The Kandua Pro app was undergoing a redesign of its core job navigation system. The study focused on how service providers discover, differentiate, and manage various job types, specifically the new tabbed architecture separating Kandua jobs from Non-Kandua (private client) jobs.

The goal was to identify usability strengths and friction points that could impact adoption of critical features, and to produce insights that would inform product and design decisions across the team.

A usability test guide was developed covering four primary focus areas: navigation hierarchy and entry points, tabbed job architecture, the transition from toggles to filters, and mental model clarity around terminology.

• Pre-test interviews established participant background, trade type and existing Kandua usage habits
• Structured tasks were designed for two distinct user types: Insurance Pros and Marketplace Pros
• Tasks covered finding assigned jobs, filtering by partner, toggling job states and creating private Non-Kandua jobs
• Post-test interviews explored mental models, navigation feel, terminology confusion and unmet expectations
• Success was measured across navigation, entry point clarity, tab usage, filtering, terminology and task completion

Most service providers navigated the app's primary flows with little difficulty. However, a clear mental model mismatch emerged around Non-Kandua jobs. For many Pros, private client work typically begins with capturing customer details or sending a quote, not "creating a job." The app's entry point reflected the system's logic rather than the Pro's real-world process.

Several participants were unsure what kind of jobs the Upcoming Jobs section was showing. Marketplace Pros were unsure whether these were new opportunities or already-accepted jobs. Insurance Pros were uncertain whether jobs shown were newly assigned, accepted, or requiring urgent action. The abstract label created unnecessary friction on a screen where clarity should be immediate.

• Introduce lightweight onboarding and in-context education around Non-Kandua jobs through tooltips, contextual prompts and empty-state guidance
• Reframe the Non-Kandua tab visually so it reads as an interactive element rather than a section header
• Position the Pro app as a business-management tool, not just a Kandua job tool, by embedding private client workflows as a core part of the experience
• Add brief explainer text or tooltip guidance beneath the "Upcoming Jobs" header to clarify what types of jobs are shown
• Align terminology with the language Pros already use: assigned, accepted, scheduled and needs action

The goal was to understand how service providers currently approach quoting and invoicing, the mental models they use, and the challenges they face, so the team could design an intuitive quoting and invoicing experience that felt natural for any Pro to adopt.

The challenge going in was that workflows vary widely. Solo Pros tend to use pen and paper or simple tools, while team-based Pros use platforms like Sage, Excel, and QuickBooks. Understanding these differences was essential before designing a single unified solution.

Five in-depth interviews were conducted with team-based service providers across different trades. Sessions ran 45 to 60 minutes each and were structured across three phases: biography and context, problem exploration without priming on quoting, and a deep dive into quoting and invoicing workflows.

• Biography session established trade type, team size, job volume and customer profile
• Problem exploration surfaced day-to-day challenges in participants' own words, without leading them toward quoting
• Deep dive covered the full quoting and invoicing sequence, tools used, deposit practices, VAT and markup handling and what happens when things go wrong
• Cross-interview synthesis was used to identify patterns, gaps and design opportunities

Across all participants, the workflow followed a clear sequence: site visit, formal written quote, deposit request, work completion, invoice for remaining balance, and final payment. The distinction between a quote (provisional) and an invoice (final) was firm and consistent across all Pros.

Notably, no major pain points emerged around the quoting and invoicing tools themselves. Team-based Pros have already embedded systems that fit their workflows and expressed little need for an alternative. The real friction points were behavioural, not technical.

• Quote rejection is common due to price sensitivity, with clients using quotes to shop around with competitors
• Late payment is normalised and treated as a recurring risk that Pros manage through manual follow-up via WhatsApp, email and calls
• Deposit enforcement is inconsistent, with some clients resisting deposits and forcing Pros to negotiate terms before work can begin
• VAT application is inconsistent across Pros, with some building it into quotes and others adding it at the invoicing stage

Pros with teams are already invested in systems like Sage and QuickBooks. They will resist switching unless the new tool integrates easily, is at least as reliable, or offers clear time or cost savings. Initial resistance to digital tools was noted, pointing to a need for onboarding and training support built into any new product experience.

• Support a seamless quote-to-invoice conversion flow so Pros are not duplicating work across documents
• Build clear deposit request workflows into the product, including threshold-based prompts
• Include client-facing transparency features such as itemised line items and compliance notes to reduce quote disputes
• Design for the team-based approval flow where one person prepares, a manager reviews and then the quote is sent
• Next steps should include interviews with solo Pros in Cape Town and Johannesburg and gathering the homeowner perspective on receiving and responding to quotes

WR2 is an application designed to help users discover events in their city, tailored to their taste by integrating their Apple Music and Spotify preferences. The platform fills a clear gap in the South African event discovery market where personalisation is absent.

A competitive analysis of the top event platforms in South Africa was conducted, covering XCEED, Howler, and Quicket. The analysis identified a consistent gap across all three platforms.

• All three platforms allow ticket purchasing but none offer personalised event recommendations
• No platform connects to a user's streaming profile to understand their music taste
• The opportunity was clear: build a discovery layer driven by what users already listen to

The final UI features a dark, atmospheric design with "Popular in South Africa" and "Based on Your Preferences" event sections, a category filter system, individual event detail pages with ticketing, and a taste-profile view showing top artists and matched events by genre.