UX Design in the Age of Digital Bharat: The Top 7 Challenges

Overview of the UX design landscape in India

According to Simplilearn, “The UX/UI design market stands at a chance of getting valued at 1346 million USD by 2028.”

User experience (UX) is connected with user interface (UI) with a single thread.

UX is about transforming a well-planned blueprint into the digital hemisphere where a user's can find what they are looking for BUT without any roadblocks.

Nobody wants to get lost, and everyone wants to find what they are looking for quickly and easily. It might not be possible in reality but in the digital space, it is. UX makes it a possibility for the user.

India is a country of opportunities. As per reports, “A total of 1.10 billion cellular mobile connections were active in India in early 2023, with this figure equivalent to 77.0 percent of the total population.”

You can understand the scope for digital products or websites selling tangible products and here comes the scope for UI/UX.

So why do we know so little about the importance of UX/UI?

The answer is 'LACK OF AWARENESS'.

We will discuss the challenges facing UX/UI design after we have a better understanding of its importance.

Importance of UX design in the digital age

Functionality (user interface) and the ability to enjoy (user experience) a website are the synonyms for UX/UI. If the user does not get used to the UI/UX, then their chances of becoming a buyer or someone who will be buying a product from you can be critical.

How can a bad UX/UI can be so important from the point of view of selling a product or services?

Let us take a few real-life examples from the rural India:

1. Testament to the power of technology: With the 'JIO internet boom', consuming 1GB data in an hour is neither a fantasy nor a sport for the elite. It is a reality and every part of India is having a piece of it. The story is however a little different in rural India because Internet might be cheap but a 3G smart-phone is distant dream.

A country where the average daily wage lies is below 300 INR, procuring a smart-phone can be a hard sport.

This brings us to a real-life story of Arpita from a small village located in Alipurduar, West Bengal. During the pandemic, Arpita realized the value of internet connectivity and her father bought her a smart phone. Her school education was entirely dependent on the smart-phone and its applications. Initially she had a lot of difficulties using a few applications due to which she had to resort to other applications.

The main problems she faced were:

• The applications were not designed for slow internet connectivity.
• The features were too complex for her to understand.
• The language used in the applications was not familiar to her.

This story helps us understand that there is an untouched market in rural India which is still waiting for a more user-friendly application. The story of Arpita is a clear-cut indication about the importance of User design.

2. Usability is not a luxury, it's a necessity: Anita is a 35-year-old woman from Mandawa, Rajasthan. She is a homemaker and has two young children. She recently started using a financial application to manage her finances. However, she is concerned about clicking the wrong button on the application. She is worried that she might accidentally make a payment or transfer money that she does not intend to.

Anita is not alone in her concerns. Many people are hesitant to use financial applications because they are afraid of making mistakes. This is especially true for people who are not familiar with technology.

UX/UI designers can help to address these concerns by making financial applications more user-friendly. This includes using clear and concise language, providing clear instructions, and making sure that the website is easy to navigate.

By taking these steps, UX/UI designers can help to make financial applications more accessible and user-friendly. This will help to put people's minds at ease and make them more likely to use these applications.

Now that you can have a faint idea about the after-effects of a bad UX design, let us discuss its importance.

1. It improves 'brand-image' A brand gets identified only when it offers something unique. This can be a "great Diwali sale" or an "end-of-season sale," but this comes in the secondary stage. In the primary stage, when a consumer starts to use an application for the first time, it's the user experience that will decide if he or she is going to come back and shop happily ever after!

2. It catalyses product/service penetration In the secondary stage, after you have convinced your consumer to stay, comes the part where a viewer turns into a buyer. An interactive design, added with accessible icons, catalyses products and services into the minds of the consumer.

3. It converts 'searchers' into 'buyers' In the tertiary, but final stage, your consumer eventually turns into a buyer. It's no secret that a fancy restaurant brings curiosity in the mind of a new customer (primary and secondary stage). But it's their food and services (tertiary stage) that brings them back again and again.

Top 7 UX Design Challenges in Digital Bharat

1. Visuals that audience can NOT identify: Digital Bharat is a metaphor for a progressing Bharat. UX/UI designers or company owners need to understand that the audience is still evolving. Product penetration can only be possible if clarity is maintained through visuals.

"What are you selling?" should be on the mind when designing a user interface for a better user experience. It is very important to have clear visuals, such as icons, directions, and buttons, so that the audience does not hesitate to proceed further.

2. Diversification in languages: According to Ministry of Education, “India is a home for 398 languages, including 387 living and 11 extinct languages.”

It is 2023, but in many parts of India, people are either limited to basic knowledge of the English language or do not know it at all. This is the reason why you will see billboards in tier 2 and tier 3 cities that advertise "Learn English in 30 days."

Most websites or digital applications focus on English language, which sidelines the 'non-english speaking' consumers. The language 'Hindi' is not among the top 30 languages preferred for web or application content. This is a gap that needs to be bridged in order to reach a larger audience.

Despite the challenges, bridging the language gap in India is an important goal. By taking steps to bridge the language gap, businesses can reach a wider audience, improve communication, and promote cultural understanding.

3. Economical hesitation due to lack of credible resources: It is no mystery that India is economically evolving, yet a large chunk of the population still lives either on loans, easy instalments, or on a per-day basis. However, a large chunk of this group of people owns a smartphone, regardless of their economic status. Indian families of modest means are protective about three things: their family, the national cricket team, and their money.

User interface (UI) designs should be transparent and credible enough to not mislead an Indian consumer (or any consumer, for that matter) into believing that they might lose their money. This would be catastrophic for any website or application if there is even a slight misrepresentation by any icon or verbiage that creates a belief in the mind of a consumer that they might lose their money.

Lesson: Websites and applications should not use any deceptive tricks to usher in money from consumers on the pretext of providing any services. Indian audiences are emotional, and this can help any website develop a loyal fan base in the long term.

4. First impression is NOT the last impression: The sign-up process for any application or website should have the following two characteristics:

• No complex terminology or jargon
• No tedious sign-up process

A smooth sign-up process is essential for any application or website. If the sign-up process is not smooth, it can irritate users and make them less likely to sign up. In the digital industry, it is no secret that every customer who signs up for an application remains with that platform. A customer-centric, easy, and transparent sign-up process increases your chances of customer acquisition.

5. Boundaries in payment modes: According to a survey by Rakuten Insight on online shopping behavior in India conducted in June 2022, 62% of consumers preferred cash on delivery (COD) as a payment method for their online purchases.

Indian consumers are protective of their hard-earned money, and this is understandable. They have long been accustomed to receiving products in exchange for cash on delivery, and the concept of prepayment is still new to many people. This is especially true for digital products, where there is no physical product to inspect before making a purchase.

To win the trust of Indian consumers, digital product providers need to focus on UX/UI design that builds confidence. This includes providing clear and visible information about customer care services, as well as positive user experiences. By making these forums visible to consumers, digital product providers can help to overcome the hesitation that many people feel about making prepayments.

For example, it is because Indian consumers have been following the age-old barter system of receiving a product with the exchange of money right on the spot. This has led to a general distrust of prepayments, as people are not used to the idea of paying for something before, they have received it.

By focusing on UX/UI design, digital product providers can help to overcome the hesitation that many Indian consumers feel about making prepayments. This can lead to increased sales and a more successful business.

6. Voice MIS-interpretation: Indians have their own unique accents when speaking English, just like any other non-English-speaking demographic. This is why it is important for websites and search engines to fully understand and interpret speech-to-text capabilities in an optimized manner. It is also equally important to make consumers aware of this feature.

For example, the search bar on YouTube is still not 100% capable of interpreting user commands into words when providing search results. This can be frustrating for Indian users who have different accents and pronunciations.

7. Design that is unfamiliar to Indian consumers: People use what they can relate to. This is the most basic formula for making a product a household name. The user experience is very important because it creates a sense of trust and comfort in the mind of your consumer. Most Indian consumers switch from one app to another because they can relate to the app or website. Discounts are important, but they are not as important as making sure that your consumer can easily find their way around your product.

Conclusion

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