Thoughtcast

On the newest edition of Thoughtcast by Onething, Divanshu is joined by Arjun Vaidya, the founder of Dr.Vaidya’s, one of the new-wave Ayurvedic brands, which are modernizing the age-old science, for a new generation. Divanshu and Arjun’s conversation revolves around the direct-to-consumer business model, and why they believe it’s the future of digital retail.
They begin by discussing the modern-entrepreneurial space in India, and Arjun’s journey, building up to his big exit. The chat quickly shifts to the product itself, and why Arjun chose Ayurveda to be his championed product as an entrepreneur. Furthermore, he discussed the pivot from physical sales to D2C, and how his grandfather's vision of making Ayurveda accessible played a role in modernizing his model, to serve a larger, digital customer base. On-top-of-this, the realization that 82% of the audience stayed outside major cities was another catalyst in accelerating Dr.Vaidya’s shift to D2C.
Arjun then delves into the comparison between conventional brands, and digital ones, explaining how the process of establishing an image or identity differs between the two, as well as the tactics he utilized to put Dr.Vaidya’s on the digital map. The insightful conversation culminates in discussing why things like packaging, and identity, in general, must be constantly refreshed in the modern landscape, to cater to what users actually value most now.
Don’t miss the discussion around the future of E-Commerce, in this episode of Thoughtcast.
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In the latest edition of Season 3 of Thoughtcast by Onething, Manik (Co-Founder, Onething) is joined by Venky (UX Lead, Onething). They exchange anecdotes about what empathy means to them as designers and what their journey has been like.
While covering their narratives about the significance of empathy in design, the discussion culminates in discussing how to understand the needs of a user as a designer and pay attention to the underlying issues and find expedient solutions to them. Furthermore, Venky’s take on a comprehensive guide about what position empathy holds in design thinking pushes the urge to think about empathy being the cornerstone of any successful design undertaking. The duo then climbs up the hierarchy of empathizing with every individual in the design creation queue - from designers, and developers to stakeholders.
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Kicking off season 3 of Thoughtcast by Onething with an insightful chat about Web 3.0! In this episode, host Divanshu is joined by Akshay Gurnani, the co-founder of Schbang, a leading digital agency in India. The conversation opens with how the pair met one another, as well as Akshay’s journey to this point, particularly in the last decade.
Following this, we come to the focus of the discussion, Web 3.0, and crucially, how it will evolve the relationship between users and digital products. In particular, we discuss the metaverse, NFTs, and the blockchain. Akshay gives a fantastic example of utility in the blockchain, citing the difficulty in tracking down past homeowners when purchasing property, and how the blockchain is a perfect solution for the issue. Furthermore, the pair delve into their dream scenarios for the metaverse, including its impact on daily life in general, advertising, customer experiences, and more! The conversation culminates in discussing how familiar newer generations are with these technologies, and how it appears like second nature to them.
Don’t miss the season premiere of Thoughtcast by Onething, LIVE now!
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Join our community on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

On the latest edition of Thoughtcast by Onething, Divanshu is joined by Anil Reddy, the co-founder, and global design director at Lollypop Design Studio. The conversation between founders centers around the state of Indian design, and how agencies originating in the subcontinent are going on to define and dominate the global market.

They exchange anecdotes over the design landscape, including their experiences with projects, clients, and teams, ranging from hilarious, to nightmarish.

The discussion culminates in discussing the process by which India has become a powerhouse in the global design landscape, and how India as a whole is becoming a hotspot for multitalented design studios. Furthermore, they share wisdom on why this process is due to accelerate in the coming years, and why the future is bright for design in India.

Don’t miss the newest episode of Thoughtcast by Onething, available everywhere!

Jani Pasha is an entrepreneur and CEO of Lokal. The IIT Kharagpur alumnus was featured alongside his co-founder Vipul Chaudhary in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for Asia.
In conducting UX research for a previous project, Jani discovered that emulating mental models experienced in rural settings could be an effective UI/UX approach to bring modern technology into the hands of millions of unexposed individuals in India. Thus, the seed to create a hyper-local news application, an often-overlooked feature of vernacular languages was planted. This vision birthed the Lokal app, which now features not only local-language news, but classifieds, real estate listings, and many more use-cases. The app currently has more than 5 million downloads and has an average 4.5-star user rating on the Play Store.

In our discussion with Jani, we delve into his life before and after Lokal and discuss the app in far more detail. One of the big talking points is how exactly Jani isolated the need for a product such as this, and the various transformations it underwent before taking its current form. We discuss his team at Lokal, and how the fact that most of them belong to tier-two and tier-three cities helps build a natural affinity and empathy with the product. Lastly, Jani also goes into how he came across Onething, and why he ended up reaching outwards to fulfill his UX/UI needs, and the impact it has had.

The podcast shines a light on how crucial UX design-based research is to target a new audience, as Jani discusses how it helped Lokal better achieve their KPIs. Jani also imparts further knowledge on some of the barriers he and his team had to overcome in the forms of technology, and language especially, and talks about what exactly goes into targeting a sleeping-giant esque market of millions. Another one of the biggest takeaways from the podcast would be the nature of startup funding in a modern context as well, and how Jani went about securing a Y Combinator investment.

To learn more about Jani Pasha, Lokal, and the nature of creating a digital product for unique and untargeted audiences, check out the Business and UX Story podcast!