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I plan on redesigning WhatsApp for feature phones. Personal research in Rwanda has shown that the amount of people who use feature phones still is not negligible. The research has also shown that nearly everyone with a smartphone uses WhatsApp to communicate. For people with feature phones, the inability to use WhatsApp can be a problem. I will redesign the entirety of WhatsApp to work on very small non-touch devices. I will be basing my redesign off the Android version of WhatsApp.
After a brief visit to Rwanda I have found through observation that the number of feature phones almost equals the number of smartphones. Other sources state that the globally smartphone sales are only slightly higher than dumbphone sales. I have also found through observation that nearly all Rwandans use WhatsApp. I have found that a large number of non-Americans use WhatsApp.
The average user is a young person with a feature phone that has friends with smartphones and use WhatsApp. However, the true demographic is anyone with dumbphone that wants to communicate with a secure and easy messaging app.
One example of a user is Harold. Harold is a 20-year-old teacher living in Rwanda. He uses a feature phone because he cannot afford a smartphone. He gets by okay, but most of his friends have smartphones and all use WhatsApp. He has dual SIM cards for calling and data, because it is cheaper. If Harold had WhatsApp on his feature phone, he would be able to communicate with his friends much easier. He could also consolidate to one SIM card because he would be able to call using WhatsApp over data.
Feature phones with screen sizes anywhere from 2-4 inches. Special consideration will be given to phones that have support for external apps and Java, like the itel it5020. Since the application will be running on low performance devices, the design will be minimalistic to save on resources.
All the features of the Android version of WhatsApp will be represented in the design. This includes: