Designing the Future with Improv: 5 Secrets about Life, Career and Systems Thinking from OLX Autos Design Team
“I love improv. I perform at comedy clubs and theatres.
It’s an explosion of fun and a boost for creative thinking,
which fuels my role as the Head of Product Design at OLX Autos,” says Ankur.Indeed, performance art has a lot to teach the design world. As an article covering improv and design states, improv “absolves responsibility” and gives you the “opportunity to break rules” and “push norms.”
Improvisation, or improv, is a form of live theatre in which the plot, characters and dialogue of a game, scene or story are made up in the moment. Often improvisers will take a suggestion from the audience, or draw on some other source of inspiration to get started.
As Head of Product Design, Ankur combines that creativity with his skills and knowledge to lead the team.
“I must ensure the design team not only supports what the company is doing, but also consistently improves the experience and ignites innovation for OLX Autos,” states Ankur.
In our talk with Ankur, we cover his work at OLX Autos and go into detail about what makes a great design team.
1. Have a bring-it-on approach: The fundamentals of improv can make us better designers
As an article on design inspiration and improv states, “There is no wrong answer in improv.” That’s why it’s a great activity to stimulate creativity. In the Improv game Three Things, for instance, a person names a subject and you have to give three things as fast as you can. The idea isn’t accuracy, but rather speed. If the topic’s your morning routine, you could say, “breakfast, brush teeth, snowstorm.”
Again, there is no wrong answer in improv. Improv Everywhere’s “MP3 Experiments”, in which a massive number of strangers volunteer to interact with a recorded set of instructions in a public space, are a great example.
On top of being a lot of fun and encouraging interaction between strangers, “the experiments” were structured in a way that opened individuals up to greater levels of complexity and creativity, both individually and collectively. Part of the “magic” of it was the sheer number of participants, but there’s value in integrating these types of improv games without the massive scale
“I love improv because you get to dive into fun challenges on the spot and come up with all sorts of ideas.
The three basic challenges of Improv are:
1. Yes-And
Improv is based on the principle of positivity, which is Yes-And.
A design brainstorming session can gain a lot from the same.
It means essentially, that one will build on what was said previously without the thought of negating it. Yes-And is the best and the fastest way to ideate !2. No fear of failure
Spontaneity can only be there if people are being honest and there is no fear of failure. Storytelling in design needs us to be just that. We need to take chances, start writing the book without the plot in your head sometimes.3. Group Mind (No ego)
Improv talks about ‘Group-mind’ and ‘Killing your ego’ which is so important in a team. Designers have a tendency to be individual champs and that might be necessary in some cases, but as a leader I need to make sure we have a group mind.“It shows you there is no one set way to reach a destination. My career path has kind of been unique like that. After all, a career in design isn’t a direct line. There are lots of turns, ”states Ankur. More below.
2. Careers aren’t linear. They’re Loops.
What has your career path in design been like?
“I started as an intern with Indian Railways. I used to look after their information systems. But I wasn’t enjoying my work. I was coding and I didn’t enjoy it. Then, I saw colleagues working on tasks like deciding the color of the seats. They introduced the concept of ‘design’ as a discipline to me. A discipline were art and commerce meet,” tells Ankur.
“From that moment, I made up my mind to go to their design institute and I went to see it with my father. I was blown away by the idealism and skills in the air. I wrote the exam which was all about abstractions and writing. I built a portfolio with the help of my then girlfriend (who later quite rightly became my life partner). That’s when I started to understand what design means.
After my studies, I started working with Honeywell in Bangalore. The role was around healthcare and I grew passionate about healthcare. We did product design and research and even dabbled with marketing and business strategy. I was there for five years. I realised the importance of correct mentorship and need to protect the idealism of younger designers. It gives power to say, do and push the right things, basically to be fearless. This is what ails most of the corporate teams.
After that, I moved to Philips research in the Netherlands. Philips was a mix of things: music, lighting, and healthcare. I moved back to the Indian office but that didn’t work out. I learned the ethics of design at Philips and it was about doing it right. It was refreshing to see how design is made to perfection. I believe ‘jugaad’ is overrated. Most times I find people in the habit of cutting corners, it’s a very bad habit.
Next, I went to Samsung for around 3 years. At Samsung, I built my first team. Before OLX Group, I spent time also at Amazon and Zomato.”
My journey has been unique. There’s no standard path if you’re a designer. Because there is no perfect path, but rather multiple ways to that successful destination.”
Why did you come to OLX?
“The great part of OLX is the bring-it-on approach. OLX Group is also diverse to the core, with diversity in terms of age, gender, cultures, and ideas. We have a lot of respect for other ideas. People are more respectful and open to ideas. The diversity in cultures we have is the best part of OLX. “
3. Ignite, Improve, Support
Within a product-oriented organization, the design team has several roles, each representing a different level of maturity. Ankur defines these roles as:
Support: “Designers have to support what’s in flight. We need to make sure the design quality never dips. We should be agile and never be a bottleneck. In this phase, it’s business first. Push the release. Compete well.”
Improve: “Designers need to take the opportunity to improve the user experience with every new feature, new revision. We make sure that the new features enhance what exists and is relevant and desirable for the user. Add something new, add something robust. Push the product. Beat the competitors.”
Ignite: “With the opportunity to think big comes great responsibility. The responsibility to ignite the minds and possibilities of the user experience. Not only should the designers take up the role of the futurists but also system thinkers. Imagine, challenge and disrupt. Push the organization. Be the first mover.”
“We divide these roles as 40/40/20, with 20% of projects being Support projects. This framework provides clarity and pushes everyone to see if they’re making a bigger impact,” explains Ankur.
Now that we have information on the design team role at OLX, let’s discuss the Support projects a little more…
Tell us about Support projects. What does the design do to support the OLX Group platforms?
“For instance, let’s say we launch a listing process in India and want to launch it in Indonesia. Or, if we launch the listing process on iOS and want to launch on Android. Support is like modeling work. It’s the same design. We need to localize it but it takes time,” describes Ankur.
“My first project was launching OLX in the Middle East and markets with right to left languages. This was a massive overhaul. It’s not about just changing left to right. Even icons, like a guitar, would point in the other direction. The orientation of things must be taken into consideration,” explains Ankur.
“Visually, we have to look at every piece and also take into account cultural sensibility. We have currency issues, especially when there are lots of zeros. You realize this when localization happens. There are so many different pieces to manage.”
This type of support adds a lot of business value, right?
“Yes, especially as we grow at OLX Autos. Sometimes we come up with solutions that really benefit the bottom line,” tells Ankur.
“For example, our team in Chile advised we use real images instead of drawings or illustrations. Because people want to see real photos of people. This changed our design for the LATAM market. And when we tested the idea back in India, we realized it worked back in India too once we localized the image content.”
Ankur makes a great point about image localization. If you use Spotify, you’ll notice a similar commitment to image localization. As the Spotify design team states, they aim to design for belonging and frame content in a manner that fits in with local culture. With relevant, inclusive design, they can create connections.
“There are guides, such as this reference sheet for currencies, dates, and other elements, to help with scaling the localization work. But you still must do the research and bring on local experts,” adds Ankur.
4. Imagine, challenge and disrupt. Push the organization. Be the first mover
Now, let’s discuss the Improvement projects a little more…
What’s an important Improvement project you’ve done lately?
“I love the OLX Autos mobile application camera project. It’s a project that shows the commitment of the team working together. The camera UI is improving continuously. A big issue before was that there was no space to take car pictures. There wasn’t enough space to take a shot of the car without one part being truncated,” details Ankur.
“We decided to use diagonals to get both sides of the car. We used 3D drawings to teach people to take diagonal pictures. We removed edges and navigation menus in the interface. It’s a full-scale camera. The camera is the interface.
We also added an animation to help the user to take the right images. And now we’re learning when and how to give users guidelines. For instance, while they’re clicking, how do you show the guidelines? You can’t put in a how-to video. It has to be a clear explanation yet small.
Overall, the camera is a big innovation happening at OLX Autos.”
Can you discuss the inspection reports improvements?
“That was fantastic. We had no real precedence with that project. We weren’t used to so much information. We wanted a good visualization and to concisely break down the inspection for people. We had to find a balance with the report to ensure it was information-filled yet engaging,” states Ankur.
“We also realized we had to be transparent, both showing what’s wrong with the car and what’s right. We introduced negative points using lighter tones of red and grey. This brought more neutrality. Our design wasn’t too red and not too green. It doesn’t shout out now and doesn’t alarm you.
The lesson is: You have to tell the complete story. We did lots of experiments around the inspection report. No car is completely perfect or terrible. We experiment and change the widgets. We’re still learning what’s the best way. It’s exciting.”
What are some important Ignite projects?
“We’re working hard on conversational UI, along different fronts and points of the user journey. We want to change the way forms work using conversational UI . We want to make it like a buyer asking the seller questions. It’s as if a person is asking you questions about a car. We want to customize the conversational UI based on who the user is. For instance, elderly people may not want to be rushed and want to know more about safety.
“Another project we launched is a three-person chat. OLX gets involved in the chat via a chat bubble. This allows OLX to answer questions on behalf of the seller if needed. This is now in product development. ”
Discover more here:
5. Build Stories with Patience & Inspiration
What does your team do to inspire one another?
“We have a dedicated slot every week to let our hair down, strengthen our bonds and inspire each other. One of the recent activities was sharing a personal photo album,” says Ankur.
“In ideation, we feed off each other’s energy. We miss that working remotely. There’s definitely a gap. Ideation remotely is hard. So, we do these things to inspire us.
Where do you get inspiration?
“I like comic book artists. One comic epic I really like is Building Stories by Chris Ware. He spent 10 years making this box which has 14 different ways of telling a story. He’s the king of storytelling. It’s so different each time because it’s nonlinear. He does graphic novels too.
Another guy who influences me is Scott McCloud. He’s a comic book artist and cartoonist.”
As we go through life, I think we need to step back and realize the story is still being written. It’s like design. If you keep in mind the big picture and don’t get frustrated by little obstacles, you’ll get to a good place in the end.”
Designing the future of trade
To sum it up, the purpose of design teams is to support, improve, and ignite their organization. With a bring-it-on approach and a commitment to building stories with patience and inspiration, design teams can elevate product-oriented organizations to the next level.
That concludes our talk with Ankur. We hope you learned a lot about how designers can make a bigger impact within their teams and company.
Now, it’s time for some improv…
