Inspiration
GasGo was born out of a personal frustration shared by many households in Kenya: the struggle to find safe, reliable cooking gas. I’ve experienced the stress of chasing down vendors, only to receive half-filled cylinders or ones with defects. Beyond being a waste of money, this is a serious safety hazard. We’ve seen heartbreaking cases of gas explosions caused by illegally refilled cylinders, lives lost, homes destroyed, trust broken. GasGo is my response to that broken system. It’s about restoring safety, transparency, and dignity to something as essential as cooking fuel.
What it does
GasGo is a smart LPG access and delivery platform that connects customers, vendors, and delivery riders through a centralized system. It supports both smartphones and feature phones via USSD, allowing users to:
- Place gas orders and receive real-time delivery updates
- Verify vendors and track inventory
- Optimize rider routes and trigger emergency alerts
- Enable admins to monitor activity and send SMS notifications
How we built it
GasGo was built using Django for the backend and PostgreSQL for data persistence. We designed a modular architecture that supports real-time order tracking, vendor verification, and emergency escalation. The frontend combines HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap for responsiveness, while JavaScript handles geolocation and dynamic form logic. For feature phone users, we integrated a USSD gateway to ensure accessibility without internet. We also implemented session-based flows for vendor selection, payment routing, and order tracking. Every component from the database schema to the mobile layout was designed with safety, speed, and user empathy in mind.
Challenges we ran into
Geolocation accuracy: Ensuring reliable location capture across devices and browsers, especially on localhost and mobile networks, required fallback logic and user alerts.
Vendor trust: Designing a system that only surfaces verified vendors while allowing flexibility for growth was a delicate balance.
USSD integration: Supporting feature phones meant rethinking flows to work without visuals, relying on concise, intuitive prompts.
Session management: Preserving order state across multiple steps (order → vendor → payment) without confusing the user took careful planning.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Built a fully functional LPG ordering platform that works across smartphones and feature phones
Designed a clean, app-like mobile interface that feels intuitive and fast
Implemented real-time order tracking and vendor verification logic
Created a USSD flow that mirrors the web experience for underserved users
Wrote clear, emotionally warm copy that reflects the values of safety, dignity, and trust
Celebrated every technical win with expressive commit messages and intentional design choices
What we learned
Empathy is a design tool: Thinking about how a mother in Kangemi or a student in Rongai might use GasGo shaped every decision we made.
Simplicity scales: The more we simplified our flows, the more powerful and accessible the platform became.
Mobile-first isn’t optional: In Kenya, mobile is the default. Designing for it from the start made everything else easier.
Collaboration matters: From debugging sessions to UI tweaks, every improvement came from listening, testing, and iterating together.
What's next for GasGo
Vendor onboarding portal: A self-service dashboard for vendors to register, verify, and manage inventory
Rider app: A lightweight mobile app for delivery agents to receive orders, update status, and trigger safety checks
Payment integrations: Expanding beyond M-Pesa to include Airtel Money and card payments
Analytics dashboard: Real-time insights for admins to monitor delivery patterns, vendor performance, and emergency trends
Community stories: Featuring real users and their experiences to build trust and celebrate impact
Offline mode: Caching key flows for low-connectivity areas
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