Vimal Sharma
Principal UX Designer at SAP Labs, Bangalore
Vimal is a Design Generalist, who believes the best way to predict the future is to DESIGN it and not invent it :)
“ There’s is an ideal solution and there is an optimum solution; what works is the optimum solution in the long run, as you have space to adapt, to change and evolve with users, it is living. ”
What do you do?
I create Experiences, design interactions between products and its users, orchestrate the user journey. One product/ service at a time with as little design as possible.
Can you tell us about the path you took to get where you are now?
I’am an Architecture graduate and Post Graduate in Design from IDC, IIT Bombay. Architecture had given me fundamentals, aesthetics and the critical thinking and my master’s course gave me a code to follow, Whom I was designing for, How the problem becomes important, and how the process becomes the medium. After IDC, had joined HFI, with stints in Microsoft and HP Labs. Over the years have wore many hats, worked in a research lab, a consultancy and product company, have worked across industries.
How do you stay up to date with trends in the field of UX and in the industry you are in?
The principles and the rules remain same its only the game that keeps changing. I keep myself interested in all the greatest and the latest. I do follow lot of blogs VERGE, tech crunch, design observer, co. design etc for all the editorials, discussions, news, highs and lows of our industry and once in a while I do check UX related stuff also: Little Big Details which btw is a treasure for micro interactions.
Top 5 applications or tools that you use as part of work.
not in any order…
Microsoft Power Point/ Apple Keynote: this is the one versatile tool which can be used for many possibilities including prototyping, click through mocks and sometimes even stop-motion movies.
Adobe Illustrator: Good for Vector stuff,
Visio
Axure for Interactive Prototyping.
What does your workspace look like?
It’s a typical workstation in a studio where all the designers sit together; but I do keep moving as often I need to shift base where the project is happening.
What does your typical day look like? How do you structure it?
Typically a day is determined by how densely your outlook calendar is painted. Its often a mix of project discussions, UI reviews and sometimes Design Thinking workshops which we coach from time to time for partners as well as internal teams. In between we actually work.
Why do you do what you do? What makes everything worth it?
Its all for the joy of creating, its the HIGH you get when you crack a problem, its that feeling, that flow that keeps you moving on to create. IMO making life easier for an end user is a nobel endeavor, however small part of life we touch, its worth it.
What is the greatest piece of advice /wisdom you ever received?
There’s is an ideal solution and there is an optimum solution; what works is the optimum solution in the long run, as you have space to adapt, to change and evolve with users, it is living.
What advice would you give to a junior designer or someone aspiring to become a UX Designer?
Break Things, embrace ambiguity, question everything that’s the only way you’ll grow.
Which phone do you use and what are your favorite mobile apps?
Currently I use Nexus4; but phone wise my favorite is still MOTOFONE F3. It had no apps, no features, pure design and pure phone with an ePaper display and battery that could last a week; unfortunately was a big failure for many reasons.
What Indian website/app or service do you think is well designed and why?
There are many, Cleartrip has always been my favorite, recently found FreeCharge and FreshMenu apps to be quite interesting.
Who would you like to see featured on IndianUX’er?
Sudhindra Venkateshamurthy, Atul Saraf, Sunit Singh, Umesh Gopinath to name a few.
Linkedin: in.linkedin.com/in/ivimalprofile
Twitter: @ivimal
