Reconnecting with Festival Traditions
Reconnecting with Festival Traditions
Reconnecting with Festival Traditions
Reconnecting with Festival Traditions
Reconnecting with Festival Traditions
Reconnecting with Festival Traditions
Reconnecting with Festival Traditions
Reconnecting with Festival Traditions
Reconnecting with Festival Traditions
Reconnecting with Festival Traditions
Reconnecting with Festival Traditions
Reconnecting with Festival Traditions
This case study streamlines the work explored in my "Interaction Design Project Studio" course that focuses on helping people learn about their festivals and family traditions.
My Role
Research, UI Design and Prototyping (Figma)
The Project
With families becoming increasingly nuclear and the younger generation living alone, it becomes harder to keep track of festivals and pass on traditions. Hence I explored designs to learn about various festivals and one's traditions.
Duration
2 months
Design Overview
Background
The idea behind this project stemmed from my observations of the interactions between my sister who lives abroad and my mother and grandmother who she often contacts to learn and understand the different aspects related to our traditions. This was followed by research and discussions to understand how the various scenarios.
India is a country with a rich cultural heritage and has numerous festivals across various religions, races, casts and even geographies and I learnt that 80% of the people learn the associated practices and traditions through observing the elders from their childhood days and these are mostly passed down orally without any physical documentation.
52.6% of families also practice niche ancestral traditions passed down through the generations.
A large portion of Indian households have abandoned the joint family system with 70.11% of families being nuclear according to the 2011 census.
Background
The idea behind this project stemmed from my observations of the interactions between my sister who lives abroad and my mother and grandmother who she often contacts to learn and understand the different aspects related to our traditions. This was followed by research and discussions to understand how the various scenarios.
India is a country with a rich cultural heritage and has numerous festivals across various religions, races, casts and even geographies and I learnt that 80% of the people learn the associated practices and traditions through observing the elders from their childhood days and these are mostly passed down orally without any physical documentation.
52.6% of families also practice niche ancestral traditions passed down through the generations.
A large portion of Indian households have abandoned the joint family system with 70.11% of families being nuclear according to the 2011 census.
Contextualizing the Problem
Survey and Interview Insights
To avoid personal bias and to understand the chosen problem area better, I conducted a survey with 57 respondents and 4 one-on-one interviews. Key takeaways,
Frequency of celebrating festivals intricately: 19.3% always and 54.4% often, hence making festival practices a very important part of the household.
Frequency of celebrating festivals intricately: 19.3% always and 54.4% often, hence making festival practices a very important part of the household.
52.6% have niche ancestral traditions in their family and they learn it through observation and being taught it from a young age.
Most of this knowledge is passed on through conversations, stories, word of mouth instructions, with minimal to no documentation.
Market Study
I conducted a detailed market study to understand the types of apps that exist in the festival domain (ex. Festivals of India, Indian Culture, Indian Festival Calendar, Great Indian Festivals) and the various features they offer.
The most prevalent app is that which offers festival greetings stickers.
Other common features provided are festival calendars for different ethnic groups, information about festivals and culture, access to research papers/rare books and e-commerce services for festival related goods.
No application provided more than 2 of the above features together and there were no provisions for the user to edit and document or collaborate with family.
Discoveries
Pain Points
Lack of information on festivals practiced by smaller religious and caste groups.
Lack of a single platform that provides information about the dates and practices of different religious beliefs along with widely used features like greeting stickers.
No provision for users to document their traditions.
Inability to share all the knowledge with the family in a systemized manner.
Lack of information and features in multiple languages.
Requirements
Has information of various Indian festivals and its relevant aspects.
Ability to connect all family members
Customizable according to culture
Allows creative documentation of niche family traditions and practices
Simple to understand and use (shouldn’t have a steep learning curve)
Should be multi-linguistic
My Problem Statement
To create a solution that will offer a one-stop platform to understand festival traditions, preserve the various niche practices of different cultures and offer a family environment by enabling all members to be on board.
To create a solution that will offer a one-stop platform to understand festival traditions, preserve the various niche practices of different cultures and offer a family environment by enabling all members to be on board.
Feature Ideation
Prioritization & Arrangement
Impact-Effort Matrix
In order to make a qualitative decision and evaluate the various features that were brainstormed and mind-mapped, I plotted them against an impact-effort matrix. The green boxes indicate the top priority features.
Information Architecture
Based on the research and the prioritization, I created a content inventory to categorize features and an information architecture from that to understand the overall flow of the application. The IA was iterated based on testing.
Information Architecture
Based on the research and the prioritization, I created a content inventory to categorize features and an information architecture from that to understand the overall flow of the application. The IA was iterated based on testing.
In order to make a qualitative decision and balance/evaluate the various features that were brainstormed and mind-mapped, I plotted them against an impact-effort matrix. The green boxes indicate the top priority features.
Impact-Effort Matrix
In order to make a qualitative decision and evaluate the various features that were brainstormed and mind-mapped, I plotted them against an impact-effort matrix. The green boxes indicate the top priority features.
Explorations
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
To start off and visualize the UI of the app, I sketched the initial sign up + onboarding flow
Feedback & Iteration
To ensure that the solution is effective and impactful, I periodically tested and received feedback to help improve the overall experience of the app. The paper wireframes needed some apparent improvements.
Some of the feedback and observations for the same:
The name didn't resonate well with the main aim of the app - Renamed "Festivity"
The immediate, data-heavy sign up added a high cognitive load - Sign up page was simplified and multiple onboarding screens were added to ease the users into account setup
Need for language choices in the sign up screen itself - Added language dropdown
Medium-Fidelity Wireframes
User Testing 2.0
The significance of the icons not clear and or visible - Added names and made the bar white to create more contrast
The homescreen is too packed - Increased spacing and reworked certain UI elements
Under festival categories is a list and no categories as such - Renamed as just Festivals, categories are under filters
Additionally: - Redesigned sign up and account set up to be visually appealing and inviting; Made noticeboard a sub option, included pin option and created family circles (Explained with the hi-fidelity screens)
Wireframe Iterations
User Testing 3.0
Need for assistance during account set up - Assisted mode pop-up at set up
Card colors were distracting - Made the inactive state colors subtler
Additionally - Made assisted mode a toggle in the hamburger menu and added it to the set up screen as well to facilitate assistance if pop-up is closed
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
To start off and visualize the UI of the app, I sketched the initial sign up + onboarding flow
Feedback & Iteration
To ensure that the solution is effective and impactful, I periodically tested and received feedback to help improve the overall experience of the app. The paper wireframes needed some apparent improvements.
Some of the feedback and observations for the same:
The name didn't resonate well with the main aim of the app - Renamed "Festivity"
The immediate, data-heavy sign up added a high cognitive load - Sign up page was simplified and multiple onboarding screens were added to ease the users into account setup
Need for language choices in the sign up screen itself - Added language dropdown
Medium-Fidelity Wireframes
Wireframe Iterations
User Testing 3.0
Need for assistance during account set up - Assisted mode pop-up at set up
Card colors were distracting - Made the inactive state colors subtler
Additionally - Made assisted mode a toggle in the hamburger menu and added it to the set up screen as well to facilitate assistance if pop-up is closed
User Testing 2.0
The significance of the icons not clear and or visible - Added names and made the bar white to create more contrast
The homescreen is too packed - Increased spacing and reworked certain UI elements
Under festival categories is a list and no categories as such - Renamed as just Festivals, categories are under filters
Additionally: - Redesigned sign up and account set up to be visually appealing and inviting; Made noticeboard a sub option, included pin option and created family circles (Explained with the hi-fidelity screens)
Homescreen
There is a carousel on top that shows the user their saved items
The homescreen also shows a unique festival fact according to the set preferences
Upcoming festivals are showcased below the facts
The user can also view the latest activity and their mentions as cards on the homescreen
The hamburger menu hosts the options for profile, account settings, about, helpdesk and the assisted mode as a toggle
Family Board
Contains family circles and greeting stickers
Users can pin threads created under noticeboard for easy access
They can create new blogs/documents by clicking on "Add new card"
Users can "edit" the card settings and choose which ones are for personal/family use
Clicking on the "+" on the new blog screen provides options of adding images, audio or video recordings and even allows users to choose from templates.
Festivals Tab
Contains a list of festivals, calendar and glossary
Calendar showcases the current month with festival dates marked according to the user's religious preferences
Upcoming festivals are showcased below the calendar
Glossary contains a database of words/phrases related to festivals, recipes, ingredients and so on
Each of these words has a page explaining it's meaning and use
The festival tab automatically lists the festivals according to the user's preferences
It can be adjusted using filters and sorted according to religious preferences, calendar dates and alphabetical order
Each festival has a detailed page regarding it's history, significance, celebrations and so on
There are buttons on top to directly jump to the significant sections
If the festival has a relevant thread under noticeboard or cards under family circle, a CTA button indicates the same on the festival page
Prototype
Reflections
My Learnings
Why user testing and iterations are vital - Constant feedback and testing allows you to understand the user's perspective better. I overlooked certain aspects since they seemed obvious to me, whereas users can perceive it differently.
Why user testing and iterations are vital - Constant feedback and testing allows you to understand the user's perspective better. I overlooked certain aspects since they seemed obvious to me, whereas users can perceive it differently.
Importance of the design process - When I first started, how the solution would turn out or what it would be was very vague and my thoughts were all over the place. But following through the process, brought clarity with every step.
Importance of the design process - When I first started, how the solution would turn out or what it would be was very vague and my thoughts were all over the place. But following through the process, brought clarity with every step.
Simplicity is key - I initially thought of making the app feature-packed with a complex user flow and multiple pages. But as the process flowed and progressed I realized that few features that solve the user's pain-points and frustrations to the fullest is more appreciated.
Simplicity is key - I initially thought of making the app feature-packed with a complex user flow and multiple pages. But as the process flowed and progressed I realized that few features that solve the user's pain-points and frustrations to the fullest is more appreciated.
Future Scope
Given more time, I would like to go back in the process and research the festivals and associated religions and traditions more in depth.
Designing for edge cases, especially those from a mixed religious background.
Perform more usability tests. In a completely online setting it proved difficult to user test with the older age demographic and hence their feedback was limited.
Explore the whole process of documentation further and simplify the flow such that the user gains more by having to do less.
Explore the screens for various types of family combinations and make the app more inclusive.
Establish the restrictions for the customizations.
Establish the restrictions for the customizations.
Want to discuss designing for different cultures, have feedback or just want to chat? Do reach out!
This case study streamlines the work explored in my "Design for Conversational UX" and "AI/AR" courses along with a personal project to analyze shopping experience on AJIO
My Role
Research, UI Design and Prototyping (Figma), Voice Prototyping (Adobe XD)
The Project
With online shopping becoming the norm, especially during the Covid times, I decided to explore the AJIO app and reimagine parts of the shopping experience and personalize it to the user.
Duration
2 months
Design Overview
Background
The idea behind this project stemmed from my observations of the interactions between my sister who lives abroad and my mother and grandmother who she often contacts to learn and understand the different aspects related to our traditions. This was followed by research and discussions to understand how the various scenarios.
India is a country with a rich cultural heritage and has numerous festivals across various religions, races, casts and even geographies and I learnt that 80% of the people learn the associated practices and traditions through observing the elders from their childhood days and these are mostly passed down orally without any physical documentation.
52.6% of families also practice niche ancestral traditions passed down through the generations.
A large portion of Indian households have abandoned the joint family system with 70.11% of families being nuclear according to the 2011 census.
Background
The idea behind this project stemmed from my observations of the interactions between my sister who lives abroad and my mother and grandmother who she often contacts to learn and understand the different aspects related to our traditions. This was followed by research and discussions to understand how the various scenarios.
India is a country with a rich cultural heritage and has numerous festivals across various religions, races, casts and even geographies and I learnt that 80% of the people learn the associated practices and traditions through observing the elders from their childhood days and these are mostly passed down orally without any physical documentation.
52.6% of families also practice niche ancestral traditions passed down through the generations.
A large portion of Indian households have abandoned the joint family system with 70.11% of families being nuclear according to the 2011 census.
Contextualizing the Problem
Survey and Interview Insights
To avoid personal bias and to understand the chosen problem area better, I conducted a survey with 57 respondents and 4 one-on-one interviews. Key takeaways,
Frequency of celebrating festivals intricately: 19.3% always and 54.4% often, hence making festival practices a very important part of the household.
52.6% have niche ancestral traditions in their family and they learn it through observation and being taught it from a young age.
Most of this knowledge is passed on through conversations, stories, word of mouth instructions, with minimal to no documentation.
Market Study
I conducted a detailed market study to understand the types of apps that exist in the festival domain (ex. Festivals of India, Indian Culture, Indian Festival Calendar, Great Indian Festivals) and the various features they offer.
The most prevalent app is that which offers festival greetings stickers.
Other common features provided are festival calendars for different ethnic groups, information about festivals and culture, access to research papers/rare books and e-commerce services for festival related goods.
No application provided more than 2 of the above features together and there were no provisions for the user to edit and document or collaborate with family.
Discoveries
Pain Points
Lack of information on festivals practiced by smaller religious and caste groups.
Lack of a single platform that provides information about the dates and practices of different religious beliefs along with widely used features like greeting stickers.
No provision for users to document their traditions.
Inability to share all the knowledge with the family in a systemized manner.
Lack of information and features in multiple languages.
Requirements
Has information of various Indian festivals and its relevant aspects.
Ability to connect all family members
Customizable according to culture
Allows creative documentation of niche family traditions and practices
Simple to understand and use (shouldn’t have a steep learning curve)
Should be multi-linguistic
My Problem Statement
To create a solution that will offer a one -stop platform to understand festival traditions, preserve the various niche practices of different cultures and offer a family environment by enabling all members to be on board.
Explorations
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
To start off and visualize the UI of the app, I sketched the initial sign up + onboarding flow
Feedback & Iteration
To ensure that the solution is effective and impactful, I periodically tested and received feedback to help improve the overall experience of the app. The paper wireframes needed some apparent improvements.
Some of the feedback and observations for the same:
The name didn't resonate well with the main aim of the app - Renamed "Festivity"
The immediate, data-heavy sign up added a high cognitive load - Sign up page was simplified and multiple onboarding screens were added to ease the users into account setup
Need for language choices in the sign up screen itself - Added language dropdown
Medium-Fidelity Wireframes
Wireframe Iterations
User Testing 3.0
Need for assistance during account set up - Assisted mode pop-up at set up
Card colors were distracting - Made the inactive state colors subtler
Additionally - Made assisted mode a toggle in the hamburger menu and added it to the set up screen as well to facilitate assistance if pop-up is closed
User Testing 2.0
The significance of the icons not clear and or visible - Added names and made the bar white to create more contrast
The homescreen is too packed - Increased spacing and reworked certain UI elements
Under festival categories is a list and no categories as such - Renamed as just Festivals, categories are under filters
Additionally: - Redesigned sign up and account set up to be visually appealing and inviting; Made noticeboard a sub option, included pin option and created family circles (Explained with the hi-fidelity screens)
Feature Ideation
Prioritization & Arrangement
Impact-Effort Matrix
In order to make a qualitative decision and evaluate the various features that were brainstormed and mind-mapped, I plotted them against an impact-effort matrix. The green boxes indicate the top priority features.
Information Architecture
Based on the research and the prioritization, I created a content inventory to categorize features and an information architecture from that to understand the overall flow of the application. The IA was iterated based on testing.
Family Board
Contains family circles and greeting stickers
Users can pin threads created under noticeboard for easy access
They can create new blogs/documents by clicking on "Add new card"
Users can "edit" the card settings and choose which ones are for personal/family use
Clicking on the "+" on the new blog screen provides options of adding images, audio or video recordings and even allows users to choose from templates.
Festivals Tab
Contains a list of festivals, calendar and glossary
Calendar showcases the current month with festival dates marked according to the user's religious preferences
Upcoming festivals are showcased below the calendar
Glossary contains a database of words/phrases related to festivals, recipes, ingredients and so on
Each of these words has a page explaining it's meaning and use
The festival tab automatically lists the festivals according to the user's preferences
It can be adjusted using filters and sorted according to religious preferences, calendar dates and alphabetical order
Each festival has a detailed page regarding it's history, significance, celebrations and so on
There are buttons on top to directly jump to the significant sections
If the festival has a relevant thread under noticeboard or cards under family circle, a CTA button indicates the same on the festival page
Homescreen
There is a carousel on top that shows the user their saved items
The homescreen also shows a unique festival fact according to the set preferences
Upcoming festivals are showcased below the facts
The user can also view the latest activity and their mentions as cards on the homescreen
The hamburger menu hosts the options for profile, account settings, about, helpdesk and the assisted mode as a toggle
Prototype
Reflections
My Learnings
Why user testing and iterations are vital - Constant feedback and testing allows you to understand the user's perspective better. I overlooked certain aspects since they seemed obvious to me, whereas users can perceive it differently.
Importance of the design process - When I first started, how the solution would turn out or what it would be was very vague and my thoughts were all over the place. But following through the process, brought clarity with every step.
Simplicity is key - I initially thought of making the app feature-packed with a complex user flow and multiple pages. But as the process flowed and progressed I realized that few features that solve the user's pain-points and frustrations to the fullest is more appreciated.
Future Scope
Given more time, I would like to go back in the process and research the festivals and associated religions and traditions more in depth.
Designing for edge cases, especially those from a mixed religious background.
Perform more usability tests. In a completely online setting it proved difficult to user test with the older age demographic and hence their feedback was limited.
Explore the whole process of documentation further and simplify the flow such that the user gains more by having to do less.
Explore the screens for various types of family combinations and make the app more inclusive.
Establish the restrictions for the customizations.