Our role was to design a system level framework which would lay out the different interactions that the product would facilitate between these stakeholders – the eventual aim being to make education more accessible to students in remote areas who are removed from mainstream education centers. This framework would become the basis of developing top level features of the web service in order for technology development to start.

User research was carried out in a small town in central India where a pilot program supported by Cisco was being run by student entrepreneurs. Ethnographic research was the key tool to understand user realities and bring that understanding to bear on product development. The system was designed to leverage social networks and user generated content over time.

Storyboards were developed to demonstrate possible journeys of the product in use. These scenarios covered the entire spectrum of short, medium and long term manifestations of the product.

The concept presentation played a crucial role in aligning different Cisco offices globally and mobilizing internal support across for product development to start. The project is currently in the technology development phase.

Spectranet is one of India’s first and largest broadband providers with services ranging from corporate and retail internet, cable TV solutions and Value Added Services.

Spectranet was launching a unique wireless internet service across India and wanted a rich understanding of who the users for this service would be, their internet and mobile usage patterns and their motivations for using this service. They also wanted to build a user-centered website that would be a key piece of their marketing strategy.

Spectranet engaged Quicksand in a user research + web design project for the website for the wireless broadband line of business. The project was executed over 3 months from research to website go-live and consisted of the following phases:

1. User Research: We segmented internet users into 8 archetypes based on their”

a) Intensity Of Internet Access : How much they used internet

b) Variety Of Internet Usage : How diverse was their internet use patterns (only Email on one end and Email + Torrents + MMOPRG + Social Media on the other)

c) Mobility Of Internet Usage : Were they always connected and logged online through their office / at home / while travelling / over phone or did they just have one access location.

Out of these 8 personas, we selected 6 that fit Spectranet’s core target group and identified representative users for each of these 6 archetypes. We then visited these users in their natural environment and had extended discussions with them around their internet usage, their device ecosystems, their perceptions on brands, their latent needs and their decision making process when choosing a broadband service provider.

2. Synthesized User Needs: Based on this research, we presented insights to Spectranet along dimensions such as internet usage, usage on the go, device ecosystems etc. Also we recommended certain types of tariff plans to maximize uptake.

3. Prototypes: We created high-fidelity wire-frames for the website based on our user research and the information needs of the users. With the technology back-end and the provisioning systems for this wireless internet service still under development,  the project presented an opportunity to influence & introduce features that could be incorporated in the service. The design process therefore ended up being highly iterative and participative.

4. Visual Design: Our design team, working with the brand brief that had been newly developed at Spectranet, created the visual design for the website.

Quicksand has been working with IDEO since early 2006, managing and facilitating design research for them in India. Services rendered include:

• research planning & design
• ethnographic research
• cultural guiding
• rich media documentation
• data synthesis

Research formats range from shadowing sessions to fly-on-the-wall observations, diads, contextual inquiries, group sessions and usually involve a combined IDEO-Quicksand team in-field. The domains of intervention have cut across products and services in sectors such as internet, mobile and telecommunications.

(project details with-held as falling under an NDA)

A small stop motion film (below) and a downloadable pdf (127 pgs, 18mb) summarise the use of film & photography in documenting design contexts.

Quicksand was brought in as the design research team to evaluate the unique aspects of Indian education, including constraints on rural schools, teachers, children, parents and infrastructure. The research in turn led to design recommendations on:

• Suitable collaboration platforms between various stakeholders
• Concepts for content delivery, interaction and system interfaces at each consumer touch point for phase one of program implementation
• A future blueprint of the program with respect to new technology & human interventions
• Internal & external communication necessary for system roll out
• Tweak existing user interface making it relevant for the new context of education

Following are some design & research artifacts from the project.

The program was piloted at district Bardhman, four hours from Calcutta. A week long ethnographic research established some key personas, concerns and paradigms that would govern the design of the Education Helpline. The work consisted of observational studies, in-depth interviews, group discussions as well as photo and film documentation – all aimed at moving towards a richer understanding of the current context.

A short film on teachers sharing their concerns and opinion on the existing education paradigm

Synthesis of the research data led to preliminary identification of user concerns, which provided an indication of the level of complexity that would be demanded of the system. Some key findings are shown below:

The next stage of the study involved developing interaction concepts that were tested with users to establish:

• Program positioning
• Training & Capacity building amongst stakeholders
• Usability of existing interface
• Database management & build-up

SCENARIO DEVELOPMENT: Illustrations of possible scenarios from point of view of teachers, field workers and knowledge workers

CALL FLOW SCHEMATIC: An illustrated depiction of how a call generated travels through the system and the key stakeholders at each stage.

SYSTEM SCOPING: Feature specification of the system in its short, medium and long term manifest

Finally, the Quicksand design team did an audit of the existing web based user interface, navigation and database structure and made simple visual design changes that would enhance its usability. This was important from the point of view of pilot implementation and was used to brief the technology development team.

The research subjects were inspirational user profiles from the cities of Surat & Mumbai who had unusual & out-of-the-ordinary information needs. Quicksand worked alongside Google’s user experience group from Mountain View, California and their product R&D teams from Bangalore, India.

The research also got cited in a recent conference – Serious Play 2008 (click here to access article)

(project details withheld as falling under an NDA)

Quicksand managed the entire design process – from research to final prototype development. Download the complete process document here (14.2 mb, 112 pages) which is also the graduating thesis of one of our lead designers, Neha.

User study (a short film we made on product usage & perceptions)

The product was later spun off as an independent company by the name of Kritikal Secure Scan. Quicksand was called in to design the brand identity and initial marketing collaterals for the formal product launch.

The project was part of studio’s early foray into retail spaces and provided important understanding of vendor networks, material and process limitations of the flourishing retail VM industry.