OPAL Anticipatory Action
Anticipatory flood response platform designed to deliver early cash transfers
Overview
At Data-Pop Alliance, I'm currently working on OPAL, a Mercy Corps initiative developing a data-driven anticipatory flood response platform for Senegal. My role combined UX/UI design, systems mapping, and humanitarian innovation to connect predictive flood models, smart contracts, and multilingual alerts into a cohesive, human-centered system.
I helped translate complex workflows—from AI-powered forecasting and geospatial mapping (via Google Earth Engine and WASDI) to automated mobile money disbursements—into intuitive tools accessible to decision-makers, NGOs, and field staff with varying levels of technical literacy.
Approach
I play a key role in introducing and defining how smart contracts fit into OPAL’s architecture, mapping the flow from predictive models to automatic trigger activation, fund disbursement, and early alerts to households.
I designed and structured the platform around user needs and technical constraints, identifying which processes should be visible, automated, or handled through API integrations such as mobile money operators.
My focus was on achieving cognitive simplicity under high-stress conditions, ensuring the platform worked effectively in low-connectivity environments while maintaining clarity and trust for both experts and local users
Beyond design execution, I contributed strategically to aligning OPAL’s technology stack and user flows with Mercy Corps’ goals of anticipatory action and financial inclusion. This involved designing scenarios for early cash transfers triggered by smart contracts, integrating community feedback loops through Jokalante, and structuring the system’s ontology—the relationships between datasets, alerts, beneficiaries, and events—into usable dashboards and chatbot interactions.
Acting as a bridge between data engineers, humanitarian actors, and field users, I ensured the technology remained both scalable and empathetic. The resulting prototype marked a key step in moving humanitarian response from reactive aid to proactive, data-informed action, with potential for adaptation across other climate-vulnerable regions
