Designing trust-first commerce for ethical diamonds.
Designing trust-first commerce for ethical diamonds.
End-to-end Experience Design
End-to-end Experience Design
01
Overview
Overview
Root Foundation isn’t a single product. It’s a connected ecosystem designed to make diamond origin, ownership, and impact easy to verify.
Each surface has a distinct job:
• Foundation builds legitimacy and accountability.
• Diamonds connects each stone to real people and places.
• Shop makes cost + impact tradeoffs visible at the point of purchase.
• Studios reinvests into skills, mentorship, and long-term local capacity.
My job was to design the system so these surfaces reinforce each other without collapsing into one “everything page.”
Root Foundation isn’t a single product. It’s a connected ecosystem designed to make diamond origin, ownership, and impact easy to verify.
Each surface has a distinct job:
• Foundation builds legitimacy and accountability.
• Diamonds connects each stone to real people and places.
• Shop makes cost + impact tradeoffs visible at the point of purchase.
• Studios reinvests into skills, mentorship, and long-term local capacity.
My job was to design the system so these surfaces reinforce each other without collapsing into one “everything page.”
Duration:
Duration:
2023 to Present (ongoing)
2023 to Present (ongoing)
Status:
Live (evolving)
Live (evolving)
My role:
My role:
Product Designer (embedded, key contributor)
Product Designer (embedded, key contributor)
Focus Areas:
Focus Areas:
Trust building, provenance storytelling, transparent pricing, ethical commerce, impact infrastructure
Trust building, provenance storytelling, transparent pricing, ethical commerce, impact infrastructure
ROOT ECOSYSTEM OVERVIEW
How Root connects Foundation → Diamonds → Shop → Studios into one trust system.
How Root connects Foundation → Diamonds → Shop → Studios into one
trust system.
Context &
Problem
Context & Problem
Context & Problem
Diamonds are sold as luxury objects, but the “where did this come from?” questions are usually hard to answer.
The problems we were solving:
Buyers can’t easily verify origin or who benefits.
The people behind extraction are invisible in the buying journey.
Traditional commerce design pushes urgency and conversion, which works against trust.
Impact” claims feel like marketing unless they’re traceable and specific.
Diamonds are sold as luxury objects, but the “where did this come from?” questions are usually hard to answer.
The problems we were solving:
Buyers can’t easily verify origin or who benefits.
The people behind extraction are invisible in the buying journey.
Traditional commerce design pushes urgency and conversion, which works against trust.
Impact” claims feel like marketing unless they’re traceable and specific.
Mining communities need visibility, safety, and fair value not anonymous extraction.
Mining communities need visibility, safety, and fair value not
anonymous extraction.
Mining communities need visibility, safety, and fair value not anonymous extraction.
MY ROLE &
CONSTRAINTS
MY ROLE & CONSTRAINTS
MY ROLE & CONSTRAINTS
This was a live, multi-designer effort. I was a key contributor responsible for core UX decisions and system coherence across surfaces, partnering closely with other designers, product, and engineering.
My contributions included:
Defining information structure across the ecosystem so Foundation, Diamonds, Shop, and Studios feel connected
Designing page level layouts and content structure for trust, provenance, and decision making moments
Clarifying complex concepts (ownership, origin, cost breakdown, impact) into scannable UI patterns
Supporting design QA and iteration across a live production site
Key constraints:
Multiple audiences (buyers, donors, partners, miners, community advocates)
Sensitive storytelling that must feel human, not promotional
Live platform constraints requiring iterative shipping instead of a clean slate redesign
Keeping consistency across very different surfaces (nonprofit, commerce, education)
This was a live, multi-designer effort. I was a key contributor responsible for core UX decisions and system coherence across surfaces, partnering closely with other designers, product, and engineering.
My contributions included:
Defining information structure across the ecosystem so Foundation, Diamonds, Shop, and Studios feel connected
Designing page level layouts and content structure for trust, provenance, and decision making moments
Clarifying complex concepts (ownership, origin, cost breakdown, impact) into scannable UI patterns
Supporting design QA and iteration across a live production site
Key constraints:
Multiple audiences (buyers, donors, partners, miners, community advocates)
Sensitive storytelling that must feel human, not promotional
Live platform constraints requiring iterative shipping instead of a clean slate redesign
Keeping consistency across very different surfaces (nonprofit, commerce, education)
Early-stage stakeholder mapping used to define trust order, ethical constraints, and system boundaries across Root Foundation’s digital ecosystem.
Early-stage stakeholder mapping used to define trust
order, ethical constraints, and system boundaries
across Root Foundation’s digital ecosystem.
Early-stage stakeholder mapping used to define trust order, ethical constraints,
and system boundaries across Root Foundation’s digital ecosystem.
This process informed how trust, identity, and transparency were sequenced across Foundation, Diamonds, Shop, and Studios.
This process informed how trust, identity, and transparency were sequenced across Foundation, Diamonds, Shop, and Studios.
Desktop-first web platform establishing the foundation for an AI-powered legal assistant.
DISCOVERY &
KEY INSIGHTS
DISCOVERY & KEY INSIGHTS
DISCOVERY & KEY INSIGHTS
What we learned early:
Trust is built before the product pitch. People want legitimacy first, then details.
Origin becomes believable when it’s tied to a person + a place + a chain of custody, not slogans.
Transparency can’t live on an About page. It has to show up at decision points (price, impact, tradeoffs).
One giant experience would dilute credibility. Separate surfaces made the system easier to understand and audit.
What we learned early:
Trust is built before the product pitch. People want legitimacy first, then details.
Origin becomes believable when it’s tied to a person + a place + a chain of custody, not slogans.
Transparency can’t live on an About page. It has to show up at decision points (price, impact, tradeoffs).
One giant experience would dilute credibility. Separate surfaces made the system easier to understand and audit.
Root Foundation — System Map (Sierra Leone)
Data source: Root Diamonds profit model + Root Foundation pillars (De-risk Investment · Local
Value Addition · Community Beneficiation).
Data source: Root Diamonds profit model + Root Foundation pillars (De-risk Investment · Local Value Addition ·
Community Beneficiation).
Design
Approach
Design Approach
Design Approach
Lead with legitimacy: explain who Root is, how it works, and how accountability is enforced.
Make origin tangible: show people, places, and documentation in the same flow.
Put tradeoffs in front of users: cost breakdowns and “where money goes” at the moment of purchase.
Keep the ecosystem modular: each surface does one job well, then hands off cleanly.
Lead with legitimacy: explain who Root is, how it works, and how accountability is enforced.
Make origin tangible: show people, places, and documentation in the same flow.
Put tradeoffs in front of users: cost breakdowns and “where money goes” at the moment of purchase.
Keep the ecosystem modular: each surface does one job well, then hands off cleanly.
Principles that governed structure, sequencing, and restraint across the Root ecosystem.
Principles that governed structure, sequencing, and restraint across the Root ecosystem.
Principles that governed structure, sequencing, and restraint across the Root ecosystem.
Outcome: a system that earns trust through structure, not persuasion.
KEY EXPERIENCES
KEY EXPERIENCES
Root Foundation — Establishing Trust & Legitimacy
Purpose of this experience:
Help users understand who Root is, why it exists, and how it operates before asking anything of them
Purpose of this experience:
Help users understand who Root is, why it exists,
and how it operates before asking anything of them
Establishes mission, geographic scope, and accountability before engagement.
Introduces governance, contributors, and lived proximity to operations.
2. Root Diamonds — Making Origin & Ownership Visible
Purpose of this experience:
Reframe diamonds from luxury objects into traceable outcomes tied to real people and places.
Purpose of this experience:
Reframe diamonds from luxury objects into traceable outcomes tied to real people and places.
Introducing origin and ownership before product value.
Turns provenance into a first class part of the story, not a footnote.
3. Shop — Transparency Over Transaction
Purpose of this experience:
Let people browse without turning commerce into extraction, and surface cost/impact tradeoffs at the point of decision.
Supports filtering and discovery while keeping landowner context present in the experience.
Root Studios — Education as Infrastructure
Purpose of this experience:
Show that Root isn’t only about minerals it’s about building future pathways through skills, mentorship, and local capacity.
Purpose of this experience:
Show that Root isn’t only about minerals it’s about building future pathways through skills, mentorship, and local capacity.
Extends impact beyond commerce into education, mentorship, and local capacity.
RESULTS (Evidence)
RESULTS (Evidence)
rESULTS
(Evidence)
What changed because of this work:
We defined a single ecosystem structure that connected Foundation → Diamonds → Shop → Studios without collapsing the story into one page.
Stakeholders aligned on a credibility-first narrative (what we can claim, what we cannot, and how we show proof).
The design made “impact” inspectable through concrete artifacts: people, place, and documentation in the flow.
What changed because of this work:
We defined a single ecosystem structure that connected Foundation → Diamonds → Shop → Studios without collapsing the story into one page.
Stakeholders aligned on a credibility-first narrative (what we can claim, what we cannot, and how we show proof).
The design made “impact” inspectable through concrete artifacts: people, place, and documentation in the flow.
OUTCOME
& LEARNINGS
OUTCOME & LEARNINGS
Outcome
The work resulted in a cohesive ecosystem that lets users understand Root’s mission, verify credibility, and engage at their own pace without being pushed toward a transaction.
Evidence
Delivered an ecosystem of pages across Foundation, Diamonds, Shop, and Studios.
Built clear provenance and tradeoff storytelling patterns that carry through product details and browsing.
Created a structure the team can use to onboard new audiences and align internal storytelling.
Learnings
Ethical systems design often means resisting familiar growth patterns.
Context is part of the interface: showing origin, people, and tradeoffs early reduces skepticism later.
In multi-surface products, clarity comes from separation not from putting everything into one “perfect page.”
Outcome
The work resulted in a cohesive ecosystem that lets users understand Root’s mission, verify credibility, and engage at their own pace without being pushed toward a transaction.
Evidence
Delivered an ecosystem of pages across Foundation, Diamonds, Shop, and Studios.
Built clear provenance and tradeoff storytelling patterns that carry through product details and browsing.
Created a structure the team can use to onboard new audiences and align internal storytelling.
Learnings
Ethical systems design often means resisting familiar growth patterns.
Context is part of the interface: showing origin, people, and tradeoffs early reduces skepticism later.
In multi-surface products, clarity comes from separation not from putting everything into one “perfect page.”
This work reinforced my belief that the most durable digital products do not convince users, they respect them.
This work reinforced my belief that the most durable digital products do not convince users, they respect them.
Product Designer · Systems & Marketplace Design
Phone: +234 805 131 3516
Email: israel.adeleke@outlook.com
