Siya Jain Product + UX Designer Let’s Connect
  • Industrial Design

What if a box could break barriers instead of building them?

Role
Co-Project Manager
Timeline
10 weeks · Fall 2024
Team
2 people
Loop open on a classroom desk in rural India: a bamboo box with a screen, a farm landscape, letter tiles, and the two tutor figures, Maya and Raju.

Problem

Millions of children in rural India can’t build English literacy, held back by limited resources, infrastructure and support.

Solution

Loop, an affordable learning box with culturally rooted chapters, RFID-enabled pieces and self-guided tutors, so children learn at their own pace.

Impact

Won the European Product Design Award and an IDSA award, with NGOs ready to invest and local bamboo economies built around it.

Recognized by the European Product Design Award (2025 winner) and the IDSA International Design Excellence Awards.

01 · Context

Literacy in Rural India

Imagine having something to say, but no words to say it with: full of potential, yet invisible to the world. We wanted to build a tool not just for learning, but for being seen, heard and understood.

196 million

children are enrolled in schools in India.

Only 20 in 100

grade 3 students in rural India can read a simple English sentence.

Who says they speak English

Rural
3%
Urban
12%

A four-times gap between city and village, and English is the language of opportunity.

Why English

  • A group of people talking, with speech bubbles.

    A Voice

    English lets children speak up and be understood beyond their village.

  • A child surrounded by icons for books, ideas and video.

    Access

    It opens up information, further education and digital tools.

  • Two children standing on equal pedestals.

    An Equal Footing

    It puts rural children level with their urban peers.

02 · Research

Research Approach

To understand the true scale of the problem, we moved from empathizing to understanding, specifying, ideating and designing.

  1. Empathize
  2. Understand
  3. Specify
  4. Ideate
  5. Design
20+
articles analyzed
3
education NGOs interviewed
12+
on-ground interviews
8+
product concepts

Key takeaway

Children may be enrolled, but a lack of resources, support and infrastructure means most are still struggling to learn, especially foundational English.

Conversations with NGOs

NGO Insights

Three education-focused NGOs shared challenges and cultural context we could never have grasped on our own.

  • A teacher puzzled at a question from a student.

    Unspecialized Teachers

    Rural teachers know the alphabet, but aren’t trained to teach English at a higher level.

  • A child studying at a desk with a few books.

    Limited Resources

    Many families can’t afford more than the uniform, notebooks and a little stationery.

  • A child with his parents.

    Little Support at Home

    Many families are first-generation learners, or don’t read English, so learning stops at the school gate.

  • A teacher at a blackboard with a young student.

    Single-Teacher Schools

    One teacher often teaches every subject to several grades in a single classroom.

Primary audience

Children aged 6–12 in rural India, enrolled in school but facing barriers to foundational English literacy.

Secondary audience

Teachers, families and community members who shape a child’s learning environment.

03 · Designing Loop

Six Learning Needs

From our research, we defined the learning qualities Loop had to deliver to make English effective, engaging and accessible in a rural classroom.

The Loop symbol.
  • Progressive learning
  • Collaborative learning
  • Retentive learning
  • Interactive learning
  • Cultural learning
  • Multisensory learning
  • Crayola blueOpenness and calm.
  • Pastel greenFocus for demanding tasks.
  • Citrine yellowEnergy that helps memory.
  • Pure whiteCalm, and a feeling of trust.

04 · Exploration

Concept Exploration

Guided by our must-haves, we explored forms on paper, then in 3D, prioritizing culturally relevant characters, interactive storytelling, task-based and multisensory learning, and clear visual cues.

  1. A sheet of early product sketches and notes.01 · Sketch

    Ideas on Paper

    Forms, characters and features, explored against our list of must-haves.

  2. The early 3D box: a narrow fold-out with long tile trays.02 · Prototype

    Too Complex

    The first box format packed in too much and served only 1–2 students.

  3. The final box: a rectangle with fold-out character panels and a central landscape.03 · After testing

    Built for a Group

    Simplified to a rectangular box with fold-out features, for 7–8 students at once.

The Loop box annotated: the screen with chapter-wise learning, Maya’s and Raju’s placements, the landscape template and the spelling area.
The final box, piece by piece.

05 · The Product

Product Features

Each chapter of Loop is rooted in Indian life: a farm, a market, a festival. Children move from basic vocabulary to sentences to real conversation.

  1. 01

    Interactive Screen

    An LED screen runs chapter-based lessons built on Indian customs, progressing from vocabulary to sentences to conversation.

  2. 02

    Visual Landscape

    Each chapter’s landscape holds culturally inspired objects. Matching a piece to its word activates the screen and brings Maya and Raju to life.

  3. 03

    Self-Guided Tutors

    Maya teaches in Hindi and Raju mentors in English, assigning tasks and guiding students through each chapter, so learning doesn’t depend on a trained English teacher.

  4. 04

    Live Spell Assist

    A spelling board where children spell the word on screen with letter tiles and get instant feedback on accuracy.

Try live spell assist

Spelling Game

Maya says the word in Hindi. Raju asks for it in English. Tap the tiles in order to spell it.

Maya, the Hindi tutor.
Mayaगाय
Raju, the English mentor.
RajuSpell “cow”

06 · Made Locally

Bamboo Manufacturing

Loop is made from bamboo, and India is the world’s second-largest bamboo producer. Sourcing and producing locally keeps Loop affordable and puts its value back into rural communities.

  • Creates jobs within rural communities
  • Empowers artisans and small-scale manufacturers
  • Builds new skills through training and production
  • Generates consistent income for underserved families
Loop open with Maya and Raju, and its chapter boxes alongside.
Loop’s chapter boxes.
Loop with its tutors and chapter boxes from another angle.

07 · Learnings

What I Learned

  1. 01

    Understand the Audience Truly

    The challenge

    Coming from a different educational background, I underestimated how overwhelming traditional English learning is for children in rural India.

    What I learned

    Field research and interviews shifted my perspective, to see learning through their lens, not mine.

  2. 02

    Merge Without Overcomplicating

    The challenge

    Early on, we packed chapters, characters, audio and interaction into one kit, and it became confusing and impractical.

    What I learned

    The value of modularity: clear, self-contained chapters simplified the experience for children and educators.

  3. 03

    Serious Purpose, Playful Design

    The challenge

    Literacy is life-changing, but the product couldn’t lose the joy and imagination that draw kids in.

    What I learned

    Thoughtful branding does both: relevant characters, warm visuals and a playful tone made Loop inviting without losing its impact.

Empowering voices, bridging worlds