Dhaval Gandhi
DGM-UX Design at Reliance Jio, Mumbai
Dhaval Gandhi is a UXer from India. He is passionate about designing solutions for Real Users and Real Needs through User-Centered Design approach. Dhaval is proudly designing digital services and applications for India!
“Do it and Prove it!”
What do you do?
Namaste! I am Dhaval Gandhi, a UXer from India. I design for only users. My expertise is in designing interactive and innovative user interface focused on user centered design approach. I have hands on experience of various UX methods such as Affinity analysis, Interview and questionnaire design, Information visualization, Ethnography study, Focus groups, Heuristic evaluation, Prototyping, Quantitative & qualitative data analysis and Usability testing.
Can you tell us about the path you took to get where you are now?
It is an exiting story. My career in the field of UX started back in 2010, when I was pursing my masters in Computer Science. In first year of my Masters, I took a course of Human Computer Interaction which was being offered by Prof. Antonella De Angeli. In the very first lecture, she explained how she designed India’s first ATM machine in 2000 and what were the differences from the psychology and emotions of Indians compare to western population. I found the entire design approach and research results fascinating and started exploring more about the HCI field. As a part of this course, I came to know the User Centered Design approach which was completely different than the traditional software development approach. Moreover, I got an opportunity to work as Research Assistant under the same professor. Than I came back to India and worked as a Freelancer and now I am working for a product company based in Mumbai.
How do you stay up to date with trends in the field of UX and in the industry you are in?
Reading blogs and articles from various resources namely UX Booth and UX Mag. I do also take various courses of Interaction Design Foundation — It not only helps to strengthen my knowledge but keeps me up to date with the trends.
Top 5 applications or tools that you use as part of work.
Axure
Balsamiq
Sketch
Google Drive (questionnaire form, data analysis using excel sheet and collaborative tool)
Atlas Ti (qualitative data analysis)
What does your workspace look like?
What does your typical day look like? How do you structure it?
It always depends upon a project plan. Sometimes, it is uncertain due to meetings with various team.
Why do you do what you do? What makes everything worth it?
I am always in love with three phase of User Centered Design namely Research & Analysis, Design and Validation. I certainly feel happy when the conceptual design gets iterated multiple times based on user’s feedback and than seeing it in really as an application gives amazing feeling.
What is the greatest piece of advice /wisdom you ever received?
Do it and Prove it!
When I was working with Sybrant Technology, Chennai, I got exposure to conduct User Research and present results to prospect clients. It was great learning experience and wisdom I have ever received. The objective was to get project based on research results. Eventually it went well and we got various projects. Thus, I feel if there is a chance, do what you want and prove the same.
What advice would you give to a junior designer or someone aspiring to become a UX Designer?
Design for users, not for clients or other stack holders.
Which phone do you use and what are your favorite mobile apps?
I use Android phone and my favorite apps are Make My Trip, Myntra and Uber.
What Indian website/app or service do you think is well designed and why?
Clear Trip and NDTV are one of the best examples for website from India. Design of both website are pretty good considering complexity in terms of information and catering to larger population. Moreover, Design strategy behind these websites are minimalistic and goal driven.
Who would you like to see featured on IndianUX’er?
Chandresh Gandhi, software architect turned UXer.
Sanjay Patel, always aimed to design simple and goal driven website/mobile app
Website: www.dhavalgandhi.info
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dhavalgandhiux
