
How on-ground research aided UI/UX for higher user engagement
One way of deciphering UX effectivity is to use our intelligence and conviction. Other is to ask the users themselves. But a survey sent on email wouldn’t have worked to audit Sahaj, a platform that enables entrepreneurs in rural areas. So our UX team travelled around remote villages in UP to probe Sahaj’s UX problem at the grassroots level. Having interacted with the unevolved user segment personally, we realized that despite knowing how to use Facebook, Google, etc., Sahaj website users were largely unaware and confused about offerings and functionalities. Our primary research findings showed us exactly what was needed to be done.


Rural users like an easy UX
Which is why, the new website UX maintained a clean and well spaced layout. To start with, onboarding and lead capture forms were made easy to fill, showing fewer, more relevant fields at once. All the links that users saw, both pre and post login, were contextual to their past usage, and intuitively structured directing them to the most relevant pages or functions.


UI design for the Indian rural eye
The UI was cleverly created to complement the seamless UX, using easy-to-the-eye colours. The fonts and type size hierarchy were intelligently chosen to direct the user’s eye to what requires most attention. The minimal design, apart from aiding delight, also helped address faster load times considering slower internet speeds in the hinterlands.


First-of-its-kind innovation in the segment
Come to think of it, there isn’t much scope of technological innovation to solve basic small-town 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. Further, we pioneered contextual notifications based on recent activity, first in the industry.


How user research insights delivered business outcomes
Post 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.

