UX design for mobile-first, low-bandwidth markets

More than 80% of internet users in East Africa access the web exclusively on a smartphone. Many of those smartphones are mid-range Android devices on 3G or intermittent 4G connections.

Progressive enhancement, not graceful degradation

Design for the constrained baseline first. Core functionality must work without JavaScript. Enhancements layer in as the connection and device permit.

Offline-first data sync

For field applications — agriculture extension, healthcare, logistics — background sync with IndexedDB and service workers is not a nice-to-have. It is the product.

Image strategy

WebP with AVIF fallback, lazy loading, and blur-up placeholders add up to a dramatically better experience on a 3G handset. Next.js Image handles most of this automatically when configured correctly.

The 44px rule

Touch targets must be at least 44×44px. On a cracked screen — which describes a significant portion of devices in the field — smaller targets cause real errors.