Client
Warri Kingdom
Overview
The Itsekiri people are spread across the world, from Warri to London and Houston. Staying connected to home usually means jumping between noisy WhatsApp groups, unofficial social pages, and word-of-mouth news. I worked on iamitsekiri to give the kingdom a single, trusted digital home. I designed the mobile experience to pull together verified announcements from the Palace, local community feeds (Aja), citizen issue reporting, and an SME marketplace for local traders.
Client
Warri Kingdom
Industry
Social Media
Service
Mobile App Design
UX Strategy
Design System
Duration
3-4 Months
The Challenge
How might we create a secure digital hub that preserves cultural trust, empowers local trade, and engages a global diaspora without excluding guest visitors or overwhelming local administrators? Cultural and economic interactions were split across informal, unverified channels, creating friction on multiple fronts: • No Single Source of Truth: The diaspora lacked an official channel to verify Palace announcements, leading to misinformation and fragmented community news. • Isolated Local Commerce: Local artisans and traders in Warri had no direct marketplace to reach buyers at home or abroad. • Administrative Overhead & Access Barriers: Community leadership had no centralized platform to manage civic requests, while potential visitors faced friction trying to explore cultural updates without creating a full account.
The Solution
A Unified Digital Ecosystem & Admin Hub I designed a multi-tiered platform combining an intuitive mobile app with a central web admin portal. The desktop dashboard gives Palace administrators a centralized operational tool to publish verified announcements, review citizen reports, and moderate marketplace listings in real time.
Dual-Tier Mobile Experience (Verified Citizens vs. Guest Access)
To eliminate onboarding barriers while preserving community trust, I created two tailored mobile user flows:
Frictionless Guest Access: Allows tourists and non-registered visitors to instantly explore Palace history, cultural archives, and public event schedules without forcing account creation.
Verified Citizen Portal: Secure profile onboarding for registered members, unlocking verified Palace broadcasts, civic voting, and direct citizen feedback loops to report local infrastructure issues to leadership.
Civic Tools, Events & Diaspora Commerce
To drive active civic engagement and global economic connection, I built dedicated tools for community action and trade:
Interactive Event Management & RSVPs: A unified calendar for kingdom events, cultural festivals, and community gatherings with direct RSVP flows and event updates.
Geotagged Civic Reporting: A structured workflow for verified residents to submit local infrastructure needs directly to leadership with photo proof and location data.
Global Trade Pipeline: Integrated payment and shipping workflows connecting local Warri artisans directly with international buyers across the global diaspora.
The Result
By building a dedicated digital OS, I turned a fragmented network of informal channels into a connected community hub that unites Itsekiri people anywhere in the world, whether in Warri, London, or Houston. The multi-tier architecture provided Palace administrators with a structured dashboard to govern broadcasts, gave local artisans direct access to global trade, and offered both verified citizens and guest visitors a secure, seamless way to engage with the culture.
