Hi, I am Pujith, a designer originally from the land of delicious food (aka India).
I’m a multifaceted designer but I am most passionate about Experience and Interface Design. I have an obsession for detail and perfectly executed designs, and I am also a huge advocate for user research. Usability, accessibility and inclusivity is the name of the game and I am always looking to create intriguing and concept enhancing interactions that remain intuitive for the user.
My goal is to perfect the end-user experience and help make the interface simplified, safe and beautiful by following a humanistic and empathetic approach to solving real user problems. I hope to do so by focusing on the complete environment of the digital and physical space.
Saaf is a mobile application that provides people with a platform where they can organize and take part in fun social activities that inspire change. Saaf is on a mission to eradicate litter and ensure a cleaner and greener India.
In early 2020, I came across The Environmental Performance Index (EPI). It ranks countries from the cleanest to the dirtiest in the world based on two policy objectives: ecosystem vitality and environmental health. India’s position was 168 out of 180 countries at an index of 27.6. This is one of the lowest positions in the entire world.
Born and brought up in India, I have experienced first-hand the lack of effective waste management systems and social hygiene. This has been the one thing that has bothered me the most about this incredible country. Over the years, India has seen tremendous positive change but unfortunately next to nothing has been done about the challenges with social littering. I wanted to change this with Saaf using the power of community.
Saaf is meant to be a completely new approach to an age-old problem, I really had to think outside the box and adapt to new pieces of research and information that could potentially sway the core function of the application. The current and rather traditional ways of conducting volunteering events for cleaning up litter simply don’t work on a scale where a real change can be seen and so instead of starting with a concrete idea, I wanted to be open-minded and explore new and unique solutions.
I did this by letting the user research drive all my ideas, decisions and solutions. Over the last year or so, I conducted various types of research and analysis. From competitor benchmarking, heuristic reviews, service design blueprints, field reports to user interviews and usability testing. This ensured my solutions were as good as they can be and that it was driven by the people of India.
Overall, I’m extremely happy with the way Saaf has turned out. It is one of the most complex projects I have ever worked on but I ended up learning a lot about all of the different aspects of Interaction Design. The end result is something I’m truly very proud of.
However, this is only the beginning. I started Saaf with a dream to eradicate litter in India and for this, I would need Saaf to be a built product that users can download from the iOS or Android app store. The future of Saaf largely depends on whether I am able to raise enough money to be able to build the application, but I am motivated and optimistic that I can make this dream a reality.
#Chalo India, Saaf karo!
You can view the entire project here.
