Ifeoluwasimi Olusola is an experienced product designer specialising in creating user-centred solutions in the edtech industry. She has led impactful design projects at Hotels.ng, uLesson and Miva Open University, where her work has centred on improving learning accessibility and driving innovation. Beyond her professional projects, she is a passionate advocate for design excellence, actively mentoring upcoming designers and sharing insights on UX, UI, and career development. In this interview, she discusses how her experiences across different organisations have shaped her approach to product design, the challenges of creating inclusive solutions in diverse contexts, and her vision for building meaningful learning experiences.

You have worked across different organisations in the education technology space. How has each role shaped your approach to product design and decision-making?

I’ve had the opportunity to work with a wide range of users in the education technology space, from K–12 learners, university students and educators. Each role showed me that the foundation for any successful product is understanding the needs, behaviours and motivations of your users. Once that is established, product and design decisions are made based on that understanding.

What are the biggest challenges designers face when creating solutions for learners in diverse social and economic contexts?

One of the biggest challenges is making sure that products work for learners regardless of their background and resources. For example, a student in a city with stable internet and a new device will experience the product very differently from someone in a rural area with limited connectivity and shared access to a phone. As a designer, you have to answer the question: how do we create engaging learning experiences while also keeping them adaptable to different contexts? It pushes you to strip away unnecessary complexity and focus on what delivers the most value to the learner.

Accessibility is often highlighted in education technology. What practical steps do you take as a designer to ensure that products truly serve learners with different needs?

Accessibility is about making sure every learner can actually use and benefit from the product. I design with flexibility in mind, offering options like text, audio, video, captions, and clear navigation, so learners can engage in ways that work best for them. I also make it a point to test with different users to get insights to improve the experience.

Many designers struggle to connect design strategy with organisational goals. How do you bridge that gap in your own work?

I try to bridge that gap by firstly understanding the organisation’s goals, whether it’s growth, retention, or expanding into new markets and then aligning the design strategy to those goals. For example, at uLesson, downloads were tied directly to improving user retention. Once you frame design decisions in terms of business impact, it becomes easier to ensure that the product is delivering value for both the users and the organisation.

Collaboration is central to product design. How do you manage alignment with engineers, researchers, and educators while still protecting the integrity of the user experience?

For me, collaboration starts with making sure that all stakeholders are aligned on the problem we’re solving and why it matters. Once that is clear, it’s easier to have open discussions about trade-offs without losing sight of the user. For example, I’ll work closely with engineers to find lightweight ways to implement a feature, and with educators to ensure the content is pedagogically sound, while still advocating for usability. It’s about creating a shared vision, so even when we need to compromise, the user experience is still sound.

You mentor upcoming designers and share knowledge about career development. What gaps do you see in how new designers are trained, and how can they be better prepared for the industry?

One gap I see a lot is that new designers focus on visuals and tools at the expense of problem-solving and business context. As designers, we not only need to make screens look good, but also to understand users, define problems clearly, and connect design to measurable outcomes. I think design training should also place emphasis on research, strategy, and collaboration. When upcoming designers learn to ask the right questions and tie their work to impact, they’re much better prepared for real-world challenges.

Looking back on your career so far, what design project has taught you the most, and what lessons from that experience do you carry into your current work?

My time at Miva has been a defining experience. Designing for an online university comes with a lot of complexity, balancing regulatory requirements and a very diverse student base. It has taught me the importance of scalability in design, because what works for a small pilot might not hold up when thousands of learners come on board. It has also reinforced the need to collaborate closely with non-design stakeholders, since decisions around curriculum and compliance have a direct impact on the product. These lessons will continue to shape how I approach every project moving forward.

Education is often influenced by cultural and local contexts. How do you adapt global design standards to ensure solutions are meaningful within African learning environments?

I’ve found that while global design standards give you a solid foundation, they have to be adapted to African realities. For example, a feature that assumes constant high-speed internet might work well elsewhere but fails in areas with unstable connectivity. At uLesson, for instance, we had to localise content to align with local school systems as we expanded into new countries to make the experience relevant to users. We need to blend global best practices with local realities so our product actually works for the learners it’s meant to serve.

The design field itself is evolving rapidly. What practices or principles help you stay grounded while adapting to new tools, methods, and industry shifts?

What keeps me grounded is focusing on core product and design principles, like solving user problems and making sure every decision ties back to impact. Tools and methods will evolve, but the fundamentals will remain constant. Keeping that perspective helps me adapt to industry shifts without losing sight of what really matters: the user and the value the product delivers.