Deeper into Design with Sumit Singh.
Any organization aims to create innovative products that can fulfill users’ needs accompanied by consistent and personalized experiences. But with the advent of modern technology and digitization, users have become more aware, and their needs and demands have evolved and diversified. To keep up with these needs, designers need to engage in a smart dialogue with the users and adopt a design thinking mindset that can help create meaningful and seamless experiences tailored for their needs. So how can designers develop a design thinking mindset to create frictionless experiences for the end-users?
To learn more about this theme, in the 71st episode, we interact with Sumit Singh, Associate Vice President and Head of Customer Experience and Design at Havells India Ltd. With over two decades of experience, he is a Design Leader and Product Developer with expertise in Design Thinking, Concept Development, Design Strategy, user-centered Design and more. Let’s know more about his journey and experience in the latest episode of MIT Designeering Series Podcast: “Deeper Into Design.”
Rohit Lalwani: Designers dream about a future that does not yet exist and strive to make that future a reality. One of the important qualities of a designer is the capacity to perceive things in totality. While this is the case designers must focus on the smallest aspects to establish solid systems and processes that will lead to meaningful products. Would you brief us on how can designers acquire the capacity to see the big picture while focusing on the tiny details?
Sumit: The most fundamental aspect of being a designer zooming in and out of problem context and solutions is a key aspect of any design professional. I believe that this kind of mindset or thought pattern is inherent to design practitioners’ daily approach towards conducting design, but perhaps design is also one of the most complete activities. It is an end-to-end professional role from a core thought or an idea to having the ability and the responsibility to execute it. This is what I intend to express when we say something like a complete profession because here you are also the beginner and you would also love to execute it because if the idea is not executed, then the consumers would not know about the idea. Therefore there is no straightforward answer to this, but yet I would suggest that the vital difference between being a good designer or just a designer or not so good designer, is this. The best way to learn or inculcate this is always to keep the consumer at the center of the solution process and follow the design process. Once this thought discipline sets in it become second nature.
In order to do good design, which is viable, possible, and desirable students should also develop a deep understanding of design thinking and co-creating methodologies because the design is a starting from the idea to conversion needs a lot of support and inclusive activities. Therefore, co-creation has the capacity, and this is an evolving thought.
This is something that we have to believe in and train our young designers.
Rohit Lalwani: Design should be more learnable users should be able to utilize an application in less time and such designs are devoid of cognitive reasoning. Intuitive design, which is built using intuition and prior knowledge can be an effective method to achieve this. Would you brief us what are some of the design principles that we may employ as designers to create more intuitive products?
Sumit: Intuitive is when the users see something and he or she knows what to do with it. This is all about usability, engagement, convenience, being natural, being friendly, humane. These all are merely just words but the core of this is to understand the user and I wish to emphasize this again in this thing that we really need to provide the desired experience and the understanding of the user to have the intuitiveness in your design is critical. The other aspect is drawing upon two very core points from the design thinking process. One is the starting point, which is empathy. Empathy talks or deals about the feelings and the understanding and the hidden or unmet requirements of the user. Therefore, empathy is critical. This brings the perspective of a better outcome because you are connected with the youth. The other key aspects of the design thinking methodology are the aspect of prototyping and testing. You may have a hypothesis, you may have understood the designer very well, but you have to check your hypothesis you have to prototype, test, make a mock-up or make study mock-ups, etc. Prototype your ideas and test them rigorously. Unless you actually have them tested you will not be completely sure that it is intuitive or not. This is about getting into the granularity of design.
A successful design has to be prototyped has to be hand-tested and had to be proven that you empathized with the design.
In a way, the design thinking process is a loop. Once you test you know that you did a good job and the good job is the intuitiveness.
Rohit Lalwani: At MIT group of institutions we have coined the term ‘Designeering’ which is a unique combination of design and engineering. I wish to know, does this concept blend in your field and could this help young designers achieve something exceptional?
Sumit: This is a this is great term and this is what I also tell my teenage daughter is that art and design co-exist. Let us say even if you were an animator if you do not understand the physicality of anybody you will not be able to do justice to animation. If you are a painter and if you do not know chemistry, you would not be able to do this. Therefore, design and engineering are mated at birth.
If you do not understand the physical, you will not be able to manifest the emotions.
I completely believe in this thought of designeering. People need to start looking at it, not as two different streams, but as streams that will build the future. The new emergence of knowledge comes through connecting to different fields and this is how knowledge also percolates and new developments, new innovations, new thought processes, new services, new products will evolve.
Our speaker Mr. Singh has given us deeper insights into the fields of Design and experience. To know more, head onto our full Podcast episode. For more details, do visit our profile.
