Design at Scale: Making GOJEK part of Indonesia’s visual language
Good design lies on the border between the familiar and the unknown
Design means different things for different people. For Fatema Raja, it’s about solving inevitable and challenging product problems. Fatema’s journey as a designer at GOJEK has been an exercise in gaining insights for beautifully-designed products that help everyday customers.
Challenging? Definitely yes!
To get a country like Indonesia and its people to be more tech-savvy was always a challenge. But using design to transform how drivers, roadside merchants, and their families interacted with the app, made it a worthwhile journey.
“It is an exciting time to be a designer in our industry. Yes, the challenges are considerable but the opportunities are equally transformational”
Fatema believes that her time at GOJEK has given her the ability to predict what customers want even before they know it themselves.
That’s what I call great design. It is only by knowing your customer that you are able to deliver wonderful, considered, and memorable experiences.
When starting a project or solving a problem, she makes it a point to say ‘yes’, despite any impediments or her own lack of knowledge. “I love digging into projects with no prior experience or right answers.”
“Walking these unknown routes is what has helped me learn, grow, and mould myself into a better designer.”
Fatema describes design as thinking made visual. But with great design, comes the challenge of change. She explains that even though existing designs may be imperfect, they set user behaviour, and are hard to break from.
Good design is not always easily accepted either; especially in a country where change in design is also perceived as a change in daily lifestyle. A tough conundrum, for sure, but one she is glad to have helped navigate. “Look at what GOJEK looked like last year and look at it today. It is the result of hard work and a lot of risks that had to be taken.”
We’re now using design to help to make the app tech agnostic. Design also helps baby-boomers and the less tech-savvy navigate through the GOJEK app. Despite us having 18+ products, design is being stitched to make the GOJEK experience accessible to a wider audience.
We are always trying to figure out new ways to let our users interact with our products better. If you are passionate about solving problems like Fatema is, check out gomakeimpact.com and come help us design cool things 🙏
