Nebula Case Study

Building a Developer-First Cloud for Africa

Nebula was created to solve a problem we experienced firsthand: the high cost of cloud infrastructure in Africa, driven by poor foreign exchange rates and limited regional availability. While scaling Okra, an open finance platform, our team faced significant infrastructure costs from global cloud providers, which prompted us to rethink what a truly regional, accessible, and developer-focused cloud platform could look like.

We set out to build a simpler, faster alternative for African teams; one that reduced cost and complexity without sacrificing service delivery. Our primary users were DevOps engineers, but we intentionally designed for a broader audience to ensure even less technical users could confidently deploy and manage infrastructure.

Shaping an accessible developer experience

We began by auditing the usability of global cloud platforms. What we found was a steep learning curve and complex workflows that were only navigable by highly technical users. We saw this as an opportunity to design a clearer, more human interface for deploying infrastructure.

Our team ran a series of low-fidelity workshops focused on architecture, interaction patterns, and flow logic. These sessions helped us identify edge cases early and align with engineering on feasibility. Working closely with DevOps engineers and the Cloud Services team, we rapidly iterated on wireframes and flow prototypes to simplify workflows across tightly connected systems like networking, compute, and storage.

The collaborative nature of these early design sprints helped us accelerate development while staying grounded in real-world user needs.

Built for iteration, tested in the wild

We launched our MVP to a closed beta group of developers across Africa. Early access allowed us to gather feedback on usability, validate core infrastructure performance, and refine critical interactions in real time.

The Nebula Console launched with support for:

NebCompute: Instances, auto-scaling, load balancing, VPCs, subnets, security groups, and key pairs
NebStore: Block storage
Multi-region support: Lagos and Johannesburg
Account management: Billing, invoicing, usage tracking, and team access

We tested each feature across usability, performance, and error handling, iterating based on insights from our beta group.

Approach

In the foundational phase, I developed a design strategy from the ground up, collaborating closely with engineering and product to ensure technical feasibility and timeline alignment. We conducted competitor mapping, architecture, and wireframe development, along with extensive research. By engaging with DevOps engineers and the community, we addressed key pain points and set the foundation for a successful Beta version.

Impact

Delivered the MVP within 6 months, demonstrating efficient project management and a focus on rapid delivery.
Successfully onboarded key enterprise clients, contributing to early adoption and building strong customer relationships.
Developed and launched three core cloud services, achieving high customer satisfaction scores and setting a solid foundation for future growth.