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Case Study · 2024-25

Designing for Field Researchers

Helping an AI qualitative research platform onboard complex clients across India and beyond.

RoleService Designer
CompanyDots by Ooloi Labs
Duration6 Months
FocusService Design · Research Ops
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The Context

AI tools for people doing real work in the field

Dots by Ooloi Labs builds an AI-powered qualitative research platform for NGOs, social scientists, and field researchers working on public health, education, and gender equity across the Global South.

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The Challenge

Users who don't fit the SaaS mold

not your typical user personas
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My Role

End-to-end ownership

I owned the MAD Storytelling Initiative from first discovery call to a live platform. Not just interfaces. The entire service.

The Approach

Immerse, map, intervene

I embedded myself in the context. Discovery calls with MAD's team, mapping how volunteers collected stories in the field, identifying what broke down, and finding where Dots could intervene.

"The problem wasn't the technology. It was the gap between how the platform was designed and how field researchers actually worked."

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The Impact

From 0 to 2,000+ active users

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Active users
E2E
Ownership
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Months

The onboarding framework became a template for future partnerships. Service design artifacts were adopted across the organization.

design the system, not just the screen