(Anywhere) We're looking to build a social network that's specifically designed for the Indian community. These communities and social circles are structured differently and there's no online platform that successfully incorporates these nuances into its networking site.
The project will be broken down into four main areas:
- Shop- Meet- Discover- Give
Under Shop, we'll have categorized listings for vendors that span everything from insurance and legal counsel to wedding planners and doctors. We want to offer two options here: a listing or a full online shopping platform.
Under Meet, we'll start with the basic functions of a Facebook profile: friend requests, photo albums, photo tagging, messaging, etc. The unique twist is we're going to take a map of India and break it down into various regions, districts and villages and use that as the center of our people search engine. Something like this: www.interhoods.org. When finding their friends and family, that's how people within these communities will search.
Under Discover, we'll have an online library of resources from everything spanning recipes and entertainment news to tutorials and music videos. A huge part of this area will be Jobs and Personals because when many people from India emigrate to the States, they prefer working with someone from India so they can get used to their new surroundings. Same with Personals: the arranged marriage system doesn't quit get represented properly in the online dating sites that are out there presently.
Under Give, we simply want to show a running count of how much money we've diverted to our non-profit organization and how that's impacted India --- whether it's schools built, kids' educations funded, meals, medical attention, etc. Each time a vendor signs up or sells something through our system, we'll grab a percentage and donate it automatically.
The interface needs to be simple, seamless, clutter-free, and easy to use. Some example of sites that are too cluttered and busy: http://www.laindian.com/los-angeles/ and http://www.sulekha.com/. Too busy, ads everywhere, still utilize popups, and information is not streamlined.
Some sites we like design-wise:www.culinaryculture.comwww.healthyvaldosta.comwww.dishizzle.comwww.unlocking.com
As for timeline, we're not looking to start development until at least March 2011 so that'd give you a good 8-10 weeks. We can add on a few more weeks if needed, no worries there.
We'd need a set of PSD files as we already have a development team from our previous ventures. We're having someone else come in and do branding so we just need someone to map out the entire use experience and design the entire interface from top to bottom.Job Perks: We're also willing to give you a share of the company as one of the integral members of our team. We'd be willing to negotiate this as we see your work over a period of time. We want you to be part of our team for the long run.Apply: Please email me at anandp@myriann.com to apply; please include your portfolio of works that are similar to what we're requesting, what your hourly rate is, and what else you bring tot he table for this project (work habits, creativity, communication skills, etc.)
