Terms of Reference UI/UX Designer (Individual Consultant)

The consultant will assess user interactions across digital platforms and provide actionable recommendations for improving user experience. They will conduct UX and UI analysis, engage with stakeholders, and produce a comprehensive report with prioritized recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Conduct a thorough assessment of the current UX design, identifying usability challenges and opportunities for improvement.
• Engage with stakeholders, service delivery partners, and target audiences through focus groups, interviews, and surveys to understand user needs and operational realities.
• Conduct concept and usability testing in the field with users to validate research findings during and after prototype development.
• Analyse and document platform and service data to optimize and enhance user experience and product engagement.
• Develop a detailed report with actionable recommendations for UX improvements and enhancements to stakeholders and developers.
• Utilize the insights from the UX analysis to redesign and enhance the visual appearance of the platform's user interface.
• Review existing UI components to determine usability challenges and recommend UI improvements.
• Develop wireframes, interactive prototypes, and mockups to illustrate proposed UI changes.
• Implement modern design principles, including responsiveness, consistency, accessibility, and inclusivity.
• Conduct a full mapping of the Big Sis chatbot, documenting user flows, decision points, impact pathways, and operator handovers.
• Identify drop-off points and friction areas, and highlight opportunities for improved user support.
• Provide visual and written representations for stakeholders.
• Produce a comprehensive diagnostic report summarising UX and UI findings, friction points, and systemic challenges.
• Include prioritized, actionable recommendations for platform improvements, onboarding, impact flows, service directory usability, and operator support.
• Provide supporting visuals, including journey maps, diagrams, annotated screenshots, and flow charts.
• Work closely with the Digital Delivery Specialist to ensure alignment, operational feasibility, and translation of findings into actionable plans.
• Engage with internal teams, external partners, and chat operators to validate findings and co-create recommendations.
• Ensure all insights and recommendations are sensitive to local context, youth realities, and ethical considerations.

Requirements

• Based in South Africa, able to attend occasional in-person sessions in Johannesburg or Cape Town.
• Excellent verbal and written skills in English, proficiency in at least one other official South African language is a plus.
• 4+ years in design consultancy or a similar role, working with multidisciplinary teams.
• Solid experience in Human-Centred Design, from research and synthesis through ideation, prototyping, and testing.
• Skilled in Service Design, UX, and UI, and comfortable with tools like Figma, InVision, Miro, etc.
• Solution-focused and adaptable, willing to step outside your core discipline to find the right design solution.
• Creative, culturally aware, and resourceful — able to navigate complexity and find practical ways forward.
• Strong communicator, able to explain ideas clearly and engage both colleagues and young people in a friendly, relatable way.
• Experience with websites, applications, chatbots and conversational interfaces.
• Demonstrable experience making data-driven recommendations

Key Skills

• Human-Centred Design
• Service Design
• UX
• UI
• Figma
• InVision
• Miro
• Websites
• Applications
• Chatbots
• Conversational interfaces
• Data-driven recommendations