Rakshita S.

Decoding the Digital Landscape for India’s New Internet Users in Tier 2 City

My Role:

I was the independent UX researcher on a newly formulated team, a six-member team consisting of a project manager, two designers, two software developers, and one copywriter at a Big Tech Company. My responsibility was to spearhead the research process, from planning to execution, ensuring comprehensive understanding and actionable insights into the lifestyle and digital interactions of NIUs at the start of the design project.

Challenge:

The multifaceted challenge involved understanding a demographic traditionally sidelined in the digital narrative. It also involved unraveling Indian NIU’s (New Internet Users) daily interactions, apprehensions, and expectations from technology, shopping, traveling habits, and local businesses, especially under the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Goals:

The goal was to create a detailed, empathetic understanding of NIU’s needs and inhibitions to digital adoption within the team. It also involved:

  • Understanding the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on their daily lives and digital behavior.
  • And a focus on their lifestyle, with a particular emphasis on geospatial needs around shopping, local services, travel, and technology usage.

Study Details:

Phase 1

Foundational Research

Sprint 1:
Meet-up

Sprint 2:
Essential Taskd

Foundational study with reshuffled panel

Team workshop

Synthesis & Report Documentation

Phase 1

Sprint 1: Meet-up

Sprint 2: Essential Taskd

Foundational Research

Foundational study with reshuffled panel

Team workshop

Synthesis & Report Documentation

The study lasted two weeks, during which I immersed myself in the digital and lifestyle ecosystem of New Internet users (NIUs) in Patna.

In the initial week, I focused on gathering rich, qualitative data through one-on-one remote interviews with 10 participants, carefully chosen to reflect the diverse tapestry of NIUs, and the city of Patna was selected to reflect the needs of tier 2 cities in India. These interviews were instrumental in peeling back this demographic’s layers of daily life, struggles, and digital interactions, providing a nuanced understanding of their world.

The following week was dedicated to meticulously synthesizing the data and sculpting the insights into a structured report. I pored over the interview transcripts, distilling patterns and extracting key themes. I crafted behavioral maps and user journey diagrams and translated complex behaviors and experiences into comprehensible visuals.

Methodology Undertaken

An Exploratory Research Methodology was undertaken for the study. It included methods like: [The methods can be shown in a map form] 

  1. One-on-One Remote User Interview
  2. Affinity Mapping
  3. Data Analysis

Artifacts

A series of artifacts were produced, each serving as a cornerstone for understanding and strategizing future digital interventions.

Interview Transcripts:

Detailed transcripts from extensive interviews provided raw, unfiltered insights into the lives of NIUs. These transcripts were the bedrock of our analysis, offering a direct voice to the users’ experiences, fears, and aspirations.

Behavioral Maps and User Journey Diagrams:

These visual artifacts distilled the complex daily routines and interactions of NIUs into comprehensible and insightful diagrams. They served as a guide to understanding the touchpoints, pain points, and moments of delight in the users’ interactions with technology and services.

Comprehensive Synthesized Report:

 This report encapsulated the essence of our findings. It wove together the quantitative data, qualitative insights, and observational notes into a narrative that presented the facts and told the story of the NIUs, providing a holistic view of their world.

These artifacts were not just outputs but were instrumental in guiding the design and strategy for inclusive digital solutions.

Learnings

The study’s findings translate into valuable insights, providing a deeper understanding of the behaviors and preferences of New Internet Users (NIUs) in their interactions with local businesses, travel, and shopping services. Here’s how these learnings were articulated:

Learning 1: Deep-rooted Trust in Personal Networks

NIUs exhibit a strong preference for personal and informal networks over digital platforms, especially evident in their business operations, travel plans, and shopping habits. The reliance on word-of-mouth, familiar vendors, and community advice underscores a deep-rooted trust in known entities and skepticism towards online platforms’ unfamiliarity and perceived risks. This insight suggests that any digital intervention must foster a sense of trust and community to resonate with this demographic.

Learning 2: Preference for Familiar, Tangible Experiences

The study highlights a clear preference for tangible, in-person experiences among NIUs. Whether purchasing from local stores, traveling, or choosing transport modes, the need to physically verify, negotiate, or seek guidance points to comfort NIUs with tangible interactions. This preference also reflects a desire for control over their decisions, emphasizing the importance of tangible, relatable digital experiences that mimic these real-world interactions.

Learning 3: Minimalist and Real-Time Decision Making

NIUs tend to make decisions with minimal planning and based on real-time assessments. This approach observed in their intra-city mobility choices and minimal advance travel planning, indicates a flexible, pragmatic approach to daily life, influenced by immediate circumstances and available options. Digital solutions targeting this group should be intuitive, flexible, and capable of supporting spontaneous, real-time decision-making.

Learning 4: Perceived Barriers to Digital Adoption

Despite basic awareness, there’s a noticeable reluctance among NIUs to embrace digital platforms, primarily due to concerns over complexity, financial security, and loss of personal touch. Fears of inadequate product quality, return processes, and potential financial loss in online shopping compound this hesitation. Addressing these perceived barriers by simplifying digital interactions, ensuring financial security, and providing reliable customer support is crucial in encouraging digital adoption among NIUs.

These insights provide a nuanced understanding of the NIUs’ lifestyle and preferences. They emphasize the need for a holistic approach in designing digital solutions, ensuring they are functional and user-friendly and deeply resonate with the users’ cultural context, preferences for personal interactions, and need for tangible, relatable experiences.

Impact:

The impact of this was anticipated to be profoundly transformative, marking a significant shift in the approach towards digital inclusion and literacy. The meticulous, phased research illuminated a clear path forward, emphasizing the need for new digital solutions for a well-established product that are not merely functional but are crafted with an intrinsic understanding of the users’ context, preferences, and apprehensions. Future concept explorations for the new features in the product were created based on this study.