asia make choices and changes in their lives. We create safe spaces for girls, sharing facts and answering questions about health, nutrition, education, and relationships, empowering girls with the skills to negotiate and redefine what they are told is possible “for a girl”.

Our reach is 50 million and counting, and we use technology to reach girls at scale so every girl can choose to be in control of her body, health, learning and livelihood.

Because when a girl unlocks her power to make different choices that change her life, it inspires others to do so too. She starts a ripple effect that impacts her family, community, and country.

That’s the Girl Effect.

The Brand

Girl Effect uses a branded media approach towards delivering behavioral change programmes.

We reach girls across the world, where they are - online and offline,  to support them at the critical moments in life when choices around their health, education and economic future need to be made. 

We use our expertise in behavior change science to motivate and equip girls with information and support to help them see a different future for themselves, act on those choices, and drive greater demand for the opportunities and services available to them. 

Chhaa Jaa in India, Tujibebe in Tanzania, Yegna in Ethiopia, Wazzii in Kenya - are some of our youth brands. They exist across multiple channels - digital ( Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, TikTok, Whatsapp), TV, radio, print and offline. Together, these brands reach 50m people in 20 countries in Africa and Asia. 

Our Approach

Girl Effect reaches girls where they are via multiple media programs

Girl Effect operates multiple media programs, including TV shows, radio dramas, magazines, hotlines, digital and social media content. We also operate a suite of digital products including chatbots, websites and content Apps. Our target audience, adolescent girls and young women worldwide, are now using digital products and social media like never before. Access is managed through a mix of lo-fi and hi-fi devices ranging from feature phones, smartphones, and tablets to laptops. To ensure that our programmes reach girls effectively and efficiently in this complicated maze of media consumption, we focus on reaching them where they are."

Girl Effect in Kenya

Over the last one and a half years, we have invested in setting up key online assets and infrastructure that can be leveraged to deliver programmes under a range of thematics for older adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 years. We have built a multi-product digital ecosystem of products - across ‘broadcast’ and ‘interactive’ features - that are social media-based and available to girls whenever they need it.  This includes but is not limited to:

Existing products

• Inspiring and enabling social and behavior change content on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
• A menu-based sheng chatbot called WAZZII , on WhatsApp and WEB chat that allows girls to explore taboo topics on Love, Sex and Relationships in a safe 1:1 space and nudges them to connect with health services. Including integration with a 24/7 toll-free call and chat concierge-style human support service
• A website aggregating youth-friendly services and is updated regularly with blog content.

Upcoming projects

Tipping Point Programme

Girl Effect aims to leverage its media building and digital programming expertise to equip AGYW to have open and honest conversations with key reference groups, peers and partners to take charge of their sexual health. The product mix will include a youth brand, a multi-media ecosystem, a new website and an app that can be used offline and online to support the dissemination of relevant content.

WAZZII 2.0

An enhanced WAZZII multimedia and digital ecosystem by diversifying content to additional behavioral drivers and improved user journey. The product mix will include an expanded concierge service with additional technology features (Chatbot & Website) to navigate barriers such as the cost of services, outcome expectations, and convenient access to service provision points (Concierge). 

Scope of Work

The objective is to support the design for new experiences and improvements of existing experiences by creating innovative solutions for a wide variety of product design challenges ensuring they align with the organization's behavior change goals and target audience needs. The designer will be expected to apply Human Centered Design thinking and approach not just within products, but also across the wider product ecosystem at Girl Effect and the complicated user journeys from product to product as well. 

This consultant will conduct design sprints, consolidate outputs of design sessions, and support the running of feature prioritization sessions. They will also conduct prototyping activities collaboratively with a cohort of young people and other stakeholders across products such as chatbots, mobile applications, and brand websites, among others related to upcoming and existing products.

In this role, you should be an analytical and creative designer who can grasp user needs and solve problems. A strong portfolio of successful UX and other technical projects is essential. The engagement will start from Sept 2024 to August 2025.

UX Analysis: 

• Devise and conduct a consultation plan with key stakeholders and target audiences including questionnaires, focus groups or interviews.
• Conduct a thorough assessment of the current UX design, identifying usability challenges, and opportunities for improvement. 
• Create user personas and scenarios to guide the design improvements based on user needs and goals. 
• Conduct concept and  usability testing in the field with users
• Provide a detailed report summarizing the findings, including prioritized recommendations for UX enhancements to stakeholders and developers. 
• Work with data to optimize and enhance products.
• Own and conduct design reviews with data, engineering and content teams to ensure a successful deployment with an appropriate go-ahead.

UI Enhancement: 

• Utilize the insights from the UX analysis to redesign and enhance the visual appearance of the web platform's user interface. 
• Define interaction models, UI components, and navigation structures to optimize user engagement and facilitate information discovery.
• Incorporate interactive elements to enhance usability and convey complex concepts effectively.
• Develop wireframes, interactive prototypes, and mockups to illustrate proposed UI changes. 
• Implement modern design principles, including responsiveness, consistency, and visual hierarchy, while aligning with our brand identity. 
• Ensure the new UI design elements fit seamlessly into the existing platform's technical framework, ensuring a consistent and cohesive user experience across all website components.
• Collaborate with Designers and Developers to create intuitive, user-friendly software to ensure that the updated UI maintains or improves the platform's overall performance and loading speed.
• Support UI content creation as and when required.

Who You Are

Skills, expertise and requirements:

• You must be based in Kenya with the ability to attend in-person sessions in Nairobi and Migori counties.
• You must be fluent in Swahili and English.
• 4+ years of professional experience in a design consultancy or equivalent position collaborating with multidisciplinary teams
• Fluency in the human-centered design process from qualitative research and synthesis to ideation, prototyping, and implementation.
• Service Design, UX, UI - Proficiency in wireframing and design tools such as Invision, Figma, Miro etc.
• You are solution-focused and medium-agnostic, willing to step out of your core skill set or discipline to find the correct solution to a design challenge.
• You have cultural sensitivity, creativity, and resourcefulness—comfortable finding your way through.
• You deliver precise and effective written and verbal communication to convey ideas, instructions, and feedback to team members, girls and young women.

Highly Desirable

• Experience in health-related content/Behavior change content production in the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Economic Empowerment would be a massive bonus.
• Experience in Conversational Interfaces such as Chatbots
• Basic Understanding/development of Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning
• Cross-cultural design experience and/or working in design for ICT4D
• Experience working in emerging markets.
• Experience collaborating with in-house and third-party developers in agile sprints, stewarding the transfer of design to development.
• Familiarity with tools such as Google Suite, Asana and Slack is a bonus.

Attitudes we are looking for: 

• Comfortable with complex organizational structures and multiple stakeholders 
• Comfortable with shared decision-making 
• A ‘do-er thinker’ 
• Enthusiastic about talking to and interacting with people across cultures and geographies - this role will require extensive conversations, presentations, documentation and fire-fighting 
• Highly empathetic and context-sensitive - able to balance conflicting needs and priorities decisively 
• Mission-driven and cares about making a difference in the lives of young people and vulnerable sections of society.

Expected Commitment 

• The assignment will take approximately 1 year to complete.
• The consultant will be expected to spend a maximum of 5 days a week or up to 40  hours each week on this assignment, depending on the programme's needs.
• The consultant's assignment period is from September  2024 to August 2025.

Location

The consultant must be based and have extensive experience in Kenya. The Assignment is to be carried out in Kenya.

Management

The consultant will have a primary point of contact with Girl Effect, Kenya’s Senior Product Manager supported by the wider Create team - particularly the global Experience Design Lead. The language of the materials and reports shall be English. The contract supervisor shall approve all deliverables submitted by the agency before any payment is made.

Tentative Timelines

• Terms of reference published: 5th August 2024
• Bid Submission Deadline:  19th August 2024
• Supplier selection, contracting, and briefing: End August
• Project commencement: Sept 2024

Proposal Submission

Interested consultants are asked to submit the following to support their candidature (Max 10pages):

• Your understanding of the brief and why you feel you are well-placed to advise us on this
• Credentials/Profile/CV - Please showcase any previous work that you consider relevant to what we are trying to achieve and how we approach our work, and the audience we cater to. Describe the qualifications, experience, and capabilities of the firm or consultant in providing the requested services.
• Reference- Provide at least three references for similar contracts with a description of the service provided, the value of the contract, and the contract periods of performance.
• Breakdown of Costs with applicable taxes and other charges clearly identified in KES. Consultants should provide their monthly cost. All applicable taxes should be quoted separately.

In their proposal, the bidder must demonstrate an understanding of the requirements described in the RFP and demonstrate how the bidder will meet the requirements of the evaluation criteria.

GE is not liable for any cost incurred during the award/contract preparation, submission, or negotiation of the award/contract. All submitted documentation and/or materials shall become and remain the property of GE.

VALIDITY of the proposal shall be for 90 days from the date of bid closure.

Evaluation Criteria

The criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are listed below:

Technical Evaluation

• Interpretation and understanding of this TOR-10%
• Relevant experience as demonstrated by CV/Profile - 20%
• Technical UI/UX deliverable execution experience - 20%
• Geographical Experience in Kenya-10%
• Evidence of a minimum of three contactable references - 10%

Financial Evaluation

• Value for money/proposed budget breakdown - 30%

In their proposal, the bidder must demonstrate an understanding of the requirements described in the TOR and demonstrate how the bidder will meet the requirements of the evaluation criteria.

Please note that Girl Effect is not liable for any cost incurred during the award/contract preparation, submission, or negotiation of the award/contract. All submitted documentation and/or materials shall become and remain the property of Girl Effect.

VALIDITY of the proposal shall be for 90 days from the date of bid closure.

How to Apply

Please submit proposals, as described above, to suppliers@girleffect.org by  19th August 2024. Please clearly mark your email with the subject 'Kenya UI/UX Designer.'

Tax

Girl Effect is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees as well as ensure that 16% VAT, is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position regarding provisions of Kenya tax legislation when developing their proposals

Copyright

All materials/documents arising from this consultancy work shall remain the property of Girl Effect.

Disclaimer

GE Kenya reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party. GEEI shall inform ONLY successful applicant(s). The process of negotiation and signing of the contract with the successful applicant(s) will follow. 

Please note: We will evaluate only proposals submitted following the application process outlined in the TOR and using our specified email address (suppliers@girleffect.org).

Safeguarding

You may be required to undertake safeguarding checks. Shortlisted consultants will be assessed on our organizational values at the interview stage, and the successful consultant will be expected to adhere to our safeguarding policy. We encourage you to read and understand our safeguarding policy, the executive summary of which can be found here. We have zero-tolerance for all forms of violence against children, beneficiaries and staff. 

Equal Opportunities

Girl Effect Services is committed to equal opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. 

We are committed to building an organization that is increasingly representative of and works extensively with, the communities that we serve. To this end, due regard will be paid to procuring consultancy service organizations and individuals with diverse professional, academic and cultural backgrounds.

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Last updated on Aug 5, 2024