A Digital platform to educate & uplift Rural farmers.

GRADUATION PROJECT PRODUCT DESIGN (BACHELOR’S OF DESIGN)

Vol. 1 of 1

Project Title:

A Digital platform to educate & uplift Rural farmers.

Name:

Ashlesha Hadkar Project Mentor:

Udit Bhattacharya

2021

The Graduation Project Evaluation Jury recommends ASHLESHA HADKAR from Product Design for the Bachelor’s Graduation Degree of Unitedworld Institute of Design, Karnavati University, Gandhinagar, India herewith, for the project titled A Digital platform to educate marginal farmers. The project is complete in every aspect in accordance to the guidelines set by the institution.

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COPYRIGHT © 2021

Student document publication, meant for private circulation only.

All rights reserved.

No part of this document will be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying, xerography, photography and videography recording without written permission from the publisher, Ashlesha Hadkar and Unitedworld Institute of Design. All Illustrations and photographs in this document are Copyright © 2021 by respective people and organizations.

Written and designed by Ashlesha Hadkar, under the guidance of Udit Bhattacharya.

Printed digitally on June, 2021.

ORIGINALITY STATEMENT

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and it contains no full or substantial copy of previously published material, or it does not even contain substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgment is made in this degree project. Moreover I also declare that none of the concepts are borrowed or copied without due acknowledgment. I further declare that the intellectual content of this degree project is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.

This degree project (or part of it) was not and will not be submitted as assessed work in any other academic course.

I hereby grant the Unitedworld Institute of Design the right to archive and to make available my degree project/thesis/dissertation in whole or in part in the Institutes’s Knowledge Management Centre in all forms of media, now or hereafter known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act. I have neither used any substantial portions of copyright material in any document nor have I obtained permission to use copyright material.

Student Name in Full: Ashlesha Mukund Hadkar Signature: Date: 16.06.2021

Student Name in Full: Date:

16.06.2021

Ashlesha Mukund Hadkar

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Acknowledgment This document is a consolidation of my learnings of the four years I have received at Unitedworld Institute of Design, Ahmedabad India.

The past year has been stimulating just as it has been intensive. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my mother, father and my brother who have been my pillar of strength. They maketh me whatever I am today and what I will be.

I would like to thank Clementine Chambon, Amit Saraogi and the rest of the Oorja Team Shraddha, Chandan, Preeti, Simran, Shruti for providing me with constant on field assistance and support.

All my faculties, Mr. Shyam Bihari, Mr Vikram Augustine, Mr Sagar Joshi, Mr Ashutosh Bhiltaria, Ms Manasi kanetkar for her relentless support in shaping my design education and perception, Mr Naveen Kumar, Mr Shrikant Ghode, Mr Jivtesh Singh for his priceless wisdom and sense of humour.

My Guide, Mr Udit Bhattacharya for investing faith in my project and offering me a sense of clarity and direction whenever I was lost.

I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Mr Shiva, Mr Rahul and the rest workshop faculty members for putting in countless hours in helping me understand the dynamics of various materials and Machinery.

My friends, Nitya, Manika, Aaron, Rochelle, Yashashree, Shubham, Jayendra, Anusheel, Priyal for hearing me out and having interesting design conversations.

I am forever in your debt.

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Synopsis The Project aims to develop a user centeric Agritech platform, which provides climatebased crop advisory and training material for marginal farmers This thesis project adopts a Human centric approach by highlighting agricultural scenario, understanding intervention, conducting interviews, generating insights and design principles to design a realistic solution for marginal farmers.

This Creative Research sheds light on the realistic scenario of agriculture in India and how social design can help us make better solutions.

Contents

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Prologue Design Education and UID

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Working at Oorja

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Project Mentors

16

Introduction Decoding the context

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Current Scenario

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Rate of dependency

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Role of Govt. Policies

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Exclusion of marginal farmers

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Role of Non-profit organisations

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How can Social Design Help?

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Design Brief

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Timeline & Methodology

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03 04 05

Understanding Eastern UP The rising Internet connectivity in rural india

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Designing digital platforms for poor connectivity

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Primary Research Group & in person Interviews

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Personas

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Synthesizing Research Prioritising user needs basis Maslows hierarchy

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why are deficiency needs unmet

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oorja's approach of solving these challenges

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Business Development Market Research Case Studies

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Business case Social Business model canvas

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Sambandh Bsuiness model canvas

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Card sorting

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Brand Identity Card Sorting

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Logo design

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Brand Colors

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Typefaces

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Photography style

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App Development User Scenario

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Information Architecture

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Hero Task Flow

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App wireframes

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Visual Design

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Website Web Wireframes

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Web Visual Design

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Epilogue Conclusion

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References

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Reflections

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Design Education & UID The world is changing at a very fast pace. In addition, the technique of learning and responding to these changes is critical in order to adapt to these changes. UID believes in transformative learning experience coupled with practical learning opportunities that respond to the surrounding world, exchange of knowledge from the some of the renowned designers in India and abroad, and create an environment to collaborate with like-minded students.

From a plethora of resources, UID culminates some of the finest design labs & workshops to give students a hands on experience on latest design research methods & Technology. Product Design specialization focuses on user-centric design, value engineering, & holistic product development.

It also focuses on contemporary realities, including sustainability and technological change while exploring materials, fabrication, aesthetics, & social engagement in both local and global contexts.

Choosing to become a Product designer was rare sight when the author of this book decided to. Her batch mates and she were equally uncertain of where this path would lead them but eventually this field became a significant choice, which not only developed them as a designer but also as a human.

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Oorja has been awarded with many notable prizes, It is the winner of Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge 2019 and the keeling Curve Prize 2020

Working at Oorja Founded and led by Amit Saraogi, who brings 25 years’ experience in banking, consulting and international development, and Dr Clementine Chambon, who has technical expertise in costeffective design of distributed renewable energy systems. They led a team of 18 people in India.

The entire team are highly driven by the social and climate mission, are hands-on and resourceful and have together completed execution of 24 solar projects in rural areas of India.

Approximately 30 million farmers across India, notably marginal landholders, women farmers and low-income farmers, are locked out of accessing cost-effective solar technology. They remain reliant on expensive diesel-based energy sources that contribute to low crop yields and agricultural income. Thus, lacking access to affordable and reliable energy sources for irrigation, post-harvest processing and cold storage of their crops.

Oorja Development Solutions is a pay-per-use farming services company registered in the UK and India. It acts as a multi-utility providing affordable irrigation, agroprocessing and refrigeration services powered by solar energy. These are sold on a pay-per-use basis without any upfront technology acquisition cost to small and marginal farmers in weak-grid areas of Northern India.

Oorja engineers, finances and installs distributed solar energy systems to power rural livelihoods.

It operates and maintains community solar irrigation pumps, cold storages and mini-grids and sells irrigation water, cold storage units and agroprocessing machines as a service on a payper-use basis, this eliminates the upfront "cost barrier" and provides equal access to energy.

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Project Mentors

Dr. Clementine Chambon Clementine has worked as a renewable energy consultant for New Climate Economy, the European Commission, and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and has expertise in cost-effective design of distributed energy systems. She holds a PhD in Bioenergy from Imperial College London and a Master’s in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge. She believes in creating a true quantifiable impact for marginal farmers.

Amit Saraogi Amit has 25 years of experience in business consulting, financial services, and development practice in India, the US and Switzerland. He brings to Oorja a strong grasp of business strategy, financial acumen and operations expertise. Amit holds a Master’s degree in International Development from Columbia University & a BCom in Accountancy and Financial Management from Sydenham College.

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Internal Mentor

Udit Bhattacharya An alumnus of Master’s in Product Design from N, who started his journey from China as a Design Researcher, eventually leading an innovation firm for a billion dollar French Multinational Company. Behaviour economics, Psychology and Business strategies are some of Udit’s key interestes which supplement him to create a unique process to solve complex industry problems. He currently teaches, mentors and gives lectures on creating meaningful innovation by using human centred design approach for students and startups.

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The Author

Ashlesha Hadkar Ashlesha grew up in a design and science background thus, questioning the how and why of things was embedded in her DNA a long time ago. Towards the end of her high school education she realised design would be the platform that will help her unveil the relationship between Products and humans. Along with human-centricity, she is also keenly interested in Nature centric design and therefore wants to design products and experiences which nurture both, Humans as well as the Nature.

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02.

Introduction During the Green Revolution, India’s food production rose drastically, from 65 million tonnes (MT) to 110 MT, largely due to the heavy use of fertilisers, and in addition to that usage of high-yielding variety seeds and expansion in irrigation areas was also observed. Farmers now, use more urea as compared to phosphorus and potash carrying fertilisers.

They are unware of the proportions and quantities fertilizers should be used in and thus, Indian soils have started to become deficient in micronutrients like organic carbon.

Decoding The Context

Decoding The Context

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Current Scenario of Indian Agriculture

Current Scenario of Indian Agriculture Culture Majority of Indian diaspora believes agriculture is a way of life rather than a way to earn a living. The values, beliefs, behaviors, and symbols are considered an important part of the Indian heritage and passed from one generation to another. Most farmers in India involve their families to work on fields to support their livelihood and believe working together as a family strengthens their bond.

Agriculture embodies a deep sense of oneness with family and selflessness. In the 21st century farmers have to be adaptive, inventive, and ethical in their agricultural practices.

Often, farmers focus more on their yield than protecting the environment, especially the soil while doing agriculture.

Significance According to world statistics, India ranks second worldwide in agricultural outputs.

India's agriculture is composed of many

crops, with the foremost staple food being rice and wheat.Despite the overwhelming size of the agricultural sector, yields per hectare of crops in India are generally low compared to international standards.

Improper water management, usage of harmful fertilizers and pesticides are degrading India’s soil.

issues. Southwest monsoon in India is a four month long period from June till September.

More than 75% of India’s annual rainfall occurs during this period. The fate of the Kharif crops depend on the performance of the southwest Monsoon. Good rains during the season result in bountiful crops which further benefit the farmers and in turn the rest nation.

Another major concern problem is productivity, which is highly dependent on soil fertility.

Agriculture accounts for as much as a quarter of the Indian economy, and employs an estimated 60% of the labor force.It is considered highly inefficient, wasteful, and is attributed to hunger and malnutrition in India.

A major portion of the country’s crop area is completely dependent on monsoon rains as farmers are not equipped with methods of manual irrigation. Weak monsoon results in crop failure which affects the economy in a negative manner due to lower yield.

Furthermore, this translates to high prices, low output from reliant industries, and other

Most Indian farmers operate on less than or just five acres of land, half of which in many parts of India may be dry or rainfed. small farmers are less literate and are from more marginalized castes and communities, and are generally excluded from modern market arrangements, like contract farming or direct purchase.

Current Scenario of Indian Agriculture

Major Crop Areas, 2008 source: Maps of India

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The Rate of Dependency on Agriculture in India

The Rate of Dependency on Agriculture in India India is the world's largest producer of milk, pulses and jute, and ranks as the second largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, groundnut, vegetables, fruit and cotton. It is also one of the leading producers of spices, fish, poultry, livestock and plantation crops. Worth $ 2.1 trillion, India is the world's third largest economy after the US and China.

Agriculture, with its allied sectors, is the largest source of livelihoods in India. 70% of its rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, with 82 percent of farmers being small and marginal. In 2017-18, total food grain production was estimated at 275 million tonnes (MT). India is the largest producer (25% of global production), consumer (27% of world consumption) and importer (14%) of pulses in the world. India's annual milk production was 165 MT (2017-18), making India the largest producer of milk, jute and pulses, and with world's second-largest cattle population 190 million in 2012..It is the secondlargest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton and groundnuts, as well as the second-largest fruit and vegetable producer, accounting for 10.9% and 8.6% of the world fruit and vegetable production, respectively.

Role of Govt. Policies

Role of Govt. Policies Slow agricultural growth is a concern for policymakers as some two-thirds of India’s people depend on rural employment for a living. Current agricultural practices are neither economically nor environmentally sustainable and India’s yields for many agricultural commodities are low.

Poorly maintained irrigation systems and almost universal lack of good extension services are among the factors responsible. Poor transportation, rudimentary market infrastructure, and excessive regulation hampers farmers’ access to markets.

Nation–One Scheme theme by replacing earlier two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) by incorporating their best features and removing their inherent drawbacks (shortcomings).

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare of Government of India formulates numerous schemes and policies each year to ensure equal opportunities are given to rural farmers.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana(PMKSY), Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana(PKVY), Micro Irrigation Fund scheme, are some of the high impacting, recent schemes.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima (PMFBY) The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) launched on 18 February 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an insurance service for farmers for their yields.It was formulated in line with One

PMFBY aims to provide a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of the crop thus helping in stabilising the income of the farmers.

Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA). Under PKVY Organic farming is promoted through adoption of organic village by a cluster approach.

The Scheme envisages promotion of commercial organic production through certified organic farming. Ensures that the produce will be pesticide residue free and will contribute to improve the health of consumer.

Thus, helping farmers raise their income and create potential market for traders.

Pradhan Mantri krishi Sinchai (PMKSY)

Micro Irrigation Fund Scheme (MIFS)

The Government of India has been implementing Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Micro Irrigation with the objective to enhance water use efficiency in the agriculture sector by promoting appropriate technological interventions like drip & sprinkler irrigation technologies and encourage the farmers to use water saving and conservation technologies.

The Scheme was launched by the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture in January, 2006.

The objective of the fund is to facilitate State Govts. efforts in mobilizing additional resources for expanding coverage under micro irrigation and incentivizing its adoption beyond provisions of PMKSY-PDMC. The corpus was to be utilized during 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Pramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) The Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana is an elaborated component of Soil Health Management (SHM) of major project National

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The Rate of Dependency on Agriculture in India

Demands made by farmers from different regions of India during the 2017 farmers' protest.

Exclusion of Marginal farmers From Govt. Schemes

Exclusion of Marginal farmers From Govt. Schemes In India, 3/4th of the farmers do not get benefits from government schemes and approximately 80% of India's farmers are small and marginal. Even though the country has a Rs. 8 lakh crore credit for farmers, SMF are left out of these schemes.

According to the the report submitted by the RBI panel, despite a vast number of initiatives and schemes aimed at financial inclusion, only 40.90% of Small and marginal farmers are covered by the scheduled commercial banks (SCBs), The current sanction of Rs 30,000 crore as a capital funding for farmers through the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) is targeted towards rural co-operative banks and regional rural banks. However, the focus of this relief package is extremely limited.

Across most states, and especially in eastern India (Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal), the share of the number of accounts held by small and marginal

farmers is also disproportionately low when compared to their actual numbers. Furthermore, these estimates are based on landholding-based data that exclude landless farmers,tenant farmers, oral lessees, sharecroppers, who are a significant proportion of farmers in many regions and remain systemically excluded from the existing formal agricultural credit network. Small and marginal farmers and landless cultivators continue to be largely dependent on informal sources of rural credit. Therefore it is unfair to assume that India's banking system can effectively transmit these additional infusions of credit to nearly 3 crore small and marginal farmers in the upcoming years.

The Drawbacks of Kisan Credit Cards These credit cards aim to provide a sum of Rs. 2 lakh crore concessional credit boost to 2.5 crore farmers. Unfortunately, the record of coverage under KCCs, a scheme first introduced in 1998, over 20 years ago, has been reported to be limited. The RBI’s Internal Working Group estimated that as of 2019, only around 45 per cent of all Indian farmers possessed an operative KCC and that given the existence of multiple accounts per farmer, the percentage is likely to be even lower. Nabard’s NAFIS Survey in 2016-17, reported that only 10.5 per cent of agricultural households

were found to have a valid KCC. According to recent sources, Instead of utilising the PM-KISAN platform to further front-end and disburse cash transfers (it is after all a DBT scheme), the database is now to be used to extend coverage of credit under KCCs, but the PM-KISAN database has itself had difficulties with the identification of farmers and only includes landowning farmers, leaving out landless farmers, tenant farmers and sharecroppers.

To summarize, only those farmers are eligible for a formal credit who are wealthy, own their land, have a strong social capital and have connections in the sector.

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The Indian farmer receives merely a fraction of the price the Indian consumer pays, the difference goes to losses, inefficiencies and middlemen.

According to National Crime Records Bureau of India, Farmer suicides account for 11.2% of all suicides in India.

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Villagers in Uttar Pradesh collected dry mustard stalks for firewood in June.

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A dry well in Parshoi, Uttar Pradesh, in June.

It ran out of water two years before.

Role of Non-Profit Organisations

Role of Non-Profit Organisations Social entrepreneurs and NGOs helps increase agricultural yield in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner by offering various products and services in agri-input as well as agri-output. Social entrepreneurship is significant for economic development, social change, empowerment, food security, sustainable development, and leadership development.

They are creative, practical, use resources wisely and seek out opportunities, and usually don’t focus on generating financial profit. Social entrepreneurship signals the imperative to drive social change.

There are various social enterprises and NGOs which act as change agents for agricultural development and economic transformation. Oorja, AMUL, Digital Green, Aga khan are few among many other social enterprises creating a positive impact. Their sole purpose is to provide affordable services for farmers by understanding climatic conditions and farm land dynamics.

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Digital Green

The Gap

Digital Green utilises technology and grassrootlevel partnerships to bring smallholder farmers out of poverty. It co-creates digital solutions that are for and by the community. It uses community video and mobile technologies which enables farmers to boost their yield and value in a nutrition-sensitive, climate-resilient, and inclusive manner.

The major challenges for social entrepreneurship development in agriculture are cultural complexity and lack of proper understanding of the users' needs.

Aga Khan Foundation The agriculture and food security program is active in 2,500 Indian villages with activities focused on environmental protection, establishment of community based self-help groups, establishing local ownership for cattle breeding & market linkages for dairy products, rain water harvesting and computer based learning for youth interested in non-farm employment.

Although current methods and tools used by social entrepreneurs focus on specific social aspects but they often fail to engage communities to participate actively in the design processes thus, leading to a communication gap with users.

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How can Social Design help us solve these challenges?

How can Social Design help us solve these challenges?

Social Design utilizes a user-centric approache to understand user needs as well as business, economic, environmental, social, and other requirements to create successful solutions that solve real problems.

With the increase of global social networks, there is a clear need for design in certain areas, especially in low-income communities. Design can influence and enables digital transformation, and can be seen as a means to spread awareness and motivate entities.

Social Designers A growing number of designers ‘have shown concern for socio-ethical issues and pondering the impacts of their work on the planet and its peoples’ and thus engage in social innovation activities. Nevertheless, the popular understanding of what designers do is largely connected to creating products and taking care of their visual aesthetics.

Many designers engage in creating environmentally responsible design (sustainable and green) through their careers. Working for notforprofit organizations and pro bono for a good cause is common among practicing designers across all design disciplines (for example, industrial design, communication design and fashion design).

However, the emergence of the ‘social designer’ as career path and its appeal to a growing number of designers and design graduates is rather recent.

Design has always been about finding solutions, practical innovations, and making improvements that enhance people’s lives, address problems or open up possibilities for a better life.

On the other hand social design is about applying general design principles to our social realities and “designing” ways to address social issues (such as poverty or social isolation), and ultimately creating a more just and sustainable society.

Co- Creation Co-creation, is a strategic business tool to develop better products and improve brand communication. It has been utilized in the business world for many years. Involving customers to participate in value-creating activities, such as user-test products, inviting them to contribute slogans or tag lines for commercials and advertising campaigns or asking them to submit innovative packaging suggestions.

Co-creation or participatory design has become increasingly popular in the area of social innovation. This is in particular the case because the people who benefit from the service, product or process to be developed or improved are actively participating in the creation process. It is different from user-centered design, where the end-user or customer is the subject of observation as a source for development or improvements In the co-creation process, the end-user or customer becomes an equal partner and is actively involved throughout the creation process.

How can Social Design help us solve these challenges?

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Participatory process

Ensuring value

Enhancing communicationn

This means that the people who benefit from the service, product or process to be developed or improved are actively participating in the creative process.

Through Social design, an organization can ensure their products and services maintain value both internally and for their customers.

A social design approach keeps the user at the center without pressurising them answer or making them hyper conscious.

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The people who need design ingenuity the most, the poorest 90% of the global population, have historically been deprived of it.

– Alice Rawsthorn, Design critic

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Design Brief

Design Brief An Educational Digital Platform A digital platform which provides crop advisory and information about agriculture to farmers, and guides them in input selection.

Oorja works with one-acre farmers and SSPs of traditional grain and horticultural crops. and sells farmers services to meet their onfarm energy needs. Despite having generated 20-25% cost savings for irrigation, primary processing, post-harvest refrigeration, and enabled crop diversification, farmers are still lacking access to knowledge and basic resources to substantially increase their income.

Primary Goals India has low provisioning of agricultural information by both public and private agencies, with only 41% of farmers nationally having access to any source of information for agriculture. To reach the 120 million farming households in India, individualised training or extension services are too costly whereas digital technology enables the dissemination of information quickly and at a low cost. Despite agricultural training videos being available for free on the internet, most farmers do not browse the web in search of them and rely mainly on outside agencies. A number of agri-tech and farm-tech companies

in India have made advisory services, which are accessible via digital or mobile technology, these platforms focus on the needs of medium and small farmers, (having 2.5-5 acres of land) and offer 1-2 services rather than services which cover the entire agri value chain.

Design Brief

Approach

Areas of Interest

Proposed Methodology

Oorja will take a human-centered approach focusing on the needs of BoP marginal farmers having less than 2.5 acres and typically around 1 acre of land. Oorja currently plans to develop their own mobile application by partnering with an existing digital library platforms, to keep it cost-effective and practical.

There are two primary areas of interest that could be subjected to analysis and interpretation; first analysing which practices contribute to a bad crop yield. How are these practices currently improved upon. Second, trying to understand the gap between quality agri-inputs and marginal farmers and understanding how a social enterprise can evaluate these ground realities.

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Building premise & studying the scenario of agriculture in Eastern UP

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Understanding the role of Govt, Enterprises and Social designers

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Mapping mental models

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Competitor study

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understanding user goals and interaction

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Project Timeline & Methodology

Project Timeline & Methodology

February

March

April- May

This Diagram is a representation of the human-centered design process, illustrating the inpiration, ideation and implementation process.

Project Timeline & Methodology

Secondary & Primary Research, Business model canvas Interviews, Creative brief, Analysing Gathered data, strengthening the research Ideation,User scenarios Final concept, wireframing Final wireframes, Visual Design, user testing

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Project Timeline & Methodology

03.

Understanding Eastern UP.

Project Timeline & Methodology

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Understanding Eastern UP

Understanding Eastern UP Politcal map of Eastern Uttar Pradesh

The focus on producing more during the Green Revolution ensured food security to the millions but it also led to degradation of natural resources. Rice and wheat are the major crops grown and has a 150% cropping intensity in this region and contributes about 30% of total food grain production of the state. The people directly engaged in agriculture is about 54% in eastern U.P. Most of the families are illiterate (40%) because of their poor economic condition and very poor infrastructure for education.

The size of land holding is also very small.

Nearly 82% of the farmers possess holding size less than 1 ha (0.39ha) and 12% farmers hold in between 1-2 ha (1.41 ha) land. Irrigation status of agricultural land in eastern U.P. indicates that about 40% of net sown area is wholly rain dependent and remaining (60%) is irrigated out of which only 18% of area is fully irrigated .

Understanding Eastern UP

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Soil condition

cropping seasons

Infrastructure

The soil health in this region is declining from persistent erosion. Agriculture in the region is also highly vulnerable to the vagaries of nature- droughts as well as floods. In fact,floods are a perennial problem here.

Over the last two decades, theagriculture sector has witnessed a trend of increasingly low ‘return on investment’ from agricultural operations due to ever increasing cost of inputs(particularly, the costs of irrigation, fertilizer and labour) and stagnating output values. The eastern U.P. has a sizeable area of problem soils such as Bhat (calcarious) soil and submergence (1-3 weeks) in North-Eastern plain zone, Diara and waterlogged and sodic soils in Eastern Plain zone, Karail (black) soils and red-lateritic soils in Vindhyan zone. These soils need reclamation/specific management

The main cropping seasons in Eastern-UP are Rabi and Kharif. On rare ocassions farmers also grow crops in the zaid season. Rabicrops are sown in winter season ie. from October to December and harvested in the month of February to April. These crops need less water and average temperature. some important rabi crops are wheat, barley, gram, masoor, potato, pulses, etc.

The infrastructure facilities like transportation, electricity, health, nutrition and education, etc. are highly inadequate in the area. It is more challenging when support system for agriculture is poor in this region, like credit, input supplies, post production value addition and processing, storage,marketing and extension facilities in eastern UttarPradesh.

Kharif Crops are grown during the monsoon which is the rainy season. Their seeds are sown in the beginning of the monsoon season i.e May to July. Aftermaturation, these crops are harvested at the end of the monsoon season from September to October.

Rice, cotton, jute, sugarcane, arhar, bajra, groundnut, maize, etc. are grown in this season.

Due to lack of proper marketing or industrial network, cultivation of certain commercial crops like safflower, sunflower, soybean, malt barley and a large number of aromatic or medicinal plants which are suitable for diversification for the area has lagged behind.

There is a very limited use of improved farm machinery and hence adversely affects the productivity of the crops.

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The Rising Internet Connectivity in Rural India

The Rising Internet Connectivity in Rural India More than half of all new internet users will come from rural communities & rural users will constitute about half of all indian internet users by 20212020.

According to a report published by Boston Consulting group in, Rapid growth in internet usage in rural india is a double-barreled gamechanger, with up to more than 300 million indian consumers online. While most of the focus has been urban users, rural areas which are home to two-thirds of the country’s population, where most of the action will be for the rest of the decade. More than half of all new internet users are from rural communities.

immature digitally, and their usage patterns can be expected to evolve as they gain experience.

The most cheap smartphone producers in India are Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Samsung.

Their phones cost a minimum of Rs. 2000 to Rs 8000 and also offer low cost EMI to ease the burden of the purchase. Generally, store bought smartphones come with a cheap sim card plan which are often offered by BSNL, Airtel and Idea.

Rural internet users are today almost exclusively male (98%), while women are also online in growing numbers (21%). More than 60% of rural users have been online for less than two years, which means most rural users are reatively

Engagement Almost 70% of rural users access social networks, which are their most popular online destination.

But while urban users focus on the social aspect, interacting with friends on sites such as facebook,

people in rural areas use social networks to access the internet, which is where their consumption of content- such as news and videos primarily occurs. Other popular activities for rural consumers are downloading media(41%), and chatting and e-mailing (30% each).

Rural users' online behavior varies by segment.

Ambitious users play games, download media, and are active on social networks. The next-wave users are rather limited to interacting on social networks and listening to music. Late adopters are mainly social networkers, while mature users seek out business and job information and read news.

The Rising Internet Connectivity in Rural India

In 2016, 25 % of the farmers surveyed used Internet to obtain agricultural information. By 2017, this figure rose to 41 %. In the same time period, farmers who use Internet to entertain themselves also rose from 70 % to 81 %...

- Source: Kleffmann Group, 2017 research

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Designing Digital Platforms for Poor Connectivity

Designing Digital Platforms for Poor Connectivity Internet connection in rural areas are quite unreliable and consumes a lot of time to load simple applications like whatsapp or sometimes even google search. However, with recent interventions from network companies like BSNL, Airtel and Idea, internet connectivity doesn't pose as a major threat anymore.

Though internet has become more accessible things are hard when designing apps for regions that have even slower internet, like Uttar Pradesh.

Apps that are too feature rich and heavy may look great and feel amazing, but can be a source of frustration when they do not work smoothly on poor networks. Soon, frustration leads to abandonment, lost sales and negative reviews.

Smoother connectivity can be assured if apps are light enough to work smoothly on lower bandwidths without sacrificing visual aesthetic and rich experience.

Designing Content That Can Be Viewed Offline

Optimize Images

The user's worst enemy is an empty page. If the app loses all data and draws a blank the moment it can mean a deal breaker. Designing offline content can ease the users into the app if there is no activity. For instance, Facebook shows a cached section of the newsfeed even when the app is offline, with a clear alert that you are not connected to the internet. Instagram and Twitter too do a decent, if not spectacular job of showing at least some content even when offline. The pre-requisite to being able to provide content when offline is caching, which is the developer’s job, but a designer has to design pages that are lightweight. This would mean using plain text which is compressed to a point that it is just adequate. Offline content indicates an inclusive approach by keeping in mind those users which may not have access to the internet immediately.

Rich high resolution images are the crucial aspects of the app’s visual appeal. However, they are also the most data-consuming aspects of the app.

Fortunately, there are tools and techniques to help load images faster. With image compression plugins in Sketch and Photoshop images can load faster. Image slicing can also be used to load images faster, so that parts of the image keep loading one at a time instead of making the user wait a long while before anything shows up.

However, in too poor a connectivity, it is advisable to use CSS or Layout for visual appeal and minimize the use of images as much as possible.

Alternatively, you can resort to using styled background colors instead of images.

Designing Digital Platforms for Poor Connectivity

Tackling Inconsistencies A number of developing economies in places like India are currently housing a large chunk of the global app user population. However, poor internet connectivity is a regular feature in these areas. optimising the app for lower bandwidth enables farmers from extremely remote areas to participate in a lifestyle that is new to them, it increases number of opportunities and scope of imagination to implement and adapt to newer techniques of farming. Through observation and research it was found that, many Agri-tech apps have these variety of unwanted features such as activity feed, almost all kinds of farming equpments and inputs which in-turn makes it difficult to load as well as understand what each of these functions are intended for.

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Designing Digital Platforms for Poor Connectivity

04.

Primary Research Primary research is essentially coming up with new data to understand who you are designing for and what you would potentially plan on designing. It allows us to validate our ideas with our users and design more meaningful solutions for them. Designers typically gather this type of data through interviews with individuals or through small groups, surveys, or questionnaires. The interviews were conducted in group as well as individual.

Designing Digital Platforms for Poor Connectivity

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Primary Research Primary Research

Who? Farmers who have subscribed to oorja’s services & their age ranged between 35-50 yrs, have a land sizing of less than 1.7 acre, few cows or goats and some basic machinery.

Why? Poor farmers refrain from communicating and are barely aware of their decisions. This alerted and made us aware that these communities need attention on their concerns.

How ?

Telephonic Interviews, Community Discussions, Collective & Personal Interviews & by understanding the dynamic nature of their field.

Primary Research

Harman’s Background Harman is a 38 year old farmer from harbanchpur, UP. He supports seven children (six boys and one girl) his wife and parents. He has completed only primary education and was forced to leave school to support his family. harman also has a cow, a buffalo and few goats who provide dairy. He started farming fifteen years ago and it has been the only profession he has ever worked in. Sometimes, in off seasons he works as a labour in the city.

Harman feels Angered and helpless

“ I want to practice agriculture which is free of pesticides and toxic fertilizers.

Harmar says, “ I have worked days long to nurture this farm and yield a higher productivity but most of my efforts go to waste. I buy my seeds from a shop in Nanpara and purchase only the one’s the seller suggests. The seller shows me the picture present on the packet and convices me that, that is how my crop would look, but he doesn’t assure me with a productivity rate. The only way I can test its productivity is by purchasing them.”

He further adds “According to the government policies we have access to marketplaces where we can sell our crops at higher rates as compared to local markets, but the system is based on

tokens, it requires me to wait for more than two to three weeks after harvesting my crops. With no other choice left, I am forced to sell my crops at local market places which offer me an unjust selling price.“ Harman mostly farms wheat and rice. Farming wheat is the most expensive affair for him and costs around Rs. 3000 per bigha (15,000 per acre) for seeds and fertilizers. The process also requires more than five to six labours for the tillage process and a more than usual quantity of pesticides.

Lastly he says, “I want a better productivity and access to good quality seeds, have knowledge to farm better and want my kids to help in our farm when they grow older”.

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Primary Research

Omkarnath’s Background Omkarnath is a 37 year old farmer and stays in sarvantara,UP. His family consists of five people.

After completing his secondary level education he chose to leave school to support his family. Omkarnath owns two buffalows who provide enough milk for his family and has a smartphone and two tractors

Why he is a happy with his produce Omkarnath grows wheat, rice and other commonly known grains. he mostly buy’s farm inputs from nanpara which is nine to ten kilometer away from his house.

“ If oorja provides me with high quality seeds and fertilizers my farm would become even better

Usually, he purchases his inputs based on the sellers reccomendation and is able to produce a high yield. To promote the growth, he uses high quality fertilizers and herbicides, so he says. when asked if this hinders with the quality of the soil he changes the topic and says “ My crops look so fresh, and just see the amount of productivity am able produce” He also says “ If oorja provides me with a high quality of seeds and fertilizers my farm would

become even better, I don’t want to learn about organic farming or organic fertilizers as they would hinder the rate of productivity.”

He tells us that he wants to learn about farming and producing a good yield if oorja conducts farming advisory workshops or training sessions in his village.

When asked about what his dream farm would look like, he imagines it to be a completely mechanised farm.

He sells his produce at local markets and since he has few good connections he is able to get a good profit.

Primary Research

Shakuntala Devi’s Background She is a resident of mohammadpur, minapur who provides for a family of 10. Her husband works near the nepal border as a labour and sends money every month. She also has a Tillage machine she and two goats.

treasurer of the JEEViKA scheme in bihar and recieved training to learn about vermi composting and organic farming but eventually gave it up because it required more effort and attention than using chemical fertilizers.

She faces lack of support

she hopes for her family to be supportive of her decisions about adopting other kinds of practices to yield a better crop.

Shakuntala has to take care of her children, her ailing in-laws and the farm. During the off season she takes up tailoring as a job to provide for her family.

“ I pray that the next time I buy seeds, they aren't duplicate.

She grows cucumber, beans, tomatoes and eggplants. Since bihar is a drought prone region she is unable to grow crops in all seasons thus, she mostly grows crops after the kartik season. she purchases inputs from a neighboring village and says, “They mostly sell duplicate seeds to me, but sometimes I recieve original seeds as well” Shakuntala also feels she is incapable of making better decisions for her farm because she lacks knowledge.

9 years ago, Shakuntala was a leader and

She wants oorja to provide her with farm advisory and training.

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Primary Research

05.

Synthesizing Research

Synthesizing Research Synthesizing Research

After analysing the interview data, the information is seggregated into four important factors which affect the productivity and profit of a farmer.

Certain factors are touch base the problem scenario at the surface level while certain factors such as resources and knowledge give birth to new focus areas.

Synthesizing Research

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Synthesizing Research

Prioritising user needs on the basis of Maslow’s Hierarchy Maslow proposed a motivational theory, which suggests that human needs can be organized in a hierarchy. This five tier heirarchy ranges from more concrete needs such as food and water to abstract concepts such as self-fulfillment. When a lower need is met, the next need on the hierarchy becomes the focus of attention.These needs are similar to instincts and play a major role in motivating behavior.

The needs at the lower level arise due to deprivation and are called deficiency needs.

Satisfying these lower-level needs is important in order to avoid unpleasant feelings or consequences.

The highest level of the pyramid as growth needs.

These needs don't stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person.

While the theory is generally portrayed as a fairly rigid hierarchy, the order in which these needs are fulfilled does not always follow this standard progression.

Synthesizing Research

The inights are segregated on the basis of maslow's hierarchy.

Observation After segregating need based on Maslow's needs it was noticed that farmers' deficiency needs are not being met.

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Synthesizing Research

Why are farmers deficiency needs not being met?

Synthesizing Research

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Oorja's approach of solving these challenges

Oorja's approach of solving these challenges

Oorja proposes to develop “Sambandh”, a mobile application to deliver climate and science based advisory for crop and input selection. To prevent farmers from falling for malpractices of local sellers, oorja aims to create a safe and secure online marketplace. The motive is to build a farmer-friendly Android application and website which contains a digital platform to provide them access to agricultural training through videos or onsite demonstration in regional languages and a trusted online agri-input marketplace.

01.

02.

Personalised smart advisory to help identify crops that will be profitable and tolerant to climate stresses

Science-based cultivation guidance to complement traditional agricultural practices

03.

04.

Data-driven support for better decision-making, especially for purchasing agri inputs

Access to affordable and high quality agri inputs, as they face problems with low agro-economic potential & duplication

Oorja's approach of solving these challenges

06.

Business Development

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Oorja's approach of solving these challenges

Services offered by Agri-Tech apps Agri advisory (27) is the most popular service provided by agri-tech apps, followed by pest and disease detection(17) and online agri input marker (16). Almost none of the apps provide verified input resources.

Agri Advisory 30 25 Rental Sevices

Crop and Input Selection 20 15 10 5

Mandi Facility

0

Insurance Service

Online Agri Input Market

Agri Training

Pest and Disease Detection

Oorja's approach of solving these challenges

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Customer Ratings of Various apps Khet buddy App has got highest rating (5) followed by Agrolee(4.7) and krishify(4.6).

These apps mainly focus on crop advisory and selling agri-Inputs.

CUSTOMER RATING 6

5

5 4.7

4.6

4.4 4.2 4

4.2

4.2

4.2

4.4

4.3

4.2

4

4.6

4.5

4.4

4.3

4.3

4.6

4.4

4.4 4.2 4

3.5

3.9

3.9

3.8

3.8

3.6

3.5

3.2 3 Customer Rating 2

1

0

0

0

62

Oorja's approach of solving these challenges

Languages Offered by Different App companies No.of Companies INTERNATIONAL LANG

1

URDU

2

TAMIL

10

TELUGU

14

KANNADA

13

MALAYALAM

4

ODIYA

4

BANGLA

9

ASSAMESE

2

PUNJABI

9

GUJARATI

11

MARATHI

15

ENGLISH

29

HINDI

28 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Case Studies

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Plantix an AgriTech start-up

Issues Plantix noticed 1

2

3

Widespread use of unsuitable pesticides; is a waste of money and potentially harms human health, and environment. Many farmers do not know what infests their crops and the shopkeepers have not seen the fields before selling the product. This, as a consequence, leads to the application of wrong pesticides.

Availability & prices of products; There are many spurious products being sold, and farmers have very few options to choose from at their local shop, and often end up paying high prices. lack of data and information around smallholder farming.

Case Studies

A Hyderabad and Berlin-based startup led by husbandwife duo Rob and Simone Strey started in 2015, Plantix; uses artificial intelligence to identify plant diseases, pests, & nutrient deficiencies. It also helps fight crop losses and wrong use of pesticides.

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Case Studies

App Benefits Plantix uses artificial intelligence & machine learning to identify plant diseases, pests, and nutrient deficiencies. Apart from this, it also helps to fight crop losses and unnecessary use of pesticides. To provide high accuracy in detecting crop diseases plantix asks the user if it has diagnosed the correct disease based on its appearence.

Unfulfilled use cases •

The app consumes alot of internet resulting in long waiting period to use the app.

•

Doesn't function properly on 2G or 3G networks

•

The user has to follow a lenthy process to complete its goal.

Case Studies

Farmrise empowers the Indian agriculture community by helping them overcome the historic obstacle of isolation and by giving them access to educational & scientific information. It primarily focuses on helping farmers take informed decisions to reduce costs, increase yield and get better price for their yield.

Issues Farmrise noticed 1

2

More than 50% of the Indian population is dependent on agriculture and almost 85% of the farms are below 2 hectares.

Marginal farmers often struggle to receive agronomic training or access to credit; this negatively affects their productivity and income.

Case Studies

FarmRise; a digital platform that helps farmers take informed decisions

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Case Studies

App Benefits Farmrise empowers farmers by providing access to scientific knowledge and reduces middlemen monopoly by connecting farmers to marketplaces.

This initiative also aims to increase the productivity rate and prepare farmers to combat India's hunger issues.

FarmRise runs smoothly on low-speed 2g or 3g internet connectivity as it uses google fonts and has intelligent caching. For increased familiarity, the app uses lifelike illustrations without increasing asset weight.

Unfulfilled use cases •

Inaccurracies in weather forecast

•

Mandi prices are not accurate as compared to local markets.

•

lacks in creating a strong visual hierarchy for different sets of information.

•

Locate my farm (which is the main feature) is placed towards the end of the screen, which can easily be ignored by the user.

Business Landscape

Business Landscape Majority of apps bombard the user with information which is in most cases overwhelming. Considering the background of the general population of farmers, app features such as posting content online, information regarding mandi prices, purchasing or selling livestock becomes a difficult goal to achieve and hence farmers end up losing interest in the service. On the other hand Oorja aims at providing personalised and localised content to farmers by providing verfied resources.

To reduce cognitive load Oorja proposes to sell Agri-inputs by creating a verfied database of input sellers. Through this feature Oorja will be able to keep the information authentic and gain trust of their customer base. As most of the rural population isn't proficient in online transactions, the platform will also enable farmers to directly connect with local input sellers and decide the mode of

payment as well as delivery, amongst themselves. Active customer care and grievance redressal team will be built to create a loyal customer base. A backend team would be hired for frequent maintenance of the platform to make the experience as bug free as possible and make improvements where necessary.

The App will aim to be lightweight so that it consumes less space on users' phones and also less mobile less data.

Often, these apps are developed in isolation without considering how these apps will be used by semi-literate rural farmers. Therefore, to bridge this gap Oorja (through its field team) will educate its farmers on how they can use it and benefit from it.

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Business Landscape

07.

Business Case The stage covers the crreation of strategies required in order to construct the bsuiness and entails tasks, and processes to develop and implement growth opportunities. Business case is the creation of long-term value for an organization from customers, markets, and relationships. It can be taken to mean any activity by either a small or large organization, non-profit or for-profit enterprise which serves the purpose of ‘developing’ the business.

Business Case

Social Business Model Canvas This Canvas is inspired by the Business Model Canvas and was created by the Social Innovation Lab. Social Businesses focus on the impact they create for beneficiaries rather than creating profits.

Therefore, the tool takes additional aspects into account which helps in creating a social business model.

It is divided into 13 building blocks and takes the following aspects into account; The component Segments is divided into beneficiary and customer. This supports the aspect that beneficiaries often do not pay anything but are crucial for the business model.

The Value Proposition consists of the elements Social Value Proposition, Customer Value Proposition and Impact Measures, which define how a business controls their social impact.

The type of intervention describes the type of product that will deliver the value.

Besides partners, the canvas includes the key stakeholders that should be involved in the program.

The component “Surplus” describes where a company plans to invest your profits.

Business Case

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Sambandh's Business model Canvas

Sambandh's Business model Canvas

Sambandh's Business model Canvas

08.

Brand Identity

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Sambandh's Business model Canvas

Brand Identity Brand Identity

Card Sorting The term “card sorting” originates from UX design and describes the development of a clear website structure as a means of enhancing usability. It can also be used to define a company’s key brand values, by using 150 adjectives for the purpose.

These words serve to develop a message architecture, which defines how the company successfully communicates its values and messages to its target groups; the tone used, the channels, the scale, etc.

This tool was used to identitfy tone of voice, key adjectives which resonate with the vision, and use it in the brand identity development process.

The activity was conducted on Miro, a shared collaborative whiteboard and from a pool of 150 adjectives, words were seggerated under three categories, First: who we are, Second: who we want to be, Third: who we are not. After series of ranking these words based on priority, the founders came up with eight final words.

01.

02.

Inclusive and Caring

Empowering and Steadfast

03.

04.

Simplistic and Friendly

Fresh and blooming

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Brand Identity

Logo Design First Concept The circle is a universal symbol with extensive meaning.

As the sun, it is masculine power; as the soul and as encircling waters, it is the feminine maternal principle.

The form here represents a curved hand supporting a community, a village & a home.

Brand Identity

Second Concept An inpsiration derived from India's famous Miniature paintings, painted by the mughals.

Different pieces of the form depict farmers uniting to prosper as a comunity.

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Brand Identity

Final Logo This logo was selected by the author's mentor Clementine, as it resonated clearly with what the brand wanted to convey. It is simplicity it depicts the warmth as well as support.

Brand Identity

Brand Colors These colors are inspired from the first week of harvest after the kharif season, the view of a freshly sprouted field with greenery spreading all across.

Primary Colors

#47b862

#02504c

R71 G184 B98

R2 G80 B76

Secondary Colors

#f5f5f5

#757575

R245 G245 B245

R117 G117 B117

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Brand Identity

Typefaces The primary goal was to choose a font which is highly legible and fits well even the in devanagri version. The devanagri version of the font had to be close to fonts which are commonly used on banners, or political poster to increase a sense of visual familiarity with the user.

Empowering Rural Communities Mukta Regular abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890!@#$%^&*():"?

Empowering Rural Communities Mukta semi-bold abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890!@#$%^&*():"?

Cultivating Ideas for Growth Noto Sans abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890!@#$%^&*():"?

Brand Identity

Photography Style The style focuses on showing farmers working on the field and performing their daily tasks. An eye angle to capture the frame is necessary as it denotes that farmers are just as equal to anyone around them. It also depicts that Oorja works hand in hand with its farmers to create a social impact.

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Brand Identity

09.

App Development Phases

App Development App Development

User Scenario User Scenarios help in aligning decisions with user behaviors. It also enables us to understand and articulate the user’s Context, empathize with them, and visualize desirable Outcomes. A good user scenario includes all information that is relevant to the process the user undergoes in order to reach his or her goal, and nothing more. User scenarios are a very handy tool when designing user interfaces. It is not only important to ‘get to know’ the actual users, but to understand the goals these users have.

This further helps in articulating concrete design requirements to design an app.

"Suresh is an experienced grain farmer. From past few months he has been noticing that he is unable to produce a good quality yield. After assessing his seeds and speaking to his friends, he found out his seeds are duplicate. Suresh wants to use the verified product features on the Sambandh app to find high quality seeds and produce enough to earn a good profit."

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App Development

Information Architecture Information architecture (IA) is a science of organizing and structuring content of the websites, web and mobile applications, and social media software. Information architecture aims at organizing content so that users would easily adjust to the functionality of the product and could find everything they need without big effort.

For the Sambandh app, the content focused on the needs of the user i.e finding quality inputs for their farms and learning quick tips to upscale their farm with improved agriculture techniques.

App Development

Hero Task Flow It is a map to help us visualize the motivations and primary steps that a user takes as they complete a task or accomplish a goal while using an app. Here suresh, a farmer from nanpara wants to buy quality inputs from the Sambandh app. His primary motivations are to find authentic and verfied products. The map below is a visual representation of the tasks he follows to reach his end goal.

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App Development

App Wireframes The wireframes display the user journey of a suresh trying to place an order for wheat seeds .

The app has filters with icon, which makes it easy for semi-literate users to achieve their goal. The app provides search results based on location and provides information of local sellers on a priority.

The verfied tick indicates that this product has been tested by oorja's team for its quality and productivity rate, and hence is verified.

Along with filters, the app also has a search bar which lets users type key words and find the inputs they are looking for.

Bazaar search

A

Urea

New

Ammonia

Filter

100 Items

Ankur

Wheat Seeds Seller: Giri Bazaar 4.1

After selecting the desired input and quantity the user has the freedom to choose which mode of communication is suitable, if it should be a normal text message or whatsapp message. Considering the inadequecies in rural areas This enables the user to have more control on how the seller prices and delivers inputs.

Organic seeds

200 ratings

Rs 300/ kg

Popular

Place order

Sona

Dark Red Onion beejh, Nasik Seller: 8a17a0/ Si7./ 3.4

Home

Krishi Vigyaan

200 ratings Bazaar

Rs 300/ kg

Profile Place order

App Development

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App Development

Other Main Features As agriculture is highly dependent on climate, the app provides crop based suggestions and alerts user which time and weather is appropriate for fertilizing, weeding or harvesting etc.

Nanpara, UP

Wheat

Sat, Aug 29 2020

Sat, Aug 29 2020

30°C Good Weather Choose crop to see details

Sat

Sat

Sat

Sat

Sat

33c

28

3,

3.

20

It will heavily rain tomorrow don’t fertilize or irrigate and harvest ready crops

Wheat

Precipitation

Humidity

34%

78%

Wind

2km/h

more

Less humid

More windy than

precipitate

than yesterday

yesterday

than yesterday

Now

Good time to fertilize

Rice

Know how to fertilizer from our video library

temperature

garlic

Precipitation

Wind

30c

Peas 8 am

11 am

2 pm

5 pm

8 pm

11 pm

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App Development

Your Farm Along with weather weather forecast, the app also provides training films and a portal to book live training workshop which would be taking place in their village or their nearby village.

Krishi Vigyaan

Mosvxy uutty

30° C

Nanpara, Good weather

My Crops

Cultivation Tips

See "

Bhindi

Masoor

17th May 2021

Prepare for harvest

Live Training Workshop

See 9ll

Popular

Popular

Seed Selection

Seed Selection

Seed Selection

licstian: sasantpu

licstian: sasantpu

licstian: sasantpu

Live:Cipuae

Live:Cipuae

Live:Cipuae

Basfati Ribe

Desi Wheat

Ready for Stage 2

Ready for Stage U

New Courses

See m昀re

3.4 ratin

Explore Courses

3.4 ratin

See 9ll

Seed Selection &... Seed Selection &... Seed Selection &...

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Séoèt äoãèâeå áà êinâ

3.4

3.4

Séoèt äoãèâeå áà êinâ 3.4

New gro tpuvs 20% 昀f

Seed Selection &...

Fertilizer Selection

Seed Selection

S0ort +o*r)e, (' 1in)

S0ort +o*r)e, (C 1in)

S0ort +o*r)e

3.4

Dar© Red ¥nion Seeds, Nasi© 3.4

3.4

Fertilizer Management

3.4

See 9ll

D¶©aan³ ±1 seed se¯¯er

Rs. 250/ 1kg 20% 昀f Home

See Details

Dar© Red ¥nion Seeds, Nasi© K3.4 rishi Vigyaan

Bazaar

D¶©aan³ ±1 seed se¯¯er

Profile

Seed Selection &...

Fertilizer Selection

Home Bazaar S0ort Krishi Vigyaan S0ort +o*r)e, (' 1in) +o*r)e, (C 1in) 3.4

3.4

Seed Selection Profile+o*r)e S0ort 3.4

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App Development

Optimising for the language barrier constraint Oorja mostly works with marginal farmers from Eastern-UP and Bihar. These communities speak different dialects and are semi literate.

Hindi is the most common language spoken between these communities and hence it was chosen as a primary language for the visual design of the app and website.

To have an inclusive approach towards all the communities it is important to put vulnerable populations at the centre of design processes, therefore helping those people in need.

The App uses hindi as its primary language during the onboarding process and also gives an option to the user to select his or her preferred language in later stages.

App Development

Visual Design For final design, the app was designed in hindi as it's primary language.

The targeted user group speaks and understands only hindi and their local dialects.

The visual design was designed in a manner that the data loads faster, for that the visual grahics were kept super light, and color intensities were lowered. An increased white background takes less time to load pixels in that area. At every point, it is made sure that design does not dictate the content and hence, the visual elements are also scrutinized and thought through at each stage. Every design asset used is clear and concise.

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App Development

Book a workshop feature, enables users to book live training workshops.

App Development

Weather Forecast, Gives cropwise updates to the farmer and alerts when a new task is approaching.

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App Development

The quick tips feature gives crop & task based tips in the form of written materials or video content.

App Development

Quick tips by stage; ask the user to input the date at which they sowed their seeds or plan to sow and the further directs them to the stage they should presently be at. To reduce the additional pages drop downs are added where necessary.

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App Development

10.

Website Wireframes

App Development

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App Development

App Development

Website Visual design

Features section

Customer reviews

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App Development

Book a training workshop

Online training videos

App Development

Video streaming page

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App Development

11.

Epilogue

Conclusion

Conclusion This project is an effort to make an user oriented Agri-tech platform for marginal farmers. Given the technical nature of agriculture often agri-tech startups add overwhelming features in their apps, which makes it consumer centric and not user driven.

With a human-centric approach Oorja proposes to create “Sambandh” mobile application using a SaaS model. It will be priced in line with small scale producers' willingness and ability to pay and will be very affordable around i.e INR 100-200 per user per year. This business model is scalable and able to provide positive return on investment upon reaching approximately 100,000-200,000 users expected by 2024. It will be offered as an integrated service offering to farmers in Oorja’s existing areas of operation in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and marketed through women’s self-help groups and Krishi Vigyan Kendras, and other existing structures familiar to SSPs.

This project addresses barriers in farmers’ access to timely, personalised and science-based agricultural advisory services and pricing of quality inputs. It presents an opportunity for SSPs to better plan and understand their farm systems, manage the risks and uncertainties around production, and potentially improve outcomes for agricultural productivity by up to 30%, smallholder incomes by up to 55%, as well as strengthening food security and climate resilience among poor farmers.

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References

References Anil Kumar Challenges adopting modern farming practices

Boston Consulting Group The rising connected consumer in rural India

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343722047_CHALLENGES_IN_ADOPTING_ MODERN_FARMING_PRACTICES_BY_RESOURCE_ POOR_FARMERS_A_CASE_OF_EASTERN_UTTAR_ PRADESH

Dr. H.P.Tripathi (Chief Agronomist) Dr. Alok Kumar (Soil Scientist) Compendium of Cropping Systems Research In Three Decades

Ux Planet Designing Apps That Perform Well Even In Poor Connectivity

https://www.nduat.org/Doc/Compendium_CroppingSystemResearch.pdfPOOR_FARMERS_A_CASE_ OF_EASTERN_UTTAR_PRADESH

https://uxplanet.org/designing-apps-that-performwell-even-in-poor-connectivity-8332e58d7f07

Lollypop Design Studio Farmrise https://www.lollypop.design/projects/farmrise/

NY Times India’s Ominous Future: Too Little Water, or Far Too Much https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/25/climate/india-monsoon-drought.html

Reflections

Reflections Choosing product design as a career choice wasn't my first choice. The thought of not becoming successful in product design always lingered around my mind.

Now when I look behind, I realise it has been the best decision I have made.

Every workshop attended, every friend made, each faculty who has shaped my perspective has made me a true designer.

I come from a middle class family from bombay, having a complete background in Art and technology. Though the thought of becoming a product designer wasn't frowned upon in my home, it was a difficult decision to make.

Uncovering the uncertainty each day made me feel challenged and helped me keep my attention in the game.

I find myself lucky to be given the opportunity to do my thesis at Oorja Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and work with some of the finest engineers. The whole journey

from being a person who always let other's take decision to the person who was confident enough to take the next steps, this internship shaped me in a very positive way. It was difficult to navigate at first because the pandemic posed as a big challenge and created a communication gap. with certain time, the processes became smoother and capturing the goal of the project became clearer.

Speaking with farmers also posed a challenge, as farmers are extremely reserved and don't open up to new people. Understanding and empathising with the way they are comfortable communicating was a big learning.

My project was in a way a pit stop at expanding and enhancing my design skills, and understanding the harsh reality of being a farmer in Uttar Pradesh, with no water.

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The Phenomenal journey, Class of 2017-21, Product Design