Dean Broadley, head of product design at Yoco, an African technology company, talks to TechCentral in this podcast interview about why and how the firm has deliberately not painted all customers with the same brush, but rather built relationships and maintained trust as an open commerce ecosystem for small businesses.

“Our core customers are a diverse and fluid group of people, and to truly serve them we need to think about all the tools and services they might need in their unique circumstances,” says Broadley. “Our vision, therefore, is to be a multi-product business – a complete payments experience – to help our customers not just accept payments, but manage and grow their businesses.”

Broadley has spent his career working hard to connect experiences in the physical, digital and career spaces, and finds great value in leaving things more “human” than he found them. He firmly believes if we build the humans, then the products will follow.

The design thought process requires a curious mindset and a fascination to unpack the problem before looking at creating a solution. It is this empathetic nature that is reflected in the values of Yoco, in its approach to product design, and in its growing team of ambitious and talented people.

Broadley also talks in the podcast about how through “open commerce” and by creating a coherent experience for existing and new users, everyone thrives.

“The past six months at Yoco have been very busy, we’ve grown immensely in lots of ways. We have a remote team that spans across the Middle East and Africa with a strong tech and engineering team, which is helping us towards our vision,” he says.