Karandaaz Pakistan developed an app design with special focus on less literate people

We’ve reached a point where people have started understanding the importance of UI/UX Design. The concept is steadily gaining pace in Pakistan as well. We recently came across Karandaaz Pakistan, a non-profit organization that is using human-centered design to promote financial inclusion in Pakistan.

Last year, Karandaaz Pakistan commissioned GRID Impact, a global research and innovation firm, to develop a human-centered design (HCD) for a smartphone app for mobile money. But here’s the catch. Their main focus was on the less literate population in Pakistan.

The team first launched the design at a dissemination event in Karachi on July 14th. At that event, Imdad Aslam, Director Digital Financial Services at Karandaaz Pakistan stated:

“I believe that the HCD based design will allow the Mobile Financial Services industry in Pakistan to substantially augment its services and expand them to low literate financially excluded people, especially women.”

Now the team is making the complete design toolkit along with the app prototype and wireframe open for anyone.

Pakistan’s smartphone penetration currently stands at 31% and it presents a valuable alternative for providing people with financial services. But what needs to be remembered is that not all people are fluent with apps which is where the practicality of a design comes in. This innovation from Karandaaz Pakistan is stipulated to revolutionize the Mobile Financial Services (MFS) arena in Pakistan by enhancing application development by the providers, while also creating significant ease of adoption and use for the target market.

The toolkit is open for all and comes with an overview, wireframes, icons and illustrations, and a prototype. You can download it here.