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Eco-Addis Mobile — Super App for Addis Ababa
Title
Eco-Addis — A super-app for e-commerce, food delivery and ride-hailing in Addis Ababa
My Role
Lead UX/UI Designer
Team
1 Product Manager, 1 UI Designer, 1 UX Researcher, 2 Developers
Timeline
5 Months
Project Type
Personal / Client
Tools Used
Figma, FigJam, Google Forms, Maze
Problem Statement
Addis Ababa's rapidly growing urban population faces fragmented digital commerce experiences — separate apps for shopping, food delivery, and transportation. Vendors lack affordable digital storefronts, while consumers juggle multiple platforms with inconsistent UX. Eco-Addis was designed to solve this with a single, unified super-app ecosystem tailored specifically to Addis Ababa's urban lifestyle — supporting Ethiopian Birr (ETB), Amharic context, and local business categories.
Users & Pain Points
Who are the users?
Urban Addis Ababa residents aged 18–40 — students, professionals, and small business owners who are mobile-first consumers.
What are their goals?
Shop for products, food, and services in one place|Find nearby restaurants and get food delivered quickly|Order affordable rides without switching apps|Sell products or run a vendor shop digitally|Discover local businesses through video and stories
Pain points
•
No single app serving e-commerce, food delivery, and rides in the Ethiopian market|Existing global apps (Jumia, Uber) lack local language support and local business inventory|Small vendors have no accessible digital storefront|Currency and payment flows are not localized (no ETB, no local delivery logic)|Distrust of complicated onboarding — users drop off before first purchase
•
Disputes over draw fairness — no verifiable random selection
•
No single place to view contribution history, remaining rounds, or upcoming draws
•
Organizers overwhelmed managing payments and member communications manually
•
No formal way to submit a cancellation or special request
No single app serving e-commerce, food delivery, and rides in the Ethiopian market|Existing global apps (Jumia, Uber) lack local language support and local business inventory|Small vendors have no accessible digital storefront|Currency and payment flows are not localized (no ETB, no local delivery logic)|Distrust of complicated onboarding — users drop off before first purchase
"I want to see my payment history and the draw results in one place — not scroll through a WhatsApp group."
Process & Methods
Goals
Understand how Addis Ababa residents currently shop, eat, and travel — and where digital tools fail them
Methods
•
User interviews with Addis residents across income groups|Competitor analysis: Jumia Ethiopia, ride apps, informal WhatsApp commerce|Card sorting to determine navigation structure for a multi-service app|Contextual inquiry at local markets and food spots (Bole, Saris, Merkato)
Key Findings & Insights
Users strongly prefer a single app over switching — super-app model validated|ETB pricing and Amharic map labels are trust signals, not just nice-to-haves|Flash deals and time-limited offers drive impulse purchases in food delivery|Vendors want easy onboarding — category/subcategory industry selection must be simple|Social features (stories, video Watch tab) increase time-in-app and discovery|Ride-hailing users want saved frequent destinations and trip history at a glance
Final Solution
→
A clean locally-rooted mobile super-app with five core verticals: Market Place (product discovery, vendor shops, wishlist, reviews, flash deals); Food Delivery (restaurant pages, special offers, basket, checkout, order tracking); Eco Ride (map-based ride ordering, delivery mode, trip history, Eco Miles loyalty); Watch (vertical video feed for business promotion and discovery); and Me (user profile, my products, wallet, shop management, referrals). Design uses amber/golden yellow primary, dark navy secondary, ETB currency throughout, and real Addis Ababa addresses and Amharic map context.
Impact / Results
•
Onboarding completion rate target: >80%|Time to first order target: <3 minutes|Task success rate (find and add item to cart) target: >90%|Vendor registration completion target: >70%|SUS Score target: >80
Lessons Learned
Designing a super-app requires ruthless information architecture — the hardest challenge was keeping five product verticals discoverable without overwhelming the home screen|Localization is a UX feature not an afterthought — real Addis Ababa streets, ETB pricing, and Ethiopian food context in banners built immediate trust|Social commerce is underutilized in African markets — the Watch tab and Stories features were strong discovery and retention mechanisms|Vendors are users too — the vendor registration and boost flows needed as much design care as the consumer-facing shopping experience
© 2026 Nahom Girma. Designed & Hosted with 🦾 on
Live Preview (Coming Soon)
Eco-Addis Mobile — Super App for Addis Ababa
Title
Eco-Addis — A super-app for e-commerce, food delivery and ride-hailing in Addis Ababa
My Role
Lead UX/UI Designer
Team
1 Product Manager, 1 UI Designer, 1 UX Researcher, 2 Developers
Timeline
5 Months
Project Type
Personal / Client
Tools Used
Figma, FigJam, Google Forms, Maze
Problem Statement
Addis Ababa's rapidly growing urban population faces fragmented digital commerce experiences — separate apps for shopping, food delivery, and transportation. Vendors lack affordable digital storefronts, while consumers juggle multiple platforms with inconsistent UX. Eco-Addis was designed to solve this with a single, unified super-app ecosystem tailored specifically to Addis Ababa's urban lifestyle — supporting Ethiopian Birr (ETB), Amharic context, and local business categories.
Users & Pain Points
Who are the users?
Urban Addis Ababa residents aged 18–40 — students, professionals, and small business owners who are mobile-first consumers.
What are their goals?
Shop for products, food, and services in one place|Find nearby restaurants and get food delivered quickly|Order affordable rides without switching apps|Sell products or run a vendor shop digitally|Discover local businesses through video and stories
Pain points
•
No single app serving e-commerce, food delivery, and rides in the Ethiopian market|Existing global apps (Jumia, Uber) lack local language support and local business inventory|Small vendors have no accessible digital storefront|Currency and payment flows are not localized (no ETB, no local delivery logic)|Distrust of complicated onboarding — users drop off before first purchase
•
Disputes over draw fairness — no verifiable random selection
•
No single place to view contribution history, remaining rounds, or upcoming draws
•
Organizers overwhelmed managing payments and member communications manually
•
No formal way to submit a cancellation or special request
No single app serving e-commerce, food delivery, and rides in the Ethiopian market|Existing global apps (Jumia, Uber) lack local language support and local business inventory|Small vendors have no accessible digital storefront|Currency and payment flows are not localized (no ETB, no local delivery logic)|Distrust of complicated onboarding — users drop off before first purchase
"I want to see my payment history and the draw results in one place — not scroll through a WhatsApp group."
Process & Methods
Goals
Understand how Addis Ababa residents currently shop, eat, and travel — and where digital tools fail them
Methods
•
User interviews with Addis residents across income groups|Competitor analysis: Jumia Ethiopia, ride apps, informal WhatsApp commerce|Card sorting to determine navigation structure for a multi-service app|Contextual inquiry at local markets and food spots (Bole, Saris, Merkato)
Key Findings & Insights
Users strongly prefer a single app over switching — super-app model validated|ETB pricing and Amharic map labels are trust signals, not just nice-to-haves|Flash deals and time-limited offers drive impulse purchases in food delivery|Vendors want easy onboarding — category/subcategory industry selection must be simple|Social features (stories, video Watch tab) increase time-in-app and discovery|Ride-hailing users want saved frequent destinations and trip history at a glance
Final Solution
→
A clean locally-rooted mobile super-app with five core verticals: Market Place (product discovery, vendor shops, wishlist, reviews, flash deals); Food Delivery (restaurant pages, special offers, basket, checkout, order tracking); Eco Ride (map-based ride ordering, delivery mode, trip history, Eco Miles loyalty); Watch (vertical video feed for business promotion and discovery); and Me (user profile, my products, wallet, shop management, referrals). Design uses amber/golden yellow primary, dark navy secondary, ETB currency throughout, and real Addis Ababa addresses and Amharic map context.
Impact / Results
•
Onboarding completion rate target: >80%|Time to first order target: <3 minutes|Task success rate (find and add item to cart) target: >90%|Vendor registration completion target: >70%|SUS Score target: >80
Lessons Learned
Designing a super-app requires ruthless information architecture — the hardest challenge was keeping five product verticals discoverable without overwhelming the home screen|Localization is a UX feature not an afterthought — real Addis Ababa streets, ETB pricing, and Ethiopian food context in banners built immediate trust|Social commerce is underutilized in African markets — the Watch tab and Stories features were strong discovery and retention mechanisms|Vendors are users too — the vendor registration and boost flows needed as much design care as the consumer-facing shopping experience
© 2026 Nahom Girma. Designed & Hosted with 🦾 on
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Melkam Guzo — Flight Booking App for Ethiopian Travelers
Title
Melkam Guzo (መልካም ጉዞ) — A flight booking app for Ethiopian travelers
My Role
Lead UX/UI Designer
Team
1 Product Manager, 1 UI Designer, 1 Backend Developer
Timeline
1 Month
Project Type
Personal / Client
Tools Used
Figma, FigJam, Google Forms, Maze
Problem Statement
Ethiopian travelers — particularly those flying out of Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD) — have no locally-built, Amharic-aware flight booking app. Global platforms like Skyscanner or Google Flights lack Ethiopian Birr pricing, Sheba Miles integration, or Amharic language support, creating friction for a fast-growing travelling class. Melkam Guzo (Amharic for 'Safe Journey') was designed to fill that gap: a flight discovery and booking app that feels built for Ethiopian travelers, not merely translated for them.
Users & Pain Points
Who are the users?
Three groups: Frequent flyers — business travelers based in Addis Ababa flying regionally and internationally; First-time international travelers — users navigating passport info, baggage rules, and seat selection for the first time; Diaspora travelers — Ethiopian residents abroad booking return trips home via international carriers.
What are their goals?
Find and compare flights from ADD in ETB without currency conversion confusion|Complete the full booking flow — seats, baggage, personal info, payment — in one app|Store travel card, Sheba Miles ID, and upcoming trips in one profile|Access support quickly if something goes wrong
Pain points
•
Existing global booking apps display prices in USD requiring mental conversion that erodes trust|No app natively supports Sheba Miles (Ethiopian Airlines' loyalty program) at booking time|Amharic-speaking users are underserved — language options rarely include Amharic|Seat selection and baggage add-ons are buried or missing entirely in most budget-market booking tools|Support is hard to reach — users want a direct call center number visible in-app
•
Disputes over draw fairness — no verifiable random selection
•
No single place to view contribution history, remaining rounds, or upcoming draws
•
Organizers overwhelmed managing payments and member communications manually
•
No formal way to submit a cancellation or special request
Existing global booking apps display prices in USD requiring mental conversion that erodes trust|No app natively supports Sheba Miles (Ethiopian Airlines' loyalty program) at booking time|Amharic-speaking users are underserved — language options rarely include Amharic|Seat selection and baggage add-ons are buried or missing entirely in most budget-market booking tools|Support is hard to reach — users want a direct call center number visible in-app
"I want to see my payment history and the draw results in one place — not scroll through a WhatsApp group."
Process & Methods
Goals
Understand how Ethiopian travelers currently book flights and identify where digital tools fail them end-to-end
Methods
•
User interviews with frequent and occasional flyers from Addis Ababa|Competitor analysis: Skyscanner, Ethiopian Airlines website, Booking.com, local travel agencies|Task analysis of the Ethiopian Airlines website booking flow (identified 12-step process as a major pain point)|Survey on language preference, payment method trust, and loyalty programme awareness
Key Findings & Insights
ETB pricing is table stakes — any other currency immediately signals not for me to local users|Sheba Miles ID is a trust signal — users who are members expect it recognized; including the field at booking validates the product's local relevance|Seat selection is a strong desire — especially for long-haul flights; users feel disrespected when it's unavailable|Facebook and Google SSO are preferred over email/password — reduces friction significantly for less tech-savvy users|Call center number in-app is critical — Ethiopian users prefer hybrid digital/human support; displaying Call Center 8100 builds confidence before purchase|Language switching between English and Amharic was a frequently requested feature even by English-literate users
Final Solution
→
A focused culturally-grounded flight booking app with 30+ screens across three core tabs: Explore (discover trending and top destinations, browse inspiration, initiate booking); Book (search flights by route/date, compare options with ETB pricing, complete full booking flow including seat selection, baggage, passport info with Sheba Miles ID, and payment); and Profile (manage personal info, payment cards, upcoming trips, language switcher, and support with Call Center 8100). Design system uses sky-blue/cloud aesthetic with amber CTAs and strong Amharic cultural identity throughout.
Impact / Results
•
Onboarding completion rate target: >80%|Time from search to booking confirmation target: <6 minutes|Task success (search flight + select seat + reach boarding pass) target: >85%|Sheba Miles field completion rate target: >60% among members|User satisfaction score target: >4.3/5|Language Amharic selection rate: tracked for localisation priority
Lessons Learned
A great aviation app is a cultural artifact — writing the app name in Ge'ez script on the splash screen was the single most-commented element in testing, building instant connection|Separating Explore from Book was the most impactful structural decision — inspiration and intent require different mental modes; conflating them caused hesitation while separating gave users clarity and confidence|The boarding pass is the emotional peak of the experience — investing design effort in treating it as a digital keepsake rather than a data dump turned a functional endpoint into a moment of delight|Loyalty programme integration is undervalued in emerging market apps — including the Sheba Miles ID field was low effort but high signal telling Ethiopian Airlines frequent flyers that this app understood them
© 2026 Nahom Girma. Designed & Hosted with 🦾 on