Sebenza
Rosters, clock-ins and payroll prep for South African teams that work in shifts. Off the WhatsApp group, off the printed sheet.
- Role
- Brand identity, UX research, UI design, prototyping
- Platforms
- Manager web app, iOS and Android staff app
- Scope
- Logo and brand system, web, app, components
- Type
- Self-initiated concept, Johannesburg 2026
The roster is a group chat. Payday is a debate.
Sebenza means work in isiZulu. In restaurants, salons, security firms and shops, the roster lives in a WhatsApp group and on a sheet taped to the door, and payroll day is a calculator marathon.
Sebenza puts the week on one shared roster, lets staff clock in from their own phones, and turns real hours into a clean export for the payroll provider.
From Monday’s roster to the 25th’s payslips
“Who’s on Friday?”
The roster is a photo in a busy group chat. By Wednesday nobody knows which version is real.
Swaps happen in DMs
Staff trade shifts privately. The manager finds out when the wrong person walks in.
Payroll day, by calculator
Hours are added up from a paper sign-in book, overtime and public holidays by hand.
“I worked more than that.”
Without a shared record of hours, every payslip can turn into an argument.
How might we make the hours everyone worked something nobody has to argue about?
The product, screen by screen
Brand, web app and staff app, designed end to end
Shared roster
Managers drag the week together; staff see the live version, not a photo.
Clock in from your phone
Inside the venue zone with a PIN, so the hours record themselves.
Swaps with approval
Staff request a swap, the manager approves it in one tap.
Payroll export
Real hours, overtime and public holidays, ready for the payroll provider.
Brand system
A mark drawn from shift bars, Fraunces and Manrope, violet and lime.
Design system
One shift block reused across the web app and the staff app.
What the concept proves
A self-initiated concept. The next step is testing the clock-in and swap flows with two or three real shift teams.
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