Could UX4G Fix Digital India’s Clumsy UI & UX Design?

Whether applying for a passport, a PAN card, or paying your utility bills, Indian citizens can access most of these services through web or mobile applications. 

While these digital platforms promise convenience, sparing trips to government offices, the time saved is often consumed by navigating cumbersome user experiences. 

Consider the mAadhar application. A case study from last year found that the maps feature on the website, designed to show nearby enrolment centres, “lacks comprehensive functionality, hindering users from efficiently finding centres.”

The study also noted that, “The OTP input boxes lack intuitiveness and have small dimensions, potentially causing difficulties.”

Such complaints about government websites are widespread online.

What makes the mAadhar critique particularly noteworthy, however, is its source — the government itself. The study was published under the UX4G initiative, part of the Digital India Programme managed by the Ministry of Electronics and IT.

This initiative addresses various issues affecting user experience and interface design in many of these applications by introducing standardised design systems for both designers and developers. Design systems are standardised collections of reusable components, guidelines, and principles that ensure consistent and user-friendly interfaces across digital platforms.

Aside from the design system, the portal has also conducted several tests and case studies to identify various issues with government websites, such as Chalo India, ABHA, 112, and others, providing guidelines to resolve these issues based on the findings.

Additionally, it offers capacity-building workshops for government officials. These sessions cover UI/UX design, design thinking, and challenges in creating effective UI/UX for diverse online users. 

But what has caught the attention of many developers and designers across social media is the UX4G design system. 

Many countries worldwide have adopted standardised design systems for government websites, including the UK’s GOV.UK Design System, the United States’ Web Design System (USWDS), and Singapore’s Singapore Government Design System (SGDS). Now, it is India’s turn. 

IRCTC website needs a UX4G overhaul first. feels like a scam website. whoever designed it has a disturbing love of pop-ups https://t.co/HyUfO1atGO pic.twitter.com/SYgAjGx77X

— Caleb (@caleb_friesen2) August 30, 2025

How does the UX4G design system perform, and will it ultimately alleviate users’ concerns? 

To begin with, it provides UX designers with a detailed handbook and a Figma file which provides all the resources and guidelines to design apps for the context of the Indian user. 

For instance, it guides developers to adopt a mobile-first approach to reach the broad and diverse population that relies heavily on mobile internet access. UX4G also provides detailed guidelines for developers to implement the design in code for these applications. 

The system also dives into intricate details that may appear in applications. 

For example, when including India’s map in an application, it provides specific guidance on making maps interactive and user-friendly.

How Good is UX4G?

AIM reached out to Rahul Chakraborthy, a former product designer at companies like Swiggy, Google and Groww, for his insights as he analysed the design system in detail. 

Chakraborthy said that UX4G has gone beyond improving the app aesthetically, with a clear focus on better accessibility. 

“The UX4G handbook from their website talks about localisation and cultural sensitivity in content, multilingual use-cases. It also covers offline functionalities that can work without internet access, saving/caching content effectively, etc.” 

During his analysis, the most interesting tool Chakraborthy came across was the ‘Accessibility Widget’, a ready-to-use component for existing products that allowed teams with limited design or development bandwidth to quickly adopt accessibility-enhancing features, aligning with popular accessibility standards (WCAG, GIGW, IS 17802). 

“It has built-in features to address various contrast and readability needs, alongside dyslexia-friendly fonts, screen reader support, cursor control enhancements for motor-impaired users, multilingual options, etc.,” he added. 

Alongside the Accessibility Widget, UX4G also offers access to numerous tools, such as a ‘UX Health Self-Check,’ which is a compliance matrix that helps to determine the compliance rating of a website based on its various characteristics. 

Furthermore, it also offers a tool called ‘Audit 360’ which allows developers to audit their websites for performance, accessibility, and their optimisation for search engines.

However, there is still room for improvement. 

“To improve it further, it can also focus on deeper localisation, like region-specific metaphors and voice/vernacular patterns,” he said, while adding that it is still in need of more nuanced and in-depth customisation to build India-centric apps for the less tech-savvy demographic. 

Currently, the design system is only in its second version, and it will be interesting to see how the updates improve its offerings.

UX4G Alone Is Not Enough

The designers and developers need to do more than just implement the design system to ensure a good experience. They need to know exactly who they are designing for. 

Design systems provide the foundation, but they cannot replace the fundamental need for user research and contextual design thinking. 

“The person coming to an RTO website has a different mindset than someone visiting the PF website,” said Akshay Kore, author of Designing Human-Centric AI Experiences and a visiting professor at IIT-Bombay. 

The current problem with many government websites is not only their visual design but also their core navigation structure. Implementation of a design system alone cannot resolve this issue — it requires careful research into user behaviour, task analysis, and repeated testing to develop genuinely intuitive experiences, Kore said. 

Crucially, designers must understand their user demographics and needs. Some citizens are digitally savvy and expect modern interfaces, while others require simplified, accessible experiences. Effective government digital services depend on designing for this entire spectrum of digital literacy levels.

“The benchmark for people should ideally be that I don’t have to have a third person teach me how to use it,” Kore said, setting the standard for government digital services to match the intuitive nature of consumer applications that users interact with on a daily basis.

Today, India is investing over 10,000 crore rupees in its AI mission, and while it aims to create foundational models, ultimately, its by-products will be the use cases that promise to solve problems for Indians. 

Frameworks such as UX4G are more crucial than ever because AI-enabled technologies need to reach their target demographic effectively. 

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