In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, user experience (UX) and product design play a crucial role in determining the success of a product. With a growing number of startups and tech companies in Africa, there’s no shortage of talented designers making their mark.
In this article, we’ve compiled a list of the top 15 exceptional UX and product designers in Africa who are pushing the boundaries of design and shaping the future of the industry.
From experienced veterans to rising stars, this list showcases some of the most innovative and creative minds in the field, who are delivering outstanding designs that improve the experience of users and businesses alike.
So, without further ado, let’s dive into the list of top 15 exceptional UX and Product Designers in Africa.
1. Oluwagbemiga Joshua (Nigeria)
Oluwagbemiga Joshua is a UK-based Nigerian Product Designer. He is currently the Principal Product Designer at Synthesia- a technology company that specialises in artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions.
Their focus is on developing AI tools for automating and improving various aspects of human-computer interaction, such as natural language processing (NLP), computer vision, and speech recognition. Synthesia AI offers products and services that allow businesses and organisations to enhance their digital presence and improve user experience through the use of AI technology.
Some specific applications of their technology include virtual assistants, chatbots, and intelligent recommendations systems, among others.
In the past, he has served as Senior Product Designer at InVision, Senior User Experience Designer at Intelia, amongst others. He got his BSc. in Computer Science from Bowen University Iwo, Nigeria. He is passionate about design, animation as well as interaction design. Joshua is also a futurism enthusiast.
2. Parklins Ifeanyichukwu (Nigeria)
Parklins Ifeanyichukwu is a Lead Product (UX) Designer with over six year’s experience in early-stage and high growth companies. He has experience leading teams (both remote and co-located) in designing and implementing digital products that are used by millions of people every day.
Parklins has a Master of Arts degree in User Experience Design from Falmouth University Cornwall, and a CertHE in User Interface & User Experience Design from Ravensbourne University, both in the UK.
He currently is the Lead UX Designer at InMobi; a company that is focused on powering advertisers’ and publishers’ growth with high impact experiences and innovative solutions that help them activate their audiences and drive real connections with today’s consumers.
Previously, Parklins has led and worked across product teams in problem spaces like EdTech (DataCamp), FinTech and Retail (PayPecker, now Kloud Commerce), and also co-founded a user experience design agency, where he built and led the user experience team for about 3 years.
3. Ndubuisi Anyaoku (Nigeria)
Also on the list of trailblazing African UX and Product Designers is Ndubuisi Anyaoku, the Lead Product Designer, Revolut. The University of Benin graduate of Computer Engineering is a digital designer with a focus on visual identity development, interaction design and cross-platform deployment.
He combines that with a proven track record of success in building, testing and refining user-centred digital interfaces and experiences from on-demand economy to electronic commerce.
Ndubuisi strives to be critically relevant in today’s fast-paced global village by effectively using his knowledge of digital design, technology and strategy to enhance lives, delight senses and inspire change that actually matters.
His past roles include Senior Product Designer, Revolut, Product Designer, Silicon Bear, amongst others.
4. Felix Obinna
Felix is a seasoned Nigerian Product Designer with almost a decade in experience.
An alum of Graphics Design from the University of Nsukka, Nigeria, he has been a professional in this field working with businesses and teams to build products for over seven years. He has a demonstrated history of moving between high-level strategic thinking and detailed interaction problems, connecting the dots between organisational strategy, products, services, and interfaces.
Previously, Felix led the design team at Chinook Capital(Youverify.co), built products and processes at Devcenter, and is currently leading a Product Design team at Flutterwave, San Francisco, Carlifornia.
He has a proven track record of leading and scaling design teams, defining the product design process, and mentoring designers across the product development lifecycle.
5. Sharon Wangari (Kenya)
She is a Kenyan Product Designer whose giant strides have earned her a spot on this list.
Sharon Wangari is a Service and Systems designer & a Design Researcher. She has been a designer for over 6 years and has worked across Eastern and Southern Africa. Sharon is inspired daily by the opportunity to design meaningful products, and to increase access of services to communities with low resources and low access.
Through her work, she has had the amazing opportunity to immerse herself in different cultures and communities and collaborate with individuals with diverse expertise of different backgrounds.
Sharon is the Product Design Lead at Paystack where she oversees design efforts by the teams. She has served in many capacities in the past including Senior UX Designer & UX Chapter Lead, Sendy Ltd., Senior Designer and Design Manager, Nairobi Design Institute, as well as Design Fellow, Dalberg amongst other roles.
6. Hadeel Ahmed Mohyi (Egypt)
Hadeel is a versatile Product Designer from Egypt. She has spent over seven years working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in Website, Web Application, and Mobile Application Design, she is a strong information technology professional with a Master’s Degree focused in Industrial and Product Design from Helwan University, Cairo.
Hadeel also bagged a first degree in Design and Applied Arts from the same university. She is the Product Design Lead, Intercom Enterprises, where she oversees the company’s design efforts and leads the team to excellence in practice, production, and execution with attention to corporate and functional strategies as well as design vision.
Her previous roles include Product Designer Lead, Cornet Elevated, Senior UI/UX Designer, Origin Technology Solution, amongst others.
7. John Doddy (Kenya)
John has been described as a very talented designer who has a great understanding of human centred design. He is very talented in both research and design and has a good grasp of the end to end design process.
He is a Product Designer from Kenya, keen on leveraging technology and user-centered design to create impactful experiences and products.
Currently the Product Design Lead at Interswitch Kenya, he has worked in various industries including financial technology, talent development, and education management.
John Doddy has worked as UX Design Fellow, The Room and UX Design Apprentice at ALX.
He has also volunteered as a Learning Community Ambassador with Andela where he supported aspiring Software Developers on the Andela Learning Community program to find solutions to technical challenges that they encountered with their learning.
8. Precious Madubuike (Nigeria)
Precious Madubuike is a self taught Nigerian Product Designer who is obviously thriving in the industry. Currently working as a Product Designer at global tech giant, Meta, London, for almost two years, Precious has also served as a UX Designer at Booking.com in the Netherlands.
His other past roles include Lead UI/UX Designer, TechAdvance, Lead Product Designer, Helium Health, and others.
9. Chidinma Aniugbo (Nigeria)
Chidinma is a stellar Product Designer who has worked across the world.
She can be described as one who solves complex problems, drives measurable growth, and helps product teams achieve their goals. Recently, she led the design of a digital epidemiology network in Africa that’s improving disease surveillance and detection, and her work has had a significant impact on accurate COVID-19 testing.
In addition to public health, Dinma has designed best-in-class digital product experiences in financial services and education.
She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Chidinma currently is a product designer at Shopify, Germany. Her past roles include freelancing as a Product Designer at Toptal, Product Designer at Babbel and more.
On a part-time basis, She’s on Youtube creating content that would help newbie designers on their journey to becoming better.
She has also volunteered as a UX design mentor with DearDesigner, a mentorship program founded to bridge the experience gap within the design industry for young designers in Nigeria.
10. Adebimpe Adebowale (Nigeria)
Currently the Senior Product Designer, Stablehouse – a fintech company, Adebimpe is a UK-based Nigerian Product Designer with over five years experience. She has worked in more than 5 countries across the globe as a product designer and software engineer.
Adebimpe loves to design innovative products that solve problems, are impactful, and create delightful user experiences.
Her career started in front-end development and along the line, she picked up design. Over the last five years of professional experience, she has led design across various companies helping drive innovation at scale for companies & projects like AKQA X IBM, AKQA X Mayo Clinic, BMW Performance Centre, Runbuggy, Urbansitter, Indicina, and Bumpa.
Adebimpe is passionate about helping the world be a better place through user-centric digital experiences that are seamless to use and make living a lot less stressful. My design work focuses on usability, accessibility, and information architecture while keeping scale in mind.
She recently completed a Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction Design at the University of Leicester, graduating with distinction.
In her spare time, she mentors early-career designers through Designlab, providing guidance and advice as they navigate their UX design careers.
11. Mosope Adebowale (Nigeria)
Talk about an ambitious and adventurous person, that’s Mosope Adebowale. Currently a Product Designer at Meta, he is an experienced designer fascinated by the relationship between human interaction and technology.
Much of his work has been dedicated to designing better user experience onto products.
Mosope’s long-term goal is to make technology easy to use and accessible to everyone. His design journey started with graphics design, then transitioned into UI design and, finally, ‘the sweet spot that is UX design’ in his own words. He is excited by big ideas and brands that build products that enhance the human experience.
His past roles include User Experience Designer at KPMG Canada, Lead Designer, Andela, and also a freelance visual designer.
Mosope has a dream of visiting countries in the 7 continents of the world to better understand human culture and society.
12. Daniel Abayomi (Nigeria)
Daniel is a Nigerian Product Designer, Mentor, and Co-Founder of Growteq- a non-profit for teens and high school students to train them in tech through no-code roles.
His current role is that of Product Designer at Meta. He is invested in helping companies implement real solutions through product design..
The Lagos-based product designer with years of design experience, and 3 years of experience as a Frontend Engineer, has worked on a variety of products ranging from small non-profits to large tech companies with ambitious goals.
He has vast experience in Fintech, Healthcare, Hospitality, Blockchain, Education, and Automobile Industries. He has a unique talent for seeing the big picture potential in a product or brand and then bringing it to life.
In the past, he has worked as Design and Product Lead, Brass, freelance Product Designer at Toptal, amongst others.
13. Kweku Bennin (South Africa)
Kweku Bennin is a South African UI Designer currently serving as the Lead User Interface Designer, Xneelo (PTY) Ltd.
He is a multi-skilled digital designer with 10 years experience working within the Digital space, creating beautiful, intuitive, and functional user interfaces for brands both large and small.
Kweku has a passion for digital products and particularly thrives from all things that make for wonderful web experiences. Having a keen eye and proficient hand for UI as well as great UX understanding, and being well-versed in both design and code, his experience in production enables him to handle projects right through to implementation.
He has been described as a brilliant creative, confident, fun to work with and whip smart.
He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree, Graphic Design from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design.
His past roles include Senior UI Designer at Xneelo, UI Designer at TotallyMoney, Product Designer at Supernova, as well as other roles.
14. Davie Mwangi (Rwanda)
Davie is a Senior Product Designer, KOKO Networks whose goal is to help teams build meaningful and engaging experiences for people.
With over 10 years of design experience working across East Africa on various high-impact projects that seek to improve the way of life for people through Human-Centred Design, she is setting the bar for product designers across the continent.
She has a Diploma in Web Design and Development from Nairobits Digital Design School.
Davie has previously worked in Bank of Kigali, Rwanda as Design Lead and Product Owner, Kytabu Nairobi as Design lead, and she also founded Tumbili, an online shop specialising in high quality children’s toys where she designed and developed the e-commerce website, branding and publicity collateral before she shut it down.
She has a good number of certifications and licences in design, and has been described as very creative, hands-on, organised, and is always open to discuss ideas and suggestions.
15. Samuel Allotey (Ghana)
Samuel is a skilled Product Designer, and Podcaster who won the Artpreciate UI/UX Designer of the year 2022 award.
He currently serves as the Senior Product Designer at SecondSTAX.
With over four years of experience, he has designed products ranging from Forex apps, and shopping platforms, to messaging widgets. He has worked in the fintech, e-commerce, and recruiting industries so far and is also looking to explore new industries and take on new challenges.
Having worked in multiple startups over the years, he is able to own the end-to-end process of designing a product from concept right into the launch and after.
He is a teamplayer and always works with his product managers and engineers to allow clear communication of ideas and ensure everyone on the team is in sync with the work that needs to be done.
When Samuel is not designing, he usually likes to mentor other UX Designers. He also co-hosts a design podcast where he talks about design topics with three other co-hosts.
In the past, Samuel has worked as a Product Designer at Andela, Product Designer at Factory Fix, UX Designer at Hubtel, to mention a few.
In conclusion, these top 15 exceptional User Experience (UX) and Product Designers in Africa have proven their exceptional skills and expertise in creating innovative designs that meet the needs of users.
Their works have contributed to the growth and development of the tech industry in Africa and are a source of inspiration to young designers.
These designers continue to push the boundaries and set new standards in the field of product design and user experience design. It is exciting to see what they will come up with next and how they will further shape the future of technology in Africa.
