Dennis Kigen

Frontend engineer building calm interfaces and open-source health software

Frontend Engineer

Frontend engineer building calm interfaces, open-source health software, and tools that help teams ship. I care about clear UI, thoughtful DX, welcoming documentation, and code that stays easy to work on.

Currently helping build and scale O3, the open-source EMR for the developing world at OpenMRS.

Previously built Point of Care, a tablet-and-desktop EMR used across more than 26 major AMPATH sites in Kenya with over 220,000 patients registered and millions of encounters and observations logged.

Projects

A few things I have helped build across clinical software, documentation, and developer tooling.

OpenMRS 3

Helping shape the modern frontend for the world's most popular open-source electronic health records system.

O3 Docs

Documentation that helps implementers understand, extend, and ship O3 frontend modules.

O3 Core Frontend

Platform work that keeps the O3 frontend reliable, extensible, and pleasant to build on.

create-o3-app

A CLI for scaffolding OpenMRS 3 frontend modules with the boring-but-important setup handled.

O3 Form Builder

A calmer way to build, test, and publish OpenMRS forms for real clinical workflows.

AMPATH Forms

Field-tested guidance for building, testing, and validating OpenMRS form schemas.

React Weather

Weather that's easy on the eyes.

Ethos

Focused on learning and building. I like interfaces that feel calm under pressure, docs that make people feel capable, and systems that leave enough room for the next person to think.

I aim to ship work that helps teams move faster without making the product feel hurried. Small details matter, especially in software people have to trust.

Now

These days I am spending most of my energy making O3 easier to trust, extend, and understand. That means shipping frontend improvements, writing docs, mentoring contributors, and smoothing the rough edges that slow teams down.

I build with React and TypeScript, and I lean on Vitest, Playwright, and other modern development tools to keep releases stable and reliable.

Reading and bookmarking timeless wisdom from Naval Ravikant, Paul Graham, Swyx, Kent C. Dodds, Krishnamurti, Nassim Taleb and more.

I keep a few short notes around the ideas I am still turning over.

Curious about how I work? Check out my uses page.

Connect

If you're in Eldoret, let's go for a walk. For thoughtful frontend systems, health software, documentation, or open-source collaboration, email is best.