Nation Discovery App for African Government
A digital plan for six key initiatives by the client, in-line with their 2030 vision, thereby creating opportunities to empower local businesses.
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Research & Ideation
Approach
This wasn't a regular project since it demanded a peek-through in the future, which could never be predicted. Hence any regular methodology of either organizing interviews or running surveys was not a practical approach. We therefore, depended heavily on literature review on the project and BCG's research division via whom we sourced research materials on the same topic and region from across the globe. The research was run for eight weeks and the output was shared with stakeholders to get their validation.
Limited business opportunities
Due to the influx of foreign brands and local consumers' scepticism, local business owners have very few options for marketing their products.
Lack of understanding and mistrust
Except a few international services, it was observed that most consumers do not trust online apps because of their mistrust of the system and continual online frauds.
Travel assistance
Most travellers are unsure of how to plan their journeys to the nation and are unsure of where to turn for assistance.
Loyalty Points
The policy created to persuade clients to keep making purchases from or using the services of a company affiliated with the App
Lack of understanding and mistrust
Except a few international services, it was observed that most consumers do not trust online apps because of their mistrust of the system and continual online frauds.
Aggregations
Using local citizens and content creators to broadcast information to a global audience.
Collaborations
Partnering with the greatest regional or international businesses to offer the best services through a single platform
Value Proposition
Finally, with the support of the future city vision and digital solution, we assisted the case team in developing the final proposition.
Strategy
The primary goal of the government project was to "globalize the country" and "empower the locals," and we assisted the stakeholders in drafting the essential policies around the app that will guarantee the accomplishment of our major objective.
Key Observations/Pain Points
Upon gathering information from stakeholders and also from the market desk research, a few major pain points emerged. We prioritized addressing some of them which were very common among stakeholders, business owners, and citizens.
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Planning & Prototyping
Approach/ Set Process
The waterfall technique was more appropriate to use in this situation because the construction of the APP would not begin until the MVP was ready. The phases were divided into six categories, Research, Hypothesis, Prototyping, Testing, Design and Development.
Government App
A tool by which the government can keep an eye on regional activities and take appropriate actions, when needed.
Discovery App
An app that enables people from around the world to perform several tasks, or businesses to market their goods in the consumer market.
Everything App
A holistic platform to serve all user types, whether traveller, shopper, or general user. An app that can handle any request, from shopping to arranging a cab or a visa.
City Exploration
For users to better plan their trips and have more seamless experiences with an AR/VR system that allows them to explore the city from anywhere in the world.
Business Exposure
Making fresh, modern access points for business owners that weren't there before in order to improve exposure.
Prototypes
Before proceeding to the design stage, we designed entire flows for the two key components that needed to be covered in order to fully support the stakeholder’s vision.
Information Arch
Information architecture being the backbone of such a heavy built, we made sure it got validated by stakeholders at every stage and that we didn't miss out on something that was so intrinsic to the success of the ultimate goal.
Opportunities
We created opportunities and solutions to close the systemic gaps that were impeding the empowerment of the area based on the frequent pain points that surfaced during study.
City Monitoring
A tool to keep a track of all city operations so that measures can be implemented to maintain the city's infrastructure and the expanding population.
Objective/Problem
To build a digital plan for six key initiatives by the client, in-line with the 2040 vision of creating opportunities to empower local businesses.
My Role
To lead the entire APP initiative right from planning to execution of the MVP, understanding the data and also underlying engagement opportunities with local businesses, to provide services to the domestic users, and build initial policies for the app.
Team Overview
UX Designers: 4,
Interface Designers: 4,
Illustration Artists: 1,
Motion Artists: 1,
Business Strategists: 2,
iOS Dev: 3,
Backend Dev: 2,
QC: 1
Project Type & Duration
Mobile App, AR/VR, Product Strategy, User Research, Testing.
UX Maturity: 5/10
Duration: 720 -750 Hours
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Design & Development
Approach/ Set Process
Since the app was going to be developed by an outside vendor, we worked on the designs for each module based on the findings and conclusions we had thus far and had them tested and vetted by possible users.
Easy Gesture Control
The gestures were carefully designed so they do not only support high-end phones but also low-end smart phones for even lower grades.
Quick Cards
Instead of employing a standard fixed bottom menu with restrictions, we chose a far more scalable approach, bearing in mind the vastness of the product.
Instant Close
Each first-level piece of information in our app was given in a card format so that users could simply swipe down and close the section if it didn't interest them.
Meskel Daisy
The Meskel Daisy is a flower unique to Ethiopia. It blooms once a year during the Ethiopian new years. Addis Ababa literally translates to “New Flower” in Amharic.
Tukul Hut
The Tukul Hut is a traditional dwelling, famous for it’s rounded thatched roof and mud walls, making the structure economical and environmentally friendly.
Lion of Judah
The Lion of Judah is a national and cultural symbol. It was one of the titles of the Ethiopian emperor Haille Selaisse and an important symbol of the Rastafarian movement.
Design/User Testing
We designed the flows so that our testing team could create tasks and run their tests because it was crucial to evaluate both our invention and the app flows once they were transformed into designs to confirm the design choices.
Design Inspirations
The design system was influenced by ideas created by our concept team for potential future cities.
Design Innovations
In order to differentiate it from other apps in the market, including those developed by our partners, our key objective was to thrill consumers while also keeping the experience relatively simple for them.
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Final Output
60+
User Flows
40+
Collaborations
Worked Closely with
Avi Sehmi
Region Practice Head, BCG
Curious to know more?
If you wish to know more about the project, you can contact me by email at mahesh.salaskar@gmail.com. I will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
Screens/Designs used in the portfolio are sanitised to ensure that any references to the client, their identity or critical data are removed due to NDA signed with them.