About Ohrna

Ohrna Handmade is an Indian socially conscious boutique brand co-founded by two professional designers Jhumkee and Mitul Iyengar.

Ohrna aims to empower rural Indian women by creating and selling handcrafted accessories and home decor items using sustainable materials and traditional handicraft techniques, fostering skill development and economic opportunities for artisans.

Objective

Redesign a laptop sleeve with a primary focus on maximizing customer satisfaction while ensuring ease of learning and manufacturing for artisans. The revised design should offer improved functionality, aesthetic appeal, and durability, addressing the pain points of existing laptop sleeves while providing an artisan-friendly production process.

Business

Increase sales & adoption internationally

User

Address usability pain points with original laptop sleeve

Producer

Maintain simple artisan-friendly production process

Process

  • I distributed the original product to a carefully chosen group of local high school students, who actively used laptops on a daily basis. I observed and took note of the students' interactions with the original product, specifically identifying any pain points or inefficiencies. Furthermore, individual interviews were conducted with each participant after a two-week trial period to gather valuable insights.

    • The sleeve is used to store accessories (chargers, earbuds, mice, and cellphones) along with a laptop

    • Open pockets are great for holding laptop accessories but not secure enough

    • The zipper closure gets caught on the jute (burlap) material

    • Users like the vibrant sari fabric accent

  • Based on the research findings, incorporating a larger zipper pocket was determined as a solution to accommodate laptop accessories. To address the issue of zipper closure inefficiency, a wrap-around button fastener was introduced. Additionally, an open phone pouch was included at the back of the sleeve for convenient access. Considering the feedback on the burlap’s color, the original design's sari fabric pockets were retained to enhance visual appeal. To further enhance the aesthetics, a running stitch (kantha) was added in the same color as the pockets.

It is important to consider and balance the needs of both users and producers when designing a human-centered product.

Initially, I overlooked the artisans' skillset limitations when designing the laptop sleeve, leading me to experiment with alternative fabrics and configurations unsuitable for their abilities. However, through open communication with my teammates and understanding the process of teaching artisans and crafting each product, I gained valuable insights that allowed me to align the design with their skillsets effectively.