This design task was to be completed in a time period of 48 hours. The requirement was only to design the home screen and complaint creation screen.
The Challenge
Rant is a startup dedicated to addressing public issues related to infrastructure. They provide an application where users can post their grievances, including images and notes.
Unique to their social app, grievances gain more attention from authorities the more dislikes they receive.
Introduction
Public infrastructure issues in India are a significant concern, and the lack of attention from authorities often exacerbates the problem.
0%
of grievances filed were resolved, According to a 2020 report of CPGRAMS
0%
of citizens were dissatisfied with the response of local authorities
0-30%
Potholes and poor road conditions account for infrastructure-related complaints
The Design Process
- Problem
- Design Process
- Questions
- Interviews
- Scenarios
- User Persona
- Customer Journey Map
- Insights & Pain Points
- Use Case
- Design Brief
- Ideation
- Features
- User Flow
- Prototyping
Before starting the research:
Listed down a few questions to be answered during my primary research
- How often do you encounter public infrastructure issues?
- How do you currently report these issues?
- What challenges do you encounter when reporting issues?
- What would an ideal reporting process look like to you?
- How important is it for you to see updates on the progress of reported issues?
- Would you be interested in features that allow you to discuss reported issues with others in your community?
User Interviews
Conducted user interviews through convenience sampling.
Abhinav Gupta, 29
IT Professional
Bengaluru
Sangeeta Sawan, 42
Homemaker
Nagpur
Daulat Singh, 56
Zonal Manager
Nagpur
Samriti Sony, 22
Student
Chandigarh
These interviews led me to gaining following insights:
Easy Reporting Mechanism
The ability to attach images provides clear evidence of the problem, describe the issue in detail to ensure authorities understand the extent and nature of the problem.
Feedback and Status Updates
A tracking system where users can see updates on the progress of reported issues, assigned official, timeline to resolve the issue.
Visibility and Interaction
Users want to see other posts by the community to know if the same issues are being reported by others in the community.
Crafted 2 User Personas based on the people interviewed for a better understanding of their experiences and challenges.
Niyati Arora
About
Niyati is a designer in her final year transitioning which involved a lot of commuting. During this time her issues, she was also moving to her college.
Goals & Needs
- Quick Problem Reporting
- Instant Updates
- Social Impact & Engagement
Frustrations
- Delayed Action
- Lack of Accountability
- Time Constraints
A. Sanjeev
About
Sanjeev is a consultant in the industry since the last 7 years. He has seen his community go through a lot of changes with the changing government.
Goals & Needs
- Community Betterment
- Accessibility & Transparency
- Social Influence
Frustrations
- Complicated Reporting Processes
- Delayed Response
- Trust Issues
After gathering insights from the interviews, a user journey map was created to understand the complaint reporting scenario better.
← Scroll horizontally to view →
Concerned
Confused
Frustrated
Annoyed
Disappointed
Helpless
Analysing the User interview, User personas and Customer journey maps led me to figuring out the following
Pain Points
Users face lack of clarity and accessibility users face significant challenges when it comes to reporting public infrastructure issues.
Users face scattered information most users don't know which authority is responsible, and information is scattered across outdated government websites.
Users face unnecessary friction users encounter complexity during the complaint reporting process.
Users face absence of feedback users lack trust in the system due to the absence of feedback or confirmation mechanisms.
Users face lack of accountability users experience frustration due to the lack of visible resolution of complaints.
Users face discourages engagement users feel unappreciated for reporting issues, which discourages future engagement.
Competitive Analysis
Did a short Competitive analysis of the currently existing apps, and their key features.
Swachhata - MoHUA
The official app of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
Key Features: Categorization of complaints, regular updates on status, reopen complaint if not satisfied
iChangeMyCity
An app for Social Network for a better change
Key Features: Upload picture, community upvotes, connecting with officials, resolution update
My Nagpur
Oriented around the needs of citizens in day to day interaction with NMC
Key Features: Categorization of the complaint, citizens-dashboard for tracking the status, other services
After analysing and understanding gathered from my research and structured my
Design Brief
Design a user-friendly, accessible mobile application that empowers citizens to report and track public infrastructure issues with ease. The app is tailored for both tech-savvy youth and older, less tech-fluent users, encouraging civic participation through community-driven visibility (via dislikes), real-time updates, and transparent resolution. The goal is to increase accountability, improve infrastructure responsiveness, and build trust between citizens and authorities.
Primary Features
Easy Issue Reporting
Allows users to report a civic problem (like potholes, broken streetlights, garbage, etc.) by uploading a photo, selecting a category, and auto-tagging the location.
Community Dislikes
Grievances gain more visibility the more 'dislikes' they receive from nearby users. This social feedback loop pushes urgent or widely felt issues to the top of authority dashboards.
Real-Time Complaint Tracking
Provides users with a transparent, step-by-step progress view: from submission to resolution, including department, estimated resolution timelines, and status updates.
Civic Engagement
Each user has a personal dashboard with their submitted issues, resolved reports contributing to civic improvement, fostering ongoing engagement.
Use Case
Reporting a public infrastructure issue
Sanjeev notices a significant pothole on his way to work, which poses a risk to drivers and pedestrians.
Identifying the Issue
Sanjeev encounters a problem with public infrastructure (pothole on the road).
Reporting the Issue
He opens the Rant app, clicks 'Create a Rant', takes a photo and uploads it with description.
Submission
Sanjeev reviews and clicks Submit. The app confirms with a success message and displays the rant in the main feed.
Community Interaction
Sanjeev's rant is visible to other users. Community members agree and click 'Dislike' to draw more attention.
Tracking the Issue
The app updates the rant's status and sends notifications to Abhinav and other interested users.
Resolution
The local authorities take action. The status updates to 'Resolved'. Sanjeev & community are notified.
Mockups
Home Screen
Home screen displays the Ongoing complaint on the top of the page.
- Complaint ID Number
- Time of last complaint registered
- Status of the complaint
- Clickable location
- Detail button for more details on the post
Public Feed
Displays posts by community. Like or dislike to appreciate or draw more attention, with option to share the post on social media platforms.
Complaints
Create complaint screen displays the Ongoing complaint on the top of the page. Also lists the total number of complaints registered by the user.
Register New Complaint
- Select category of the complaint
- Assigned to specific department
- Location of grievance
- Description field
- Option to upload photos
- CTA button to submit
The brief was to design the home screen and the complaint page only.
But these are some more features the application could have
Authorities upload before-and-after images to mark resolution, increasing transparency and user trust.
Users can record voice notes in their language - ideal for elderly users or those with typing limitations.
Enable discussions under each issue to gather more context, support, or alternate views.
Show articles or tips like 'How to segregate waste' or 'Whom to contact for water issues' for Civic Tips & Awareness.
