Digital literacy in India
This was an iterative concept testing of an application that aimed to enable Novice Internet Users (NIUs) to get the most from the smartphone technology by leading them through the learning process with relatable and engaging content on a single platform. The goal was to figure out the best learning experience for NIUs.
New Markets
MARKET DEVELOPMENT
With the release of the new smartphone, the company is staring at a potential 520 million users. These include around 150 million unconnected, 50 million second-hand/older used smartphone users due for an upgrade and 320 million feature phone users (including 4G smart feature phone users).
MARKET PENETRATION
DIVERSIFICATION
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Almost 90% of the Total Addressable Market belongs to the user group of Novice Internet Users who are either using a smartphone for the first time or have had limited exposure in the past.
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The upcoming smartphone can design an in-built learning platform for NIUs in order to onboard them to basic as well as advance smartphone features without the need of a tech teacher. This feature will be a game-changer leading to increase in the acquisition rate of the overall smartphone.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Growth strategy
Existing Markets
Existing Product
New Product
Growth area for the company
Non-growth area for the company
Research objectives
01
02
Understand how NIUs (specifically current feature phone users with limited exposure to smartphones and newly shifted to smartphone users) engage with the learning application and whether they are willing to utilize the content organically
03
Learn what type of content is effective at helping connect NIUs to value in their new smartphones
Assess whether users find the app and video learning method valuable
Key questions
01
Usage & Value
02
Usability & Interventions
How do participants learn? To what extent does Rani contribute to their learning?
To what extent do users want to learn foundational skills in their apps and phones?
What preexisting mental models do users have in regards to trying the product?
Do users understand the premise of Rani?
How valuable do users find Rani?
Is Rani a good teacher? Does it help users get more out of their phones?
03
Content
Which content style helps users learn best? What content attributes work/don’t work and why?
How effectively can users utilize web stories (e.g. navigate, pause, unmute, etc)?
To what extent do users share learning content with friends, family and teachers?
To what extent do users prefer conversational/colloquial Hinglish in learning content vs Hindi or English only?
To what extent do practice and feedback help users better learn the content they watch?
How usable is the app and how can it be improved? Does the UI make sense?
Do users utilize categories to find content they want to learn about?
What entry points do users typically use to enter the app?
01
Usage & Value
02
Usability & Interventions
How do participants learn? To what extent does the learning platform contribute to their learning?
To what extent do users want to learn foundational skills in their apps and phones?
What preexisting mental models do users have in regards to trying the product?
Do users understand the premise of the learning platform?
How valuable do users find Rani?
Is the learning platform a good teacher? Does it help users get more out of their phones?
03
Content
Which content style helps users learn best? What content attributes work/don’t work and why?
How effectively can users utilize web stories (e.g. navigate, pause, unmute, etc)?
To what extent do users share learning content with friends, family and teachers?
To what extent do users prefer conversational/colloquial Hinglish in learning content vs Hindi or English only?
To what extent do practice and feedback help users better learn the content they watch?
How usable is the app and how can it be improved? Does the UI make sense?
Do users utilize categories to find content they want to learn about?
What entry points do users typically use to enter the learning platform?
Methodology
Participant profile
Details of the study
Key Insights
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Tech teachers were an essential part of the learning process for NIUs. Tech teachers were approached on a need basis mostly for troubleshooting purposes.
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Organically, most entered the Rani via widgets. The widgets have strong visibility and often became the entry point into Rani. However, post aided discovery of the application, the application became an entry point to explore newer features.
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The users were engaging with the platform more for leisure purposes rather than with the intention to learn. Hence, the drive to practice after watching the video was low.
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Most of the users required multiple re-watches to understand the video to be able to successfully perform the task. No restrictions on the number of times they can view a video would prove to be very effective.
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Another observation was that the users would opt for visual learning instead of directly comprehending concepts.
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In order to engage the users, it would be important that new content keeps getting updated on the platform regularly.
Recommendations
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Aiding discoverability of the application through widgets: For the first few exploration sessions, the widgets must contain specific content or regarding the fundamental features of the phone. This would clearly convey the premise and value of Rani to its users.
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Providing organized sections for different features: Each feature can have a dedicated section so videos are traceable and easily accessible to users wanting to explore certain features that they deem more relevant.
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Landmark-based navigation: Participants are visual learners, and therefore, using terms like “The moon icon on the top right of the screen”, or “The downward pointing arrow on the extreme right of the screen below the video”. These instructions may help in better retention of the steps.
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Provision for traceability of videos: Most participants need to watch and rewatch videos to be able to successfully complete tasks. A Search feature would make identifying and choosing videos an easier task on the application.
The application was a smartphone learning platform keeping in mind the learning needs and motivations of users who wish to switch to smartphones or have recently shifted from a feature phone. Diary study as a methodology was adopted in order to understand the learning patterns of both user groups over a period of time as well as gauge how users were interacting with the prototype. This particular study was 3 months long with 50 users based in 6 different cities.
01
Usage & Value
02
Usability & Interventions
How do participants learn? To what extent does Rani contribute to their learning?
To what extent do users want to learn foundational skills in their apps and phones?
What preexisting mental models do users have in regards to trying the product?
Do users understand the premise of Rani?
How valuable do users find Rani?
Is Rani a good teacher? Does it help users get more out of their phones?
03
Content
Which content style helps users learn best? What content attributes work/don’t work and why?
How effectively can users utilize web stories (e.g. navigate, pause, unmute, etc)?
To what extent do users share learning content with friends, family and teachers?
To what extent do users prefer conversational/colloquial Hinglish in learning content vs Hindi or English only?
To what extent do practice and feedback help users better learn the content they watch?
How usable is the app and how can it be improved? Does the UI make sense?
Do users utilize categories to find content they want to learn about?
What entry points do users typically use to enter the app?
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UBS Evidence Lab conducted a flash survey (> Access Dataset) of 1,000 consumers aged 18 years old and above across India.
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Satisfaction levels have been high among the early adopters of the phone with 77% of respondents stating that their experience with the phone is better than previous Phones. Further, 79% of respondents stated that they are extremely satisfied with the phone.
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Even among smartphone users who have switched to JioPhone Next, 75-78% stated that they are extremely satisfied and their experience is better.
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“A larger percentage of feature phone and basic phone users have bought the JioPhone Next, as compared to smartphone users. This is not surprising as the JioPhone Next is primarily aimed at upgrading the feature phone user to a smartphone,” - Report
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"The most interesting feature of the JioPhone Next will be the all-new PragatiOS. It will be very easy to use as it is designed to keep in mind first-time smartphone users in India." - Source
I was co-leading the study and my key responsibilities were: formulating the study approach, preparing the discussion guide, leading a cohort of 10 participants during diary studies including conducting interviews, building top takeaways and final reporting of key strategy level conceptual attitudinal insights and usability design recommendations.
My takeaways from the study have been:
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Demographic backgrounds can influence the learning patterns of users. As a researcher, it's important to be well-versed and sensitive to demographic differences.
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It was interesting to note how initially defined user profiles evolved into different user personas. The user personas felt more relevant as they were inclusive of demographic as well as learning characteristics.
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As an experience, it felt challenging in such a long iterative study to make sure that the main research objectives do not get lost. It was important to keep referring back to the key questions in order to lead to desired research outcomes and concrete well-connected analysis.
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Observation was the key in order to map how users were intuitively interacting with the application. Not necessarily the user would be able to do what he/she would be saying. In order to get the true story, it was important to have task-related activities as part of the discussion guide to capture intuitive behaviours while using.
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Diary studies can be exhaustive as well as predictable for the user and hence it is important to have variations and progressive discussion guides for every session. A particular question that has to be repeated in all 6 sessions can be asked in different ways to get a holistic answer at the end of the study.