Tech Trivia with Cindy Shontan, Product Design Specialist

Being a female tech enthusiast can require building products but also designing solutions that shape how people learn, work, and thrive. For independent product designers like Cindy Shontan, leveraging tech tools has propelled her to solve real-world challenges and drive meaningful impact across communities.

Cindy has over five years of experience designing digital products for schools, governments, and families across Africa and has built a career at the intersection of innovation, education, and social impact, proving that thoughtful design can transform lives.

She has spent three years as the Lead Product Designer at Edves, one of Africa’s fastest-growing EdTech platforms, where she designed everything from AI-powered teacher tools to government education portals used by Nigerian state ministries. 

Outside of her day job, she mentors emerging female designers, speaks at tech conferences, and wrote The Solo Designer’s Survival Kit, a practical guide for designers navigating solo roles in resource-constrained environments. She studied Biochemistry at OAU and Computer Science at UNILAG before finding her way into design.

1. Summarise your mornings in one sentence

Usually, my mornings start slowly. I take out a few minutes to meditate before plunging into other activities. 

2. Describe your gadget setup

My gadget setup is pretty much minimalistic and simple. I work from my home office most of the time, but on some days, just anywhere in my home that I feel comfortable.

I have my laptop, notepad, and phone on my desk. And, sometimes, I have something to drink and eat on the side. 

3. What tech tools/ applications do you use the most for work?

Figma is where I live. Notion for organising my thoughts. Google Meet and Zoom for calls. I sometimes use Claude for a second opinion when I am stuck.

4. What do you do when you need inspiration?

Usually, I step away from the screen completely. I take a nap most times, or do something entirely different (watch YouTube videos), and these work for me 100%. Most of my best ideas come when I stop forcing them. 

5. What mobile application can you not do without daily?

YouTube (I love to learn new things and experiences). 

6. What tech solution do you wish someone had created?

An AI tool that helps African teachers track individual student learning gaps in real time, not just test scores, but the specific concepts each child is struggling with, and then suggests exactly what to teach next. 

7. If you have unlimited time and money, what problem would you solve?

I would fix how public schools in Nigeria are managed administratively. Teachers spend so much time on paperwork, registers, report cards and bureaucratic processes that eat into actual teaching time. 

I would digitise all of it in a way that is simple enough for any teacher to use on a basic Android phone with intermittent internet. I saw the possibility of what that could look like through the Enugu State government portal I designed, but there is so much more to do. 

8. Which woman in tech inspires you the most?

Ada Nduka Oyom. She built She Code Africa into a community of over 30,000 women across the continent, not because she had the resources to do it easily, but because she decided it needed to exist. That kind of stubborn, community-first vision is something I think about a lot. 

9. Which profound statement inspires you the most?

It is, “Done is better than perfect”. I’ve had to remind myself of this countless times, especially in moments where fear, overthinking, or pressure made the situation start feeling harder than it really was. 

10. Whose women in tech trivia would you love to read?

That will be Odun Eweniyi, co-founder of PiggyVest. She is building real financial infrastructure for everyday Nigerians, and she is helping to create a better culture of saving and investing. Her journey, leadership, and impact deserve far more visibility and conversation.

Read also: Tech Trivia with Oluwaseun Oladeji, Community Associate at She Code Africa