The situation
The Asian Development Bank manages a portfolio of international funding mechanisms that can finance country programs in the billions of dollars. The funding portal existed — but discovery was the problem. Staff actively working on eligible programs often didn't know the portal was there, and those who found it struggled to navigate it with confidence. The result: a critical resource that was systematically underutilized, not because the funding wasn't available, but because the people who needed it couldn't find it.
Solving the problem
The work was grounded in research — understanding the portal and its users, including the ones who had never seen it.
- Interviewed 8 ADB staff spanning key active users, admins, and target users who were unaware the funding portal existed.
- Ran 5 iteration cycles focused on a site redesign that could be owned and maintained by non-technical admin users.
- Delivered knowledge transfer materials ensuring admins had high confidence in the tools and processes handed off to them.