Reimagining how Gen Z and Millennials discover, trust, and engage with news.
My Role : Ideation & Research
Timeline & Status : 2 Months | Finished
Product Overview
India Ahead is an english news channel in India broadcasting current affairs, entertainment, sports, politics, and business content. India Ahead is available on direct-to-home platforms and cable television operators as a free-to-air channel. A mobile app is also available.
Quick summary
Context
With smartphones becoming the primary medium for news consumption, young Indians were no longer passively consume news they select, verify, share & react to it.
However, most digital news platforms simply replicate traditional newspaper structures in digital form.
Challenge
Research Overview
Objectives
Identify gaps in existing news experiences
Explore future-facing consumption models
Understand how young Indians discover and validate news
Target Audience
Ages 16-35
Tier 1 & Tier 2 cities
Key Research Insights
Secondary Research
Competitive Audit of 13 products under 4 Categories
User Interviews With 18 Participants
Market Gap
Existing Products Force Trade-offs
What platforms do well
Credibility
Personalization
Engagement
What they fail to provide
Relevance
Transparency
Verification
No existing platform balanced Trust, Relevance, Format Diversity & User Control
Design Opportunity
If users seek relevance, trust, and participation, how might a news experience:
Give users more control
Support verification
Encourage participation
Match modern content formats
Design Principles
User-controlled relevance
Format-led storytelling
Frictionless sharing
Structured community participation
Validation
20 user walkthroughs evaluated perceived value and desirability.
70% preferred personalized feeds
Audio-first experiences were consistently rated higher
Users valued control over notification volume
