In a small rural town in northern India, a woman runs a home-based tailoring shop where her day begins with “chai”(tea), chores, and YouTube. By mid-morning, she’s at her shop with a cup of “chai”(tea) in hand, phone in the other, scrolling through YouTube videos and Pinterest images to research the latest embroidery trends.
Though her smartphone’s default language is English, she doesn’t read much of it. Instead, she uses voice search, speaking terms like “hand work” (for Aari embroidery) into Google and browsing the images that appear. She shortlists what she likes and shares it with her tailor.
Her clients aren’t limited to her town. Using WhatsApp voice notes and photos, she communicates with international customers too. Her phone, with a good camera, was chosen by her son specifically for this purpose because image quality is crucial for her work.
Across India’s rural and semi-urban regions, we’ve met countless people like her who are resourceful, digitally savvy in their own ways, and building futures for themselves and their families using the tools available to them.
At Hureo, we’ve spent the past few years researching in these contexts. Through conversations in villages, and field visits across the country, we’ve witnessed the evolving role of technology in people’s lives and what it truly takes to design products that work with them, not just for them.
Below, we share a few lessons that have reshaped the way we think about product design and research.
01 / 07Introduction: Why Rural India Matters Globally
As global tech expands beyond urban hubs, the urgency to understand and design for rural users has never been greater. With over 65% of India’s population living in rural areas, these communities are not just beneficiaries—they are the next billion users, creators, and decision-makers.We’ve seen local creators from remote villages reach millions with content in regional languages. Small businesses run entirely through WhatsApp. Tea vendors and vegetable sellers in rural markets display QR codes for digital payments. Families now access government services through mobile apps tailored to their state and language.
Rural India is not just coming online-it’s participating, adapting, and shaping technology in ways that challenge conventional design assumptions.
We saw this firsthand during one of our field visits when we met a home-based tailor in a small town in northern India. Every morning, after finishing her household chores, she sat with a cup of chai(tea) and searched YouTube for new embroidery trends, using voice search in English, a language she doesn’t read fluently but speaks just enough to get by.“I say ‘hand work’ into the phone and look through the pictures,” she told us, scrolling carefully through images she later shared with her tailor. For her, the internet is not only entertainment but also a design tool, a client catalogue, and a growth strategy.
02 / 07Myth vs. Reality: What We Think We Know
Too often, rural India is seen as a monolith: low-tech, low-income, low-literacy. But the lived reality is far more layered. We’ve met women who run WhatsApp businesses from villages without reliable electricity, and farmers who manage supply chains across states using only feature phones.
Field noteWiki KiaOS
During one of our projects for Wikipedia, we spoke with students who used smart feature phones to search for information online. They weren't just browsing, they were actively looking for educational content in their regional language to support their studies. The limited interface didn't stop them. They had figured out how to navigate search using the phone's basic browser, and when typing was too slow, they used voice input to search more efficiently.
03 / 07Infrastructure is Not Just a Constraint-It's the Context
In urban product labs, we talk about poor internet as a bug. In rural India, it's a given. Patchy signals, shared smartphones, and devices with limited storage are all part of the user journey.
Field noteAgriTech Research
During one of our remote research sessions with a farmer in rural India, internet connectivity dropped multiple times mid-interview. The interruptions not only disrupted the session but visibly frustrated the farmer. He eventually lost interest and trust. When we tried to schedule a follow-up, he didn't return.
04 / 07Language is Not Just Translation-It’s Culture
Translating UI text into local languages doesn’t guarantee comprehension. In some communities, metaphors work better than icons; audio prompts outperform buttons. This gap isn’t limited to product interfaces, it affects research too.
Field noteAgriTech Research
During one of our remote studies with participants in rural India, we faced challenges simply getting informed consent. Signing a document even digitally felt intimidating or unfamiliar to many. Some didn't understand why they had to "sign" something at all. We realized that simply translating a consent form wasn't enough. Instead, we walked participants through a simplified explanation using verbal prompts in their native language, followed by a recorded verbal consent (with their permission). This approach felt more natural to them and still met ethical and legal standards when documented carefully.
05 / 07Trust is Earned Differently
In one of our projects, villagers were hesitant to use a digital financial app, not because of usability, but due to a lack of trust. It wasn’t until a local schoolteacher endorsed it that adoption began.
Field noteAgriTech Research
We encountered a similar challenge during recruitment for a study with farmers. During initial screener calls, many farmers were skeptical. Some believed the calls were spam; others simply didn't feel comfortable engaging with unfamiliar researchers over the phone.
To build credibility, we turned to local fertilizer sales agents, people who already had established, trusted relationships with the farmers. Once they introduced us and vouched for the study, participation rates improved significantly.
06 / 07Feedback Takes Time—and Different Forms
Unlike urban users who instantly tweet or review, rural users may take days or even weeks to respond. But when they do, it’s honest, grounded, and generative.
Field noteAgriTech Research
In one of our studies with farmers, we used a diary study method to gather daily reflections over WhatsApp. Days went by with no responses. We initially assumed they had disengaged. But when we followed up, the farmers told us they weren't comfortable typing and would prefer to send voice notes instead, something they were already used to doing in their daily communication.
Once we adapted the format and encouraged voice messages, the insights began to flow. The reflections were thoughtful, personal, and rich with everyday context that text alone might not have captured.
07 / 07What the Global South Teaches the World
Building in rural India isn’t just charity or inclusivity, it’s a masterclass in resilience, ingenuity, and relevance. The constraints here force us to simplify, humanize, and prioritize what truly matters.
Field noteAgriTech Research
For a global agri-tech client building an app for farmers, the original design required farmers to manually enter crop input data. But during fieldwork, we observed a different behavior: instead of typing into the app, most farmers preferred sending a photo of their crop through WhatsApp to their agronomist. It was quicker, more familiar, and aligned with how they already communicated.
The product team responded by integrating a “photo upload” feature directly into the app.
Conclusion: Research with Humility
At Hureo, we believe in being listeners first, experts second. Designing for rural India isn’t about bringing solutions, it’s about co-creating them with those who live with the questions every day.
If your team is building for emerging markets, remember: the real wisdom often lies not in metrics, but in moments: a paused conversation under a tree, a puzzled look at a screen, a hesitant nod of approval.
Listen to those moments. They will teach you more than any dataset ever can.Authored by Arunima Ved and Anjeli singh
