APPLICATION DESIGN “BATARA” AS THE CENTER OF INFORMATION, INTERACTION, AND TRANSACTION FOR THE INDONESIAN GEMSTONE LOVERS COMMUNITY

• Main Author: RAZAK (NIM : 27115014), BADI
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/26004
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The hobby of collecting domestic gems or locally called 'akik', has long been a part of the Indonesian culture. This indigenous heritage can be traced from their method of quality assessment. For these hobbyists, the pattern in gems can represent the symbol of the supernatural powers, with its interpretation based on animist (metaphysical). The occurrence of social phenomenon ‘gems rush' in Indonesia, is also a sign that western philosophy, which assesses the quality of gems as a type of jewelry (physical), has affected the public perceptions. This type of gems, that were considered not valuable, now transformed into a national flagship commodity. However, this promising market demand, was not accompanied by consumer education or adequate insight. ‘The product knowledge’ can comes from a variety of sources that are confused, exaggerated, even inclined to be mistaken. This market condition makes the hobbyists purchased gems that are not meet their expectations, which in turn, has made them lost interest in collecting more. This study aims to regain the trust of the hobbyists, through the design of mobile application named BATARA which integrated three main features (information, interaction, and transaction) and specially designed as a community center for the Indonesian gemstone lovers. This research uses design thinking approach through the stages of empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. For the design phase, mostly refers to the human-computer interaction theory, that prioritizes the usefulness of user interface and the satisfactions of user experience. Test results from this study concluded that BATARA can be an effective online media, to support the return of the Indonesian gemstone industry.