A New Journey: From Adobe to Flipkart
For half a decade I have been a part of building the Experience Design capability in India for Adobe. A brand that has been deeply intertwined with the history of modern design. So much so, that designers have often dated their life by features in Adobe’s tools: “the year I joined design school was when Photoshop introduced layers”.
A few weeks ago, I bid goodbye to my awesome Adobe team and joined Flipkart.
Flipkart, ubiquitous as India’s start-up success story and as a place to order anything from Alkaline batteries to Air Conditioners. Known for the game changing COD (Cash on delivery). But not particularly known for leveraging Design.
So why Flipkart? That’s a question I have been asked often.
Here’s why:
Design for India
Having done a fair share of thinking for Marisa, Jason and Justin (some of my favourite personas), the refocus on Milkha, Jamshed and Jamuna is rich, complex and challenging. For a country of 3 dozen plus scripts where many can’t read, who have leapfrogged technologies and thrive on jugaad, design presents a perfect opportunity to disrupt set paradigms of interaction design. Especially for Flipkart which works across very diverse user groups.
Systems design, at scale
15 going to 50. 50 million users and beyond—transactions measured in milliseconds. And not all of them buyers. So, how can design contribute in weaving together this complex ecosystem of buyers, sellers, couriers, stockists, brands and advertisers, into an efficient, seamless and delightful relationship? Design challenges rarely present themselves at such scale.
Design for Impact, inside out
Being part of an organisation where design has not yet become a powerful driver is a challenge and an opportunity. An opportunity to define processes and systems inside out — to embed design thinking and design-driven innovation for diverse functions. And an opportunity to change the organisation — one screen, one swipe, one tap at a time (and a great test of perseverance).
Collaborating, for design
Lastly, the fun of working in an organisation lies in collaborating and co-creating with fantastic people. Flipkart’s teams are work in progress. Its’ people are a reflection of India today: youthful, confident, restless and fearless. And as newer people join in with their diverse experiences and backgrounds, they bring along new opinions, perspectives and an opportunity for creative tensions and collaborations.
That’s plenty of challenges to keep me and the team busy.
What remains to be seen is how much we will stretch and achieve — how we will evangelise, embed and leverage design. What will we learn and unlearn in the process? Now thats the story of another journey.
