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DESIGNING FOR BHARAT
Sahaj is a Government-to-Citizen platform focussed on creating digitally enabled rural entrepreneurs. To understand this demographic, we travelled to remote villages in UP and West Bengal to uncover context. We realized that despite knowing how to use Facebook, Google, etc., Sahaj website users were frequently unaware about newer offerings and functionalities. Primary research findings were counter intuitive and guided us well.
RURAL USERS DON’T NEED OVERSIMPLICFICATION.
The big realisation for our team was the digital quotient of the target users. To start with, onboarding and lead capture forms designed with a minimalist interface showing fewer fields at once. Post login links were contextual to past usage, and intuitively structured directing them to the most relevant pages or functions.
MODERN INTERFACES FOR RURAL INDIA
The experience was created to complement the well-researched user journeys, using Sahaj’s brand colour palette of yellow and red. The fonts and type size hierarchy were carefully chosen to direct the user’s eye to what requires most attention. Of course issues of lower bandwidth and 2G hotspots were duly considered for faster load times in the hinterland.
INDOVATION
Come to think of it, there isn’t any obvious scope of technological innovation to solve basic rural problems. But implementing smart filters and the ability to customize metrics one sees on the dashboard helped boost both on-site engagement and visual relief. Our contextual notifications based on recent activity is, we believe, first in segment.
SMILES LEADING TO BUSINESS OUTCOMES
After go-live, Sahaj platform saw a drastic jump in the number of users engaging on the platform, with usage frequency shifting from once a week to daily. More importantly, users have started to understand the platform and the communication it carries a lot better. Result, they are using more and more services, which were largely untapped in the past.
