Decode: How Gramhal Used Numbers to Drive Inclusion

Every week, millions of people come online for the first time. Especially people from rural areas who enter the digital fold with equal amounts anticipation and apprehension. Their initiation to the world online is welcomed with no manual. This is often intimidating, especially when one doesn’t know where to begin, what the different screens and icons mean or how to find results in a language one can read. Thus, it is increasingly important to design digital products that are relevant and usable in the context of new-users.

Gramhal, in this light, recognizes two claims: i) Easy accessibility to information is for all to claim, regardless of gender, geography, language, device type, or education level. ii) Cultivating inclusive technology is a challenge and an opportunity.

Gramhal’s solutions, both big and small, aim to realize these statements to reality. Our products are designed by keeping the user at the front and center. Especially, users who come from a rural background, are new to the digital landscape, have limited literacy, and are novices at understanding what technology can do for them.

This blog is the first in a series that highlights steps undertaken by Gramhal to make our products more inclusive, accessible, and contextually relevant. Here, we will explore how assigning simple numeric codes to each mandi (APMC) led to a substantial ease in accessing prices by our farmer users.

To start with, following are user assumptions sufficiently grounded in research and user feedback:

1. A user wants to know the sale prices of crops at the mandi. Typically, a user has 4-5 mandis that are relevant and located near to them. Additionally, they grow or are interested in 4-5 crops of which the would like to know the prices.

2. Users generally can’t or don’t wish to type words. Another limiting factor is also not knowing the spellings at all or knowing incorrect ones.

3. Checking mandi prices is a daily activity. They check prices everyday to understand market trends and negotiate accordingly.

Bolbhav, Gramhal’s chatbot on Whatsapp, is designed to deliver agri-information that is easy to access and contextually relevant. Mandi prices sourced directly from the mandis and from government portals online, is a crucial offering. However, Whatsapp’s platform came with its limitations in terms of customising feature structure and user experience.

For instance, we know that users don’t and/or can’t write mandi names. Thus, listing all names for a user to then select from was key. Whatsapp offers two user interaction choices here: ‘Options’ or ‘Buttons’.

• Options: Upon selecting, they open as a list of options. You can think of it as a menu. However, each list can only contain 8-10 options. For reference, we have about 300 mandis in Madhya Pradesh state alone! Further, users were apprehensive or unaware of opening the list of options.

• Buttons: These are choices that are readable in the chat, without having to open a list. However, one can only see 3 options at a time. Again, displaying 300 mandis this way was not feasible.

(Illustration: Options on the left, Buttons above)

Given these constraints, Gramhal team put on design hats to reach a solution that made it easy for a farmer user to check the crop sale prices at mandis that were relevant to them. Through discussions one interesting observation emerged - Rural users tend to not save contact numbers on their phone (presumably due to a lack of literacy, digital or otherwise). Instead, they remember the last 3 digits of a person’s contact number and associate people with them. This line of thought was extended to mandi names - what if we assign 3-digit codes to each mandi that people can easily remember and associate with?

Examples of using numbers as a tool of inclusion are prevalent all around us. For instance, a unique 5-digit number for each train or bus numbers for local transport. They help make travel accessible for all passengers. We backed the same logic and created codes for all mandis.

Following is a code chart for the mandis in Madhya Pradesh:

Outcome

Improving user experience was the primary objective, and we were successful at it. We also witnessed other positive tangential outcomes.

For instance, out of all FAQ queries received (around 2 million as of January, 2023), 64.32% were numeric entries. This is proof of high adoption of numeric codes.

Bolbhav bot’s NLP (Natural Language Processing) improved exponentially. That is, the bot’s ability to provide the correct result in response to a query was greatly advanced. Earlier, different and often incorrect spellings of a mandi would lead to a mixed bag of responses. Assigning numeric codes to mandis reduced this chance of error because the chances of a user writing a wrong spelling is high, but entering the wrong number is low! This switch to codes also made it easier for farmers to share Bolbhav in their circles. It simultaneously, improved retention and growth.

Thus, a mindful design change led to a vital improvement in user experience. We continue to take forward strides in creating a smooth and simple digital experience for users, especially those from underserved backgrounds. Ultimately, a user’s journey is a testament to our story, and we wish to craft an inclusive one!