By Markzin Young Private Limited
When the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) recently published their blog—Empowering from the ground up: How the Unnatea app is changing lives in Assam’s tea gardens—it highlighted a powerful impact story unfolding in Assam’s tea gardens. But behind that story lies another one—of how digital innovation, when built with empathy and purpose, can drive real grassroots transformation.
At Markzin, we had the privilege of turning the vision of the Unnatea app into reality. This is our journey of building a platform designed to empower communities—one scheme, one family, and one digital step at a time.
The Vision: Bridging Awareness and Access
ETP approached us with a deeply human challenge: How can we help tea garden workers and their families become aware of the government support already meant for them—and access it confidently?
The answer wasn’t just to create an app. It was to create a safe, accessible, and intuitive space where information could truly empower. Unnatea had to be simple enough for first-time smartphone users and flexible enough to be useful in regions with multiple spoken languages and varying digital literacy levels.
Designing with Purpose: Simple, Accessible, Empowering
From the outset, we approached the Unnatea project with one goal in mind: reduce friction and maximise clarity. Whether a user is a frontline community facilitator or a household member in a remote estate, they should be able to navigate the platform with confidence.
Core Features We Focused On:
- Multilingual interface to accommodate regional language preferences
- Simple mobile-based login without requiring passwords
- Smart filtering to make schemes easier to find and understand
- Explainer videos and reels to demystify complex government processes
- Real-time notifications to keep users informed about new opportunities
Everything—from font size to navigation flow—was refined through continuous feedback from the field.
Co-Creation on the Ground
One of the most valuable aspects of this journey was the close collaboration with ETP’s field teams. Their deep connection with the community helped us co-create something meaningful—not just functional.
“Every design decision was tested against real-world use. From whether a button made sense to whether a scheme title was understandable, we made improvements grounded in lived experiences.”
Pilot testing across tea gardens in Assam allowed us to build not just for users, but with them. Their feedback shaped how the app looks, feels, and functions today.
More Than a Directory: A Confidence Builder
Unnatea is not just a list of government schemes. It’s a digital companion that encourages users to explore, learn, and take action. Users now access information across education, health, housing, social security, and employment in their own language, with helpful guidance throughout.
As highlighted in ETP’s report:
“The Unnatea app is helping to build confidence among tea communities to access the support that belongs to them.”
Dozens of facilitators have already integrated Unnatea into their work across multiple tea estates—helping families unlock opportunities they didn’t even know existed.
What’s Next: Smarter, Wider, Deeper
We’re now working closely with ETP to build on this momentum:
- Adding more regional language support
- Improving the scheme discovery experience based on individual needs
- Opening up public access beyond partner organizations
- Streamlining content onboarding for faster scheme updates
Our goal is to keep refining Unnatea into a platform that grows with its users.
Final Thoughts
At Markzin, we believe that meaningful impact is born at the intersection of empathy and design. With Unnatea, we set out not just to build a digital product—but to build confidence, clarity, and a sense of agency within communities often left out of digital progress.
We’re proud to walk alongside ETP on this journey—and even more excited about what’s ahead. For partnerships or queries, feel free to reach out at communications@markzin.com
