Interview with Aloke Pillai, our Design Challenge Second Prize winner

Why did you enter the GSMA mWomen Design Challenge?

I did it to challenge myself. Having spent most of my time in the Middle East and in Canada, my perception of world issues is kind of jaded. This was an opportunity for me to create something with empathy and really understand the situation from another person’s point of view. 

Explain why your design is suitable for resource-poor women.

I think the goal of this design was to simplify functions and present only what is needed for women in these environments. I didn’t want to make them feel overwhelmed, instead just show them what they need, when they need it.

What steps did you take to come to your final design?

Since I didn’t fully understand the situation of resource-poor women, the first thing on my checklist was to get myself caught up with the pain points and the current solutions that are already out there. Luckily, I found some great shoulders to stand on. Indrani Medhi’s journals were incredibly useful in showing how cartoon-like icons are highly comprehensible by a lower literate audience. While I didn’t get the chance to do much primary research, I learned from the experiences of parents of close immigrant friends, to see how they dealt with these issues back home. This was definitely a great first step into understanding the problem.

What challenges did you overcome in the design process?

One of the main challenges was to create a visual language for the icons with a tone that was not condescending or overly complex. It had to achieve that balance of knowledge and empathy.

What does winning this award mean to you?

When people come up with ideas, validation is often needed to see if whatever you came up with has the potential to improve or change something in the world. This award was just that. It feels great to hear that you are on the right path and be appreciated for the hard work. Just by taking a look at the ten finalists, I was just blown away by the different ways that people perceived and solved the problem. Imagine if these ideas are all implemented and brought into market! 

How do you want to develop the design in the future?

I hope my design has inspired someone to get tinkering away on a few improvements. I would love to collaborate with people to bring this to reality and see if these ideas hold any ground when in use.

Any other comments?

I would like to thank everyone involved for creating an opportunity that was both meaningful and fun to work on. Thank you.