As part of the ongoing Product Innovation Lab, powered by the Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Finance initiative of Lagos Business School and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a key milestone has been the completion of fieldwork research and user engagement by a cohort of female product designers. This hands-on phase was not just an academic requirement—it was a transformational experience aimed at answering two critical questions: What does success look like? and What do we want to learn?
This year’s cohort features women-led or women-focused digital finance teams from Regixta, HERconomy, Iyewo, Ploutus Page, FCMB (SheVentures), and First Bank (FirstGem). These innovators are united by a common goal: building financial solutions that meet the needs of underserved and financially excluded women across Nigeria.
According to EFInA’s 2023 Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey, while 74% of Nigerian adults now have access to financial services, women continue to lag behind men in financial inclusion by 8 percentage points. Barriers include cultural norms, limited access to digital tools, and lack of trust in formal institutions. The Product Innovation Lab was designed to close this gap by equipping female product innovators with the tools to listen deeply, engage empathetically, and build for real-world needs.
Through immersive fieldwork—ranging from user interviews in urban and peri-urban markets to digital usage monitoring—the cohort uncovered pain points and behavioral patterns that traditional product development cycles often overlook. For instance, participants learned that women entrepreneurs prioritize flexible repayment structures, transparent terms, and mobile-first access to loans, especially in informal markets where cash remains dominant.
The feedback gathered will guide the redesign of user journeys, enhance trust-building mechanisms, and inform new feature rollouts tailored to the realities of everyday Nigerian women. These insights also feed directly into the broader goals of Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Finance, which emphasize gender equity, financial resilience, and the responsible use of data in product design.
Ultimately, success looks like financial tools that not only work but work well for the people they’re designed to serve. And that means never building in isolation, but with constant, meaningful engagement from users themselves.
