Pratham Books  Pratham Books is a not-for-profit children's book publisher that was set up in 2004 to publish good quality, affordable books in many Indian languages. Our mission is to see ‘a book in every child’s hand’ and we have spread the joy of reading to millions of children in India. In the last 3 years, we have invested deeply in technology-based initiatives to further our mission. We are now looking for a UX Designer as we significantly scale these initiatives. About the StoryWeaver Platform

StoryWeaver is a digital platform that hosts stories in languages from India and beyond, so that every child can have an endless stream of stories in her mother tongue to read and enjoy. The stories can be read, translated, versioned or downloaded for free. All stories on the platform are openly licensed and the goal is to open source the code as well. In two years, StoryWeaver has scaled from 800 stories in 24 languages to over 8500 stories in 113 languages by engaging with a community of users. We want every child to have access to quality reading resources in their own language. StoryWeaver is being recognized as an emerging innovation that can transform the early literacy reader ecosystem globally. Our vision is for StoryWeaver to be the largest multilingual open library in the world for children by empowering communities to address the scarcity of reading resources in their mother tongue languages and scale the quantity and quality of content being produced.                                Job Description We are looking for a UX designer to work closely alongside our Product Development team. The right candidate will be someone who wants to make a difference and  who believes that technology can be a powerful enabler in creating equitable access to resources. This role requires an individual contributor who can work effectively, both independently and collaboratively, in a team environment and deliver the project in a timely manner within allocated resources and budgets.

We’re looking for a self-motivated, detail-oriented individual who strongly believes in the power of a good user experience. You will work closely with the internal teams and other design partners. The person needs to be an out-of-the box thinker and should be a strong believer and propagator of use of open technologies.

The individual will be responsible for the following:

• UX designs for new features and enhancements on the platform

• Translate concepts into user flows, mockups and prototypes (use cases) that lead to  intuitive user experiences (where the screen would fit in the current website flow)

• Create Workflows, customer journey maps and designs for requirements provided by the product development team

• Requirements gathering/Internal Interviews for better understanding of features.

• Take a user-centered design approach and rapidly test and iterate your designs.

• Collaborate with other team members and stakeholders.

• Web screen (browser based) and mobile responsive prototyping

• User testing and documentation : testing the prototypes with key stakeholders, documenting the experience etc

• Support content & marcomm team on illustrations / designs on a need basis

Location: Position is based out of Bangalore. Project is expected to complete within a 2 year time-frame.

Salary: Compensation will be commensurate with experience.

 

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Pratham Books’ StoryWeaver is one of four organisations taking part in  DataKind Bangalore's Sprint. The first step in the Sprint was a Project Accelerator which was held on June 10, 2018 which saw  45 participants including volunteers, DataKinders and Non-Profit partners come together to discuss their projects and present a problem statement. The participating NGOs were Pratham Books, Open City, Safe City and Daksh.

Pratham Books' problem statement was 'helping users discover the right content, faster'.  13 volunteers signed up to help find ways to solve this problem statement with our team. The afternoon was spent in brainstorming ideas and understanding the problem statement further. The volunteers also came up with a set of next steps.

Sahil Kuchlous, one of the youngest volunteers on the team had this to say:

"I chose to attend the Data Kind event because I had recently been learning about various data analytical algorithms and techniques, and wanted to find a place where I could learn to apply them in a real-world application. I chose to work with Pratham Books because I felt like the end product they were expecting was very clear and had many interesting approaches. At first, I was apprehensive about attending the event because I knew that it would be mostly adults with much more experience than me attending, but it was a pleasant surprise to see how welcoming and accomodating everyone was to me. I really enjoyed the experience, and hope to follow the project through."

Over the next few weeks the volunteers will meet for Data Jams as part of the Sprint.

Purvi Shah, Head of Digital Projects, Pratham Books is excited about the solutions that will emerge from this collaboration. "At StoryWeaver we  are very grateful to a large number of volunteers who have signed up for the project. Insights from data can play a significant role in scaling social initiatives and we are happy to partner with DataKind."

If you’d like to sign up as a volunteer join DataKind Bangalore’s slack channel #pratham_books to actively participate in various discussions and to join the next set of events.

 

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It's the last week of our #EnvironmentMonth celebrations, and we're doffing our hat to the lungs of the planet: trees. Beautiful, nurturing and providing comfort to those who seek it, trees are the lifeline of the planet. Here are some beautiful books that celebrate trees in all their glory and also include stories of people who go out of their way to save trees.  Free to read, download and share, and available in multiple languages. 

Up World, Down World by Padmaparna Ghosh and Sunaina Coelho.

In a canopy forest in India, the Up World and Down World have always been suspicious of each other. But it all changes when Gopa the dormouse drops her book by accident on Fatima’s head. A story about the biodiversity of the canopy forests and friendship.

Every Tree Counts by Praba Ram and Sheela Preuitt illustrated by Sangeetha Kadur

From the stately Deodar and colourful Coral to the majestic Banyan and common Pipal, the book takes children on a journey across varied landscapes as they count trees, and picture the uses of each tree. Look around you to find more trees, and learn what these terrific trees can do.

My Tree-Friend by Shreekumar Varma and Rae Zachariah

We all know trees are our friends. But can friends be trees too? Just like the fruits in Ammoomma’s trees, friends can be sweet, sour, or both!

Chipko Takes Root by Jeyanthi Manokaran

Here is a story set in the hills that shows what bravery and grit can accomplish. Dichi, a brave Bhotiya girl takes part in the Chipko movement to save her beloved trees. Everybody in her village knows that trees give them all the important things in their life. Rapid deforestation in the Himalayan region of Alaknanda river caused floods in the 1970s and gave birth to a movement to save trees by hugging them. Read this heartwarming tale to learn the power of collective action as seen through the eyes of young Dichi.

Grandfather Goes on Strike by K.S. Nagarajan and Neeta Gangopadhya

Most grandfathers are content to lie back in an armchair and lazily read the day's newspaper. Not our tree loving senior citizen. He goes on strike for his beloved trees and a series of hilarious events liven up this entertaining tale. Read on to find out who saves the day and who saves the trees!

A Walk Among Trees by Nimret Handa

Trees have been growing on our planet well before human beings appeared on it. Without their comforting shade and tasty fruit, our earth would be quite a barren place. Take a walk among trees in the King's orchard to savour the taste, the smell and the legends associated with bountiful fruit trees in India. You will feel refreshed by all that you learn!

 

Let's Go Seed Collecting! by Neha Sumitran and  Archana Sreenivasan

Join Tooka, Poi, and their best friend Inji the dog, as they go around collecting seeds. The adventure begins when the three friends meet Pacha the tamarind tree.

We've hope you've enjoyed our month long sharing of environment themed books! Do come back for more stories in more languages!

 

 

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