An app for opticians and optical stores to manage orders and Bills.
ROLE
Co-founder
Founding + Principal Designer
Founding + Principal Engineer
Period
March 2024 onwards
TL;DR
After building ASIRA Clinical, we partnered with Optical Market, an e-commerce and marketing team with over fifteen years of experience in marketing and selling eye care products to optician across India.
Based on conversations with the Optical Market team and optical store owners, we discovered a number of opportunities to build a simple, user friendly app that catered to all types of users - large opticians in metropolitan cities to small rural villages.
Challenge
Majority of optical stores in emerging markets still rely on paper to place orders and retain customers. Misplaced or lost orders create a poor customer experience which leads to losing the patient and revenue. Owners however, are apprehensive about going digital due to data theft and privacy concerns.
Solution
Launched a native Android and iOS app for optical stores to record customer details, place orders and settle invoices. With features like WhatsApp WA Links, and order and invoice management, stores have been able to save time, reduce overheads, retain customers, and increase revenue.
Impact
onboarded
500+
optical stores helping them move from paper to digital, retain customers and save time and money.
REDUCED order TIME BY
~ 60%
by simplifying the process of placing orders and replacing paperwork with an app.
reduced missed orders by
25%
Users have been able to easily find, follow up and complete unfulfilled and past due orders.
Increased customer Retention By
20%
Capturing customer details allows optical stores to follow up with customers who were unattended or exited the store mid-order, helping close more orders.
time saved per day
1-3 hours
Orders are sent to patients over WhatsApp eliminating paperwork. Users can easily find orders due today from the Home screen.
Meeting customers and getting feedback
in-depth version
Understanding the Optical Store Market in India
The optical market in India is highly unregulated and at the moment, there are no governing bodies that have established any regulations. As a result, opticians are generally grouped together based on their size and their presence in the different population based cities - metros, urban centres, semi-urban centres and rural centres or villages.
Why do optical stores lose customers?
Salesperson unavailable when store is busy
Store does not stock product
Customer does not return after placing an order
Customer is unhappy with the service
Opportunities
a Simple experience that maps
to real-world workflows.
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Share orders and Invoices With the customer directly over whatsapp.
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Share order spec with the vendor directly over whatsapp.
Serve as a POS in optical stores
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Access customer data anytime, anywhere.
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challenges
No prior experience building
a native mobile app.
☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️
Gaining the trust of Stores With
regard to thier customer data.
☠️☠️☠️☠️
No inventory or dashboard feature
at launch
☠️☠️☠️
Planning the experience
Choosing a development stack
I chose to build the app in React Native using the Expo SDK (v53), as I was already comfortable with coding in React and wanted to build an MVP quickly.
CRUD operations are performed by calling APIs from ASIRA Clinical using JWT tokens. For this, I updated the API request handlers to check for and validate JWT tokens.
ASIRA Clinical APIs and updated request handler to verify tokens coming from the app
Planning the architecture
I designed a high-level diagram illustrating the flow of control and data in the system between the app and the Clinical APIs.
technical challenge
Since the API routes require SSL access, I could not directly access them over localhost. Instead, I had to deploy updates to the development server each time I needed to add or update functionality in the APIs for the app. This was very time consuming for even minor changes as I had to wait 7-10 minutes per deploy.
Designing the navigation
Primary screens
I implemented a bottom tabbed navigation for the primary navigation - Home, Customers, Orders & Invoices.
Secondary Screens
The secondary screens are used less frequently than the primary screens. These pages include About, Privacy, Terms, etc.
Other secondary screens which are critical to the operation of the app but accessed infrequently are hidden under Account settings.
Creating an account and signing in
To reduce sign up friction, we opted for an email-based OTP login system instead.
Different states for the account creation, sign in and OTP verification forms.
Learning
Users were not comfortable with receiving OTP verification over WhatsApp and instead preferred to receive the OTP via SMS. The cost of SMS OTPs was not sustainable for us however, and hence we chose to use email OTPs sent via AWS SES.
Welcoming users
to their new 🏠
We wanted to use the home screen as a POS. As a result, it had to be clear, visual
visual explorations
v1: A whimsical approach
I initially tried a more whimsical approach and abstracted the icons to basic emojis. However, after implementing the design, it appeared more childish than whimsical customers were not comfortable using this UI as a POS.
TEAM VOTE:
👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽🤷🏽🤷🏽
v2: A play on REALISM
I replaced whimsy with realism and used Midjourney AI to generate a collage of photo-realistic images from which to choose images to represent the different order types.
TEAM VOTE:
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽🤷🏽
Midjourney results for generating image for different order types.
Components of the home screen
Managing customers
60% of A and B grade opticians currently use some form of software (primarily for inventory management), either from vendors like TechCherry and OpticalCRM, or simple Excel sheets.
However, smaller C and D grade stores rely on paper records or on good faith with customers within their small community.
Adding customers
Adding customers
without placing an order
Adding customers
while placing an order
Inspired by Mixpanel's style of icons for customers, I created a set of icons that could be used for customer profiles if the profile image is missing.
While I really liked the realistic icons, they were too attention grabbing. Ultimately, the pastel icons were the most subtle while adding a bit of playfulness.
Communicating via WhatsApp WA LINKS
I created custom WA links that opticians could use to send updates to customers about the status of their order or invoice.
WA links allow opticians to message their customers over WhatsApp from their own phone - a phone number that customers recognise and trust - instead of a message being sent via the WhatsApp API from an unknown ASIRA phone number.
Placing orders
Designing the workflow
Optical Market, created a set of Google Sheets that illustrated the steps required to successfully place an order, along with the form data required at each step for the different order types.
Using these sheets, I first started sketching basic block diagrams to get a feel for the flow of control between screens.
They also highlighted the required fields without which an order could not be placed.
Sketches for the different steps involved with placing an order
After the team agreed on the design direction, I converted the sketches into lo-fi wireframes that illustrated the end-to-end workflow for each order type.
spectacle orders
Spectacles are the most common reason that customers visit an optical store. Customers either come in with an existing prescription (Rx) or get an Rx on-premises.
Once the customer has a Rx, opticians show the range of frames that match the recommended lenses. When the lenses come back from fitting, the optician adds the lens to the selected frame and the order is Ready For Delivery.
Designing the Form Fields
Spectacle frame and lens measurements are required to be accurate so that the vendor can supply and fit the correct lens.
Iconography explorations for frame and lens types
I designed a number pad that concatenates tapped values together to form the final Rx number. While implementing this in Expo, it was tricky to get the keypad to scroll along with the screen smoothly.
The keypad for a Cylindrical measurement
Affordances
Grouping relevant fields together reduces the fatigue of lengthy forms.
The keypad concatenates values removing the need for any table lookups.
Iconography simplifies the UX for non English speaking users.
contact lens orders
Contact lens sales generally account for about 15-20% of the total revenue for an optical store.
Contact lenses need to be purchased in quantities that depend on the replacement schedule prescribed by the optometrist.
Designing the form fields
I used a 3x3 grid icon set to help opticians quickly find the replacement schedule they are looking for instead of having to read labels.
Affordances
Iconography makes it easier for non-English speaking customers to identify a replacement schedule.
Grouping relevant fields together reduces the fatigue of lengthy forms.
Tracking and delivering orders
Customer measurements are sent to a vendor for the lens to be accurately fit into the selected frame. Opticians need to be able to track the progress of the order in order to communicate the status of the order with the customer.
OM created a spreadsheet of the different stages of an order, depending on the type of order.
Rough sketches of how we wanted the look and feel of order cards to be.
Spreadsheet with the different stages of an order.
Final design and implementation
closed state
Open state
different States of an order
Settling invoices
When an order is created for a customer, the customer is given an order copy as proof of the order. However, this is not proof of payment. When an order is placed, it typically goes to another location for fitting and polishing.
Only when the order is marked as READY FOR DELIVERY, an invoice is generated and shared with the customer. When the invoice has been SETTLED, the order is handed over to the customer and marked as DELIVERED.
In the case of sunglasses or accessories where there is no fitting required, invoices are generated along with the order form and settled on the spot.
Different states of an invoice
Testing before shipping
Installation
Using TestFlight, I successfully installed the iOS app.
Orders and Invoices
We tested all the features in the app and logged the results in Google Sheets to keep track of what was working and what wasn't.
shipping and Listing the App
Android Play Store
Getting listed on the Play Store was pretty straightforward, especially compared to the long and painful process of getting approved and listed on the App Store.
Banner ad for the Google Play Store lists all the main features of the app along with screenshots of some of the main screens that we thought would resonate with users.
APPLE APP STORE
Submitting the app to the App Store for the initial V1 deploy was a very tedious process that started on December 4, 2024, resulted in multiple Rejected versions, and finally got the Ready to Distribute status on January 28, 2025, three days before Optika 2005.
Below is an accurate depiction of the calm relief I felt after.
A large number of eggs were broken to make this Apple approved omelette.
Banner ads for the Apple App Store listing. Being short on time, I took screenshots of the most salient features of the app and created minimum-viable screenshots.
The Optical Market team confirming that they can install the app from the App Store.
Launching at Optika 2025.
We launched the ASIRA Optician App at Optika 2025, India's largest optical expo. During the 3 day event, we were visited by over 500 people, of which 120 bought an annual subscription on the spot. National teams for international brands such as Hoya and Essilor approached us for partnerships to equip their teams of opticians with the app.
outcomes
We launched the ASIRA Optician App on February 1, 2025 at the Optika Conference 2025, India's largest optical expo getting 120 paid annual subscribers within three days. From mid-February to early September 2025, the installed audience fluctuated mostly between 250 and 280 users for Android and around 180 and 200 for iOS users.
After mid-September 2025, there was a slight downturn in Android growth, with installs generally staying between 200 and 220. As expected, the download and usage of the Android app is more than double the downloads for iOS.
Downloads from the Google Play Store since Feb 2025
Lifetime downloads from the Apple App Store since Feb 2025
Learnings
CODED and deployed my first React Native app
Learning how to work with Expo/React Native, Tamagui and the Android and iOS environments was a significant challenge. Since all the functionality in the app is driven through ASIRA Clinical APIs, I had to rewrite code to enable token based authentication and validation of API requests coming from the app.
Rural communities need GREATER ACCESS TO CHEAP TECHNOLOGY
At Optika 2025, I met with many lower grade optical store owners that were frustrated that going digital was out of their reach. They were not able to compete with large chains like Lenskart, Lawrence & Mayo, etc, and eventually had to sell their business or take loans to survive.
Having access to cheap technology is essential for small businesses and mom-and-pop stores to compete with larger chains and retaining more customers.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to the Optical Market team for partnering with us to get the ASIRA Optician App out in the market. Their deep knowledge and network in this space is driving the awareness, discovery and adoption of the app. I would also like to thank my partner, Isha Dave for managing the clinical side of ASIRA while I focussed on designing and building the app.
VISIT ASIRA OPTICIAN
Frankensteined in Mumbai.
Fueled by YouTube, 90s cartoons & Heavy Metal.
