Design Lota

In this episode we talk to Ripul Kumar, Head of UX at Tally and Ex-founder of a design research firm, Kern. Ripul talks about how he discovered User Research to be his forte and what led to him opening his own research firm. We discuss how research techniques must be creatively adapted to the cultural context to get meaningful insights. Ripul gives us some ideas on what to do when there is not enough budget or priority given for research in a corporate setting, and how to bring in a culture of research in different ways. We ponder about 'best practices' in the research process and when to use them. Ripul shares his experience watching and being part of the changing design scene in India over the last couple of decades. We talk about Design Leadership and what it takes to lead design in our contexts. Ripul talks about his learnings in the journey from Research Consultant to Head of UX and also a course in Management at MIT Sloan.

It's been year since we started this podcast. We're fondly calling it a Lota-versary! While most of our episodes are recorded remotely, for this episode we met and had a quick chat about how we started, what we learnt and some of our favourite episodes. We also video recorded this episode and have it up on our blog designlota.com

In this episode, Sushi and Angie discuss the inconvenient truths about design and sustainability, and what we can do about it. We talk about art and design as tools to educate people about sustainability issues. We discuss cost, convenience and customer psychology. We touch upon the dangers of greenwashing, and getting to the 'why' of the problem. We talk about the success of some symptom-driven solutions, and address the importance of thinking in systems. We brainstorm a few ideas on how we can bring sustainability into the digital world as well.

We talk to Pooja Saxena - A typeface designer who has worked with all kinds of scripts, and also works on collaborative type projects in public spaces. Pooja talks about what brought her back to India after finishing her Master's in Typeface Design in the UK and why she enjoys working in India and working from home. She takes us behind the scenes into the depths of the Type Design Process. Having worked on Indic scripts like the Ol Chiki project, Farsan (A Gujarati Typeface), and Devanagari, as well as English fonts, she gives us a perspective of how a type designer looks at and works with type. In particular we talk about her projects like Typerventions and Type Walks which help both designers and non-designers engage with type and even language and history in a meaningful, collaborative way. More details at Designlota.com

In this episode, we talk to Karan Patel, Industrial Designer and co-founder of Meshined Design, about what it takes to put a great product out there. Some of the points we touch upon: Engineers turning into designers, How the Engineering and Design fields inform each other, and how engineers and designers can work together. Balancing and learning from both product and service mindsets. The importance of understanding the intent and setting a context, by defining the constraints before delving into a design problem. How the definition of product 'quality' is dependent on perception and price. How prototyping is a powerful skill that allows us to think with our hands, and requires systems and spaces that allow for this act of making. The need to go beyond aesthetics while designing a product. Crowdfunding as an idea validation and feedback tool. The diverse domains that designers can get involved in to work on to solve problems.

In this episode, Sushi and Angie chat about designers and the tools of their trade. We attempt to define what design tools are, and what qualifies as a design tool. We reminisce about a time when design was more about thinking with your hands. We question if tools beginning to define the designer, and does knowing or owning tools ensure a superior quality of design work? We discuss the importance of a foundation of intangible and valuable design tools in a world where tools come and go so often.

Mydhili talks about her journey from a psychology major to an edtech entrepreneur and what caused the shift. She tells us about her interesting work with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she did her Master's in the Technology in Education course. She also did a project with MIT Media Lab during this time, which she walks us through. We learn about qualitative user research techniques especially when you're working with children and young adults. She brings out the importance of building trust and having genuine curiosity about children's lives to glean useful insights that can help designers come up with better educational products for them. She walks us through what sparked the creation of Young Current and what it takes to build a child-safe news reading experience while also keeping it interesting. She also gives us her take on where edtech is headed next and how budding edtechpreneurs and designers can find their way into this interesting field.

In this episode, Sushi and Angie discuss productivity and how it’s about managing expectations and emotions as much as it is about managing time.

We discuss how emotions play a huge role in how we feel about our work and go about accomplishing tasks.

We share how high expectations can be counter-productive and keep us from taking the first step.

We talk about how to tend to your to-do list often to keep it realistic.

We look at ways to take real breaks that actually energize us instead of shortcuts that wear us down.

We talk about the power of scheduling and saying no.