LAVA INTERNATIONAL
An innovative User Experience Designed to simplify the phone experience – creating a unified Operating Layer enabling powerful features such as Dialer, Camera, Browser, Media Player & Lock Screens plus vital utilities like Power Management and Messaging.
Client
An innovative User Experience Designed to simplify the phone experience – creating a unified Operating Layer enabling powerful features such as Dialer, Camera, Browser, Media Player & Lock Screens plus vital utilities like Power Management and Messaging.
The Challenge
Simplifying the Android experience for the first time smartphone user..
Landscape
The total market for smartphones in India was around 750 million in 2020 which was mostly driven by demand for first time smart phone users from Tier 2 cities and small towns in India.
We worked with LAVA – a popular phone manufacturer who focused on these markets, and critical to their business was a phone experience for this very persona.
The target users were increasingly aware of the benefits of a smartphone, primarily for entertainment and digital payments. But research also showed that many tried the switch but failed to sustain.
Primary Persona
The primary persona was a tier 2 city blue-collar worker. He had to use the phone extensively to be in touch with his employers and associates.
Daily Life & Work Environment:
Harish starts his day early, often traveling a considerable distance to his workplace. Communication with his employers and associates is vital for his daily tasks, and his phone serves as a lifeline in this regard. He uses it for coordinating work schedules, receiving instructions, and staying updated on work-related developments.
Typical User Story
Harish (persona) works in the security department of a large factory. The company where he works uses an attendance & reporting mobile app, and expects all employees to use a smartphone. Ramesh is supposed to send occasional photos and videos of locations in the factory or of incidences. He has never used a smartphone before. In fact, he dislikes it because he can’t understand how to use it.
The Task
Although the team was eager and enthusiastic to commence the project, this was the first time the UXD team was taking on a project of such magnitude. Careful planning was necessary. The project entailed comprehending and reevaluating a first-time user’s interaction with the phone, including its dialer, contacts, email client, camera, radio, media player, power management, file management, and other stock applications that would be included with the phone.
The Process
The project required a substantial team. The process was determined based on several factors, including deadlines, the sprint calendar, the delivery roadmap, the client team structure, the strengths of the client team’s skills, the product ownership pattern at the client end, and our own resource availability.
There was a considerable amount of work to be done in a limited time frame. The manufacturer’s R&D team, who had been preparing for this task for a long time, had not taken into consideration the presence of an outsourced UX team in the process.
Teams in harmony
To execute this vision, four specialized teams were orchestrated, each resonating with a unique facet of the process:
Thinking & Innovation
User research, design thinking workshops, discovery workshops, white boarding, team alignment
Function & Interaction
New functional and UX paradigm called Uniform X. Interaction Design, Information Architecture
UI & Design System
UI Design, UI Standards, UX Writing, Iconography, Typography, Brand and Colors
Development Support
Design assets, Sync with Design Sprints, UI Specification, UI Documentation
The Work
What initially began as a well-planned project soon transformed into a fast-paced, round-the-clock effort to conceive, engineer, design, and produce high-quality assets for the phone’s operating layer and approximately 20 accompanying stock apps. Our team generated numerous sketches, wireframes, and prototypes, and devoted countless hours to user testing. After numerous iterations, we delivered meticulous designs and collaborated with a 40-member development team to align with their development sprints.
Services
User research
Brain storming
Design Thinking Information Architecture
Taxonomy
Interaction Design & Prototyping
Interface Design & Design Systems
Visual Communication Design Development Support
The Outcome
The project lasted for over 12 months, and the UXD team consistently collaborated with the client development team to deliver the designs and assets ahead of schedule. The team not only met the deadlines but exceeded expectations with their high-quality work.
The redesigned operating layer and native apps received positive feedback, but the feedback indicated that further simplification was necessary to shift the target persona to a smartphone. Key to the adoption was the requirement for the operating system and the apps to have multilingual capabilities for their intended users.