Monthati Tshwagong
Designing better products, services and systems through research, strategy and human-centred design.
Based in South Africa, working across digital health, public services and social impact, I move between big-picture systems thinking and the details of individual experiences, combining analytical rigour with a hands-on approach to design.
Education
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BA Digital Media Design
UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESABURG
Focus: UX & Interaction design specialisation
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PGDip Business Management
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH WEST
Focus: Business Management & Administration
Experience
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Product & Service Designer
The Aurum Institute • 1 year
Designed workflows, task flows and mobile-first interfaces for South Africa’s national drug-resistant TB surveillance platform.
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Customer Experience Specialist & Audit Lead
The Unlimited • 8 months
Built a customer experience audit system and led service improvements that increased online ratings by 27%+.
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Business & Service Design Senior Analyst
Accenture Song • 2.5 years
Delivered business, service and digital experience design across public, nonprofit, financial services, telecommunications and energy sectors.
Current Engagements
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Sept 2026- Present
Knowledge Management Technical Advisor
UNICEF- Depatment of Education
Auditing and redesigning the ECD digital information ecosystem, including user journeys, platform experience and information architecture.
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Feb 2026- Present
Service Design Technical Advisor
Genesis Analytics
Supporting national digital health integration, digital government service design and youth-focused digital health experiences as PMO, Product & Service design, and Conversation Design & Creative, respectively
Education
Experience
Activities
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MA Anhropology
UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND
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BA (Hons) Anthropology
UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND
Honours with Distinction
Golden Key International Honour Society
Certificate of First Class x 7
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Research Assosiate
Palaver Instiure • 2026
Served as a brief Research Associate in early 2026.
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Research Assosiate & Tutor
UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND • Feb 2023- Present
Facilitated and tutored specific, writing-intensive anthropology modules including Embodied Relations, Lifeworlds of the City, Practices of Identification, and The Anthropology of Food
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Research Fellow
Mellon Foundation
Awarded a Research Fellowship and participated in the Mellon Foundation Pipeline Development Program.
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Johannesburg Urban Crisis Seminar Presenttion
Public Affair Research Institute
Presented reseacrch- "The 'Forefathers' of Braamfontein and Fashioning Black Masculinity" exploring how umswenko (style/elegance) shapes cool Black masculinity, dignity, and community identity.
Decoding complex human behaviours and cultural shifts through rigorous, human-centred qualitative research.
Mpho Morare
Research Assistant
Grounding design strategy in human reality by embedding immersive, qualitative methodology into the creative process. I transform raw ethnographic observation into clear, actionable frameworks, helping teams understand the underlying social values and motivations driving human interaction.
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