About Draftlab
Draftlab is a design and technology studio that works with civil society organisations, NGOs, open tech projects, and multi-stakeholder initiatives. We build tools that serve people.
We believe technology should be appropriate to its context: secure where it needs to be, sovereign where it matters, simple where complexity would be a burden. Our clients are under-resourced, values-driven, and navigating problems that don't have neat technical solutions. We meet them where they are.
What makes us different is a disposition. We treat every engagement as a design problem, whether that means facilitating a workshop, writing a technical specification, building a platform, or helping a team govern the thing they've already built. We show up as partners.
Our work modes
Clinic
Targeted, time-bounded intervention. Fast, focused, expert-led.
Studio
Sustained, embedded partnership. Full creative and technical depth.
Community
Work that belongs to more than one party — multi-stakeholder coalitions, open-source projects, shared infrastructure.
Full lifecycle
- Understand
Discovery, research, diagnosis
Knowing the terrain before acting. Includes user research, organizational diagnostics, feasibility studies, landscape analysis, and responsible data assessments. The output is clarity.
- Define
Co-design, specification, alignment
Shaping the response. Synthesizing research into wireframes, feature definitions, technical specs, and shared direction. Produces handover-ready outputs. Key moment for building stakeholder buy-in.
- Deliver
Making, shipping, putting into practice
Turning the plan into something real in the world — a working system, a running programme, a deployed tool, a practice a team can use. The form depends on what the work calls for.
- Sustain
Stewardship, capacity, governance
Keeping it alive. Ongoing product stewardship, iterative development, capacity building, training, governance frameworks, and community of practice facilitation.
Discovery, research, diagnosis
Knowing the terrain before acting. Includes user research, organizational diagnostics, feasibility studies, landscape analysis, and responsible data assessments. The output is clarity.
Co-design, specification, alignment
Shaping the response. Synthesizing research into wireframes, feature definitions, technical specs, and shared direction. Produces handover-ready outputs. Key moment for building stakeholder buy-in.
Making, shipping, putting into practice
Turning the plan into something real in the world — a working system, a running programme, a deployed tool, a practice a team can use. The form depends on what the work calls for.
Stewardship, capacity, governance
Keeping it alive. Ongoing product stewardship, iterative development, capacity building, training, governance frameworks, and community of practice facilitation.
Our toolbox
AI & Automation
AI-assisted pipelines • ML integration • responsible AI
Capacity Building
training design and delivery • skills transfer • training of trainers
Cybersecurity
digital security strategy • threat modelling • secure infrastructure
Data Architecture
data modelling • interoperability • API strategy • schema development
Grant & Programme Development
programme design • proposal writing • consortium positioning • funder relations
Human-Centered Design
co-creation • facilitation • design sprints • participatory workshops
Multi-Stakeholder Coordination
convening • governance design • alignment • deconflicting
Organisational Diagnostics
maturity assessments • readiness evaluation • gap analysis
Product Strategy
product vision • roadmapping • prioritisation • iterative oversight
Responsible Data Governance
frameworks • policies • responsible data sharing • stewardship
Strategic Advising
theory of change • strategic framing • change management
User Research
interviews • contextual inquiry • usability testing • synthesis
UX & Interaction Design
information architecture • wireframing • prototyping • interface design
Web & Platform Development
full-stack development • data explorers • CMS • dataviz
A collaborative practice
Draftlab is a collective. We bring together independent practitioners with deep, complementary expertise across facilitation, research, technology, and humanitarian systems. On every project, we assemble the right team for the work at hand. Our clients get senior, experienced people who care about the outcome.
Researcher & Project Manager
Tom Walker
Tom specialises in data, technology, human rights, and environmental issues, helping civil society organisations use technology and data effectively and responsibly. He has worked with the BBC, ICRC, Amnesty, Open Society Foundations, and others across 27 countries.
Pro bono UX Support
Applications are open.
Through the Open Technology Fund's User Experience & Discovery Lab, Draftlab provides research, design, and post-release support to internet freedom projects. Free to the right teams; we read every application.
Free pro bono UX work for internet freedom projects. Open on a rolling basis.