How I designed the first and largest mental health solution for Africans — from zero to launch in 8 weeks, then scaled to 12,000 users and $200k in funding.
Nguvu Health was founded in May 2020, during the global surge in COVID-19 cases — a moment that brought mental health to the surface across Africa while simultaneously removing in-person access. I was brought in with a specific brief: make therapy affordable and accessible to Africans, both in Africa and in the Diaspora, and deliver the Android and iOS designs to the engineering team in 8 weeks.
I led the design of the first two versions of the app, collaborating with software engineers, therapists, product marketers, and content developers. In 2022, I became Product Lead and grew the design and product team to five members.
To understand where mental health sits in human existence, I explored Maslow's hierarchy of needs — which became a genuine product strategy framework, not just background reading. Mental health is interwoven across all levels.
Beyond the framework, I spoke with several Africans directly. Three recurring themes emerged:
Therapy is viewed as a luxury. Many in the target demographic cannot access it at market rate.
Many hesitate to visit a therapist's office for fear of being seen as "mad" by their community.
Most people are unaware of various mental health issues and the ways they can seek help.
"I have serious anxiety but COVID-19 restrictions meant I would stop seeing my therapist in-person. I couldn't digitally document my thoughts or share my feelings with people."
I also conducted a competitive analysis of existing apps. The consistent finding: they were too expensive for Africans and had no cultural fit. Other gaps included lack of appointment scheduling, excessive focus on coaching over therapy, and designs built for meditation rather than therapeutic support.
Break down therapy payments by session type (chat, video) and session length. Make cost a choice, not a barrier.
Create a safe space where users can share openly, feel secure, and support one another anonymously.
Most users are unaware of their mental health issues. The product must educate, not just treat.
Develop tools offering emotional security and reducing anxiety. Privacy is non-negotiable.
Top-user-benefit model to demonstrate value upfront. Social login or email. PIN security on every login to protect conversations from intrusion — directly addressing the security need surfaced in research.
Users didn't want to read long articles. Working with our lead therapist, I designed a free assessment quiz that educates users about their mental health and funnels them toward paid sessions. 15% of quiz completers booked a paid session — a direct conversion win.
The Rant Room mirrors social media but with safety first: anonymous posting, topic filters, restricted comments. The diary supports audio and text. The mood tracker builds daily patterns over time. All three came from the community and self-fulfilment needs.
Therapy priced by session type (chat via Firebase, video via Agora) and length — not a flat subscription. Therapists set availability, users choose. Bookings synced to Google and Apple calendars with push notifications to reduce no-shows.
Built all components from scratch and documented the full system, naming it Feelings. As more designers joined, my role shifted to maintaining and evolving this system across the growing team.
80% of testers didn't want to read long articles. Replaced with the free quiz — which became one of the product's strongest conversion tools.
Testers defaulted to choosing the first therapist in a carousel. Switched to list view with expanded profiles so users could make an informed choice.
A participant asked how they'd remember bookings. Built Google and Apple calendar sync with push notifications and email reminders into the booking flow.
"Designing for underserved contexts demands you earn trust before you ask for anything. The security and community features weren't nice-to-haves — they were the product."