Overview

The Development Institute Network (DIN) is a SaaS platform connecting international development experts with organizations working on global challenges — from NGOs and foundations to CSR teams and policy groups. Built in partnership with the Global Development Institute, the product reimagines how organizations source, vet, and collaborate with talent worldwide.

DIN transforms the traditional consulting marketplace into a curated, transparent, and efficient hiring system for the global development sector.

Challenge

Before DIN, most hiring in international development happened through closed networks, email lists, or outdated databases — slow, fragmented, and impossible to scale. The Global Development Institute wanted a centralized platform that combined expert discovery, applicant tracking, and team collaboration into one seamless tool — built fast, with a modern UX and scalable architecture.

Their goal:

“Make finding and managing development consultants as easy as managing a project in ClickUp or Notion — but built for impact.”

Solution

Responsive partnered with the GDI leadership team to design, prototype, and ship a fully functional SaaS MVP in weeks. The platform delivers an end-to-end hiring experience for both organizations and experts through a clean, role-based dashboard.

Key features include:

• Dual User System — Experts create verified profiles showcasing skills, regions, and experience; organizations post positions and manage hiring pipelines.
  

• Visual Hiring Board — A drag-and-drop interface lets teams move candidates from “Applied” to “Contracted” in one view.

• AI-Powered Search — Advanced filtering by expertise, geography, language, and funders makes discovery intuitive and fast.
• In-App Messaging — Secure communication between experts and hiring teams, with persistent chat history.
  
• Role-Based Authentication — Built on Supabase Auth for expert and organization-level permissions.
• ATS Data Persistence — Pipeline state is saved across sessions for seamless collaboration.

Design & User Experience

We designed DIN’s interface with a product-first mindset — blending the clarity of SaaS dashboards with the warmth and purpose of global development branding.

UX Highlights:

• Visual pipeline for intuitive hiring workflows
• AI match score for fast shortlisting
• Hover cards and micro-interactions built with shadcn/ui and Framer Motion
• Light beige and deep charcoal palette for a professional, accessible look
• Fully responsive layouts optimized for global users on any device

Tech Stack

Built for scale and speed:

• Frontend: Next.js 15 (React 19, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS)
• UI Framework: shadcn/ui, Radix UI, Framer Motion
• Backend: Next.js API Routes
• Database: Supabase (PostgreSQL)
• Auth: Supabase Auth with Email, Google OAuth, and role-based access
• Hosting: Vercel for global edge delivery

Results

Within the first release cycle, the Global Development Institute launched a fully functional SaaS MVP ready for early user onboarding and investor demos.

• ✅ Expert onboarding flow completed end-to-end
• ✅ Advanced search and filtering live
• ✅ Visual ATS pipeline implemented with real-time state
• ✅ Secure login and role-based dashboards deployed
• 🔄 LinkedIn OAuth and Stripe integration in progress

The platform positioned GDI as a tech-enabled leader in the international development space — bridging talent, technology, and global impact.

Impact

DIN doesn’t just digitize hiring — it modernizes how global development teams operate. By uniting experts and organizations under one platform, the system promotes transparency, trust, and speed in a sector that needs all three.

“We now have a scalable infrastructure for connecting impact-driven talent with organizations that need them most — something that simply didn’t exist before.”

Responsive partnered with the Global Development Institute from concept to launch — leading product strategy, UX design, full-stack engineering, and deployment.

From idea to SaaS in weeks — not months.