Samagri

Preserving India’s Culinary Traditions

OVERVIEW:

The Samagri app serves as a digital repository for traditional Indian culinary knowledge, allowing people to explore regional cuisines, learn cultural practices, and buy directly from local farmers. It aims to make traditional culinary practices and indigenous ingredients remain accessible and valued.

MY ROLE:

User Research,
UX Design
Material Design,
Prototyping

TEAM:

Meryl Roberts

Riya Parekh

DURATION:

8 weeks

Indians are cooking less at home than a decade ago with the amount spent by middle-income consumers on processed foods rising by 3.3 times

As globalization and the rise of processed foods shape modern eating habits, traditional food practices and indigenous food sources in India are fading. This change impacts not only cultural identity but also threatens the livelihoods of local and tribal farmers who rely on cultivating indigenous crops.

*Source: The Economic Times (2024)

The Research

After conducting a secondary research, we set about to understand people’s preferences and gauge interest in remedies, holistic wellness and niche foods.
An online survey along with in-person interviews were conducted of experienced and non-experienced cooks to learn their food-buying habits, the sources for new recipes and their interests in food culture. This helped highlight painpoints and patterns.

Synthesis of our Data

BASED ON FINDINGS FROM OUR RESEARCH, WE NARROWED ONTO SOME KEY INSIGHTS

Information overload from online sources

Homecooks often feel overwhelmed by the vast number of options and chunky information on recipes available online, making it difficult to choose a recipe, resulting in decision fatigue.

Buying ingredients and material

When purchasing ingredients online, quality is the primary concern for consumers, followed by price. Most people would rather shop in-store for spices to keep a check on quality of items. While authenticity and product variety are also important, they rank lower in priority.

Lack of customisation options

Online recipes require adaptations to suit personal tastes but lack adequate customization. Many have difficulty in finding recipes that align with their cooking skill levels. Such resources demotivate amateur cooks and prevent them feeling capable in the kitchen.

Fading traditional cuisines

The lack of well-documented traditional recipes, particularly from specific regional cuisines in India, makes it challenging to find accurate information on such cuisines.

So how do we aid food enthusiasts in their exploration of India's rich spice and remedy heritage which is currently hindered by scattered online information and the convenience-focused nature of mainstream stores?

Ideating

After brainstorming possible solutions and features to include, we made the sitemap and information architecture of the mobile app.

Next, we made low-fidelity and mid-fidelity prototypes of the screens to gather user feedback and validate the design.

I developed the material design system and designed a set of custom icons for the app interface to align with the overall visual language and user experience goals.

Our Solution

What is Samagri?

Samagri is an informative marketplace app to discover authentic Indian recipes, ingredients, and remedies.
It connects urban consumers with local and tribal producers, preserving traditional knowledge and supporting sustainable livelihoods.