Creating for Change by The Weave Magazine

Coverpage by : Atharva Pande @pandenautics Rishab Kiran @aarkaymedes

Editor’s Desk The world is constantly moving towards advancements and approaches that make life simpler. New and upgraded ways assist the present world subsequently, it becomes trying for creators to concoct new ideas. However, they do not fail to surprise us.

Atharva Kulkarni Co-editor

Miral Zafar Editor

The world is constantly moving towards advancements and approaches that make life simpler. New and upgraded ways assist the present world subsequently, it becomes trying for creators to concoct new ideas. However, they don’t fail to surprise us. We present to you the Weave Magazine anniversary edition, populated with leading inspirers who are ‘Creating for Change.’ Our Designeering Leaders include Ed Plowman and his team at Disguise who have articulated a mesmerizing expression of ‘The Metaverse’ which is a digital twin of the world. Sabina Weiss tells us ‘We all are creative if we choose the right tool of setting our mindset.’ Shailaja Singh from Walking Tree, exclaims that consumers expect Brand to do better and Brand has its own voice

Bisman Minhas Co-editor

and audience. While Prashanth Shanmugam from Google, says, the amount of attention given during conversations is directly proportional to the thought of product usability and experiences of users. Nikhil Kumar and his passion for sustainable fashion with his venture, Deside. Shishir Joshipura, Praj Industries, shares a way to obtain a life without sacrificing any of the ‘Conviniences’. Cast a stone of change into the river of thoughts and you will create ripples of changes. ‘Creating Change,’ is a thought brought by every individual but not often implemented. We have the opportunity to make a difference. We have this platform to be inspired. Welcome to The Weave Magazine’s anniversary edition.

Miral Zafar

Table of Contents Feature: Shishir Joshipuria

Changing with the Tides in an Ever-Changing World

InFocus: Ed Plowman

Transforming Graphics into a 3D, Immersive, Real-time Experience

Inspiration: Sabina Weiss Creating for Change - Access Tools

InFocus: Shailja Singh

Designing User-Centric Experience in Fine Jewelry

Thought Leadership: Shantanu Singh

How To: Thoughtworks

Thought Leadership: Namrata Dhanak

How To: Sanjib Das

Case Study: Prashanth Shanmugam

Driving Innovation against Non-Consumption

Evolution and Integration to Stand Out in IT

Ideating to Bridge Design Practices and Theory

One mistake, and you Lose your Customer Forever!

Designing for a Billion Users

How To: Ravikiran Papthimar

Interview: Associate Professor Leah Heiss

How To: Dr. Glen Moriarty & Lisa Meighan

Infographics

Progressing by Tailoring Systems and Products for Every Situation

Improving the Emotional Experience of Wearable Health Technologies

How to Combat Isolation During the Pandemic using Technology

Happenings at Avantika University

Photography Contest

Thought Leadership: Pradnya Godbole

Inspiration: Nikhil Kumar

Case Study: Sandeep Virmani

Thought Leadership: Abhishek Mohanty

Using Technology for Social Impact at Scale: Powering Businesses, Creating Jobs

My Journey while Creating for Change

Rush to Cloud: Cloud Computing Fundamentals

Anthropology as an Episteme for Estimating the Relevance of Design Thinking

Feature

Shishir Joshipura

Managing Director & CEO at Praj Industries

Shishir Joshipura is the CEO at Praj Industries, a global leader in the Industrial Biotechnology area, with a global footprint in the Bioenergy space. His expertise spans Strategic roadmap building for technology intensive businesses, large engineering process and project business management, Industrial and automotive business management, and many more. LinkedIn: Shishir Joshipura

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

@theweavemagazine

Changing with the Tides in an Ever- Changing World Q1: Having worked in multiple industries and leadership roles, could you elaborate on your journey so far and some critical learnings that you have gathered along the way?

experience?

a deep scar on humanity with so many lives lost, Success and failure, it has also shown us upturns and downturns, the path forward where euphoria and melancholy economic growth and are all part of life. I have the environment co-exist. had my share of these While we could find a too. We cannot always vaccine for the pandemic, define the situation, but there is no vaccine for I consider myself we can set our response climate change. We need privileged at having to any situation. You are to resolve and act even the opportunity to work never alone – Constantly if it is temporarily painful with organizations available guidance from to combat the impact of that are leaders in seniors, nurturing a team Greenhouse Gas (GHG) their own space - both with a “never-say-die” emissions. We must domestically and globally. attitude, and an open adopt sustainable, ecoThis also allowed me to learning stance helps friendly practices in our learn while working with smoothen ups and downs daily lives. and observe from close on the roller coaster. It quarters, several iconic is vital to enjoy the ride, We are blessed with a leaders. Some of the come peaks or valleys! very progressive and key lessons that have active ecosystem for stayed with me are (a) Q3: The pandemic sustainable energy Values above everything has slowed down (including Bioenergy) else, (b) Teamwork and several businesses, but in India. By reducing collaborative approach what are some of the GHG emissions, Biois critical to success, and positive outcomes you energy solutions directly (c) Customer centricity saw unfolding in the address the most critical should define every bioenergy space which challenge faced by action. should be taken ahead? mankind i.e., Climate change. Biofuels help us Q2: How do you connect The pandemic has shown move from hydrocarbonthe dots looking us that we must respect based (read GHG backwards at your nature. A constant state intensive) energy to career journey? Was it all of neglect is detrimental carbohydrate-based as seamless as it looks to the progress of (read significantly lower on your profile, or did mankind. While the GHG emissions) energy, you have a roller coaster pandemic itself has left paving the way for a 06

sustainable future. The ‘Bio-MobilityTM’ Platform at Praj represents the use of low carbon intensity fuels for all modes of transportan essential condition for building a sustainable future. Q4: What are the biggest challenges currently being faced by the manufacturing sector in India that need to be worked upon urgently, whether workforce development or sustainability and such? The manufacturing sector in India is witnessing an exciting phase as our competitiveness improves and the global players look for an alternative beyond China. Our entrepreneurial drive, engineering prowess, and gradual development of a favourable ecosystem coupled with a positive demographic dividend are a huge plus for the growth of the manufacturing sector in India. We will have to address dimensions of sustainability, improve ease of doing business, workforce capability and make project finance available at competitive rates while strengthening our MSME sector. 07

Q5: Being a strategist for change, can you tell us how one sets performance parameters and makes sure to stick to those, even with ever-evolving circumstances? It is my experience that when an organization aligns its vision to a purpose beyond the business and, in turn, creates an inclusive, balanced, and agile customer-centric business process – it is possible to perform even in an ever-evolving environment. Staying committed to a vision on a long-term basis while staying agile and mindful are keys to long-term

success. Many times, we get attracted to the headlines, but the glory is in doing boring (detailed and focused execution) work well. Q6: What measures can entrepreneurs take to ensure that their products and services are in line with the circular economy ideology? All industries need to ask a question, how can I manage my processes better by leveraging three levers of recycle, regenerate, and reduce across the entire value chain. Treating ‘waste’ streams as ‘resource’ streams is a great way

to ensure the inclusion of a higher degree. As an example, the pressmud is a waste stream out of sugar mills with very little economic value. Praj has developed a process that converts the “waste” stream to Renewable Natural Gas (popularly called CBG in India) that can be used to drive vehicles. It is already happening, and I am sure we will all Zero Liquid Discharge see thousands of gas stations mushroom over the next decade in the country retailing CBG and powering the vehicles on the road while reducing GHG emissions and local pollution. Q7: Sustainability is one of the biggest challenges today, but it is challenging to bring about a behavioural change among all stakeholders, including the customers, to focus on it. What are some ways we can make this change among the stakeholders and expect their support or contribution? The whole argument for sustainability is premised on leaving a better future for our next generation. Lifestyle changes are often challenging and slow in

2G Ethanol

any society, but with the advent of technology, it is possible to incorporate sustainable elements in daily lifestyle without sacrificing any of the conveniences. Let me share an example: Fermentation as a technology is now

making a significant contribution to three very basic needs of humanity, Food, Pharma, and Fuel (Energy). A significant movement is underway to introduce lab fermented protein to substitute meat (you can’t tell the difference!),

Biosimilar Drugs that make medicines affordable, and the whole range of biofuels that are GHG friendly; the possibilities are endless.

“Lifestyle changes are often challenging and slow in any society, but with the advent of technology, it is possible to incorporate sustainable elements in daily lifestyle without sacrificing any of the ‘conveniences’.” Q8. Creating for change is the theme of our anniversary edition. There are multiple examples from Biotechnology, Alternative energy companies, and more. What does this theme mean to you, and what are your suggestions to our readers to create for change? In my mind, creation and innovation are drivers of change. Creation represents an amalgamation of 09

facts, analytics, and boundaryless thinking. Creation starts with Understanding an unserved or underserved need in all its dimensions, asking probing questions, collecting facts, finding a solution, and ends on defining a greater benefit. Q9. We have coined the term Designeering, a blended approach of Design and Engineering. Having worked in the domain of engineering does this blend make sense in real-life situations? Makes perfect sense! Transforming an idea to an intended benefit for the end customer in a reliable way is the goal. And Designeering ensures that. Innovation is no longer confined to a single discipline. Most of the innovation is now taking place at the intersection of multiple disciplines. Combining Design and Engineering will ensure that form and function are optimally interlinked, and the maximum value is delivered. Q10. What strategic advice would you like to share with our readers to excel in their workplaces

and domains? Three lessons amongst many that have helped me navigate my professional career 1. Stay a student for life. 2. Success belongs to the team, failure to you. 3. Actively listen to your customers.

“Innovation is no longer confined to a single discipline. Most of the innovation is now taking place at the intersection of multiple disciplines. Combining Design and Engineering will ensure that form and function are optimally interlinked, and the maximum value is delivered.”

“Creation starts with Understanding an unserved or underserved need in all its dimensions, asking probing questions, collecting facts, finding a solution, and ends on defining a greater benefit.”

InFocus

Ed Plowman

CTO at Disguise

Ed has over three decades of experience in the tech industry, working extensively in multimedia, graphics, gaming, computer vision and machine learning applications. Ed holds considerable knowledge in commercialising technology in rapidly evolving businesses. He is a visionary and is often known as ‘Mr Graphics,’ due to his deep passion for 3D graphics and media. LinkedIn: Ed Plowman

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

@theweavemagazine

Transforming Graphics into a 3D, Immersive, Real-time Experience Have you ever read a book or watched a movie and wondered what it was like to be immersed in that story as if it were real? Thanks to new technology, known as Extended Reality, this is now possible. What is Extended Reality? Extended Reality (xR) refers to a group of technologies that are taking graphics content to the ultimate level by blurring the line between the real and the imaginary. It is a step forward from traditional green screen workflows used in broadcasts and filmmaking - replacing the green or blue screens with LED panels that display photorealistic, immersive graphics generated in real-time by gaming engines like Unreal Engine.

This immersive content can be rendered from the camera’s perspective updating graphics as the camera moves. What we see on screen is now a fully immersive, 3D scene extending far beyond the LED walls in the physical space.

“Extended Reality (xR) refers to a group of technologies that are taking graphics content to the ultimate level by blurring the line between the real and the imaginary.” Extended Reality in Film In film and TV production, xR is referred to as virtual production and is currently revolutionising traditional, linear filmmaking workflows.

Instead of doing the majority of the VFX and CGI work in postproduction, production teams are creating the graphics prior to filming and using xR technology to immerse the actors in a real-time generated imaginary world whilst shooting the scene. The resulting performance from the actors is more natural and, if the lighting, props or camera angles need to be altered, this can happen in realtime. Other benefits also include no green spill as well as natural reflections on reflective surfaces; like car windows. Extended Reality in Broadcast The Covid-19 pandemic was a major obstacle for broadcasters around the world. They could no longer travel to different locations for shoots and the amount of production crew on set had to be minimised. Thanks to xR 12

technology, however, many amazing shows were still able to take place. One of the very first live broadcasts to break ground was Katy Perry’s performance of her single ‘Daisies’ in the 2020 American Idol finale. This was the first example of extended reality being used in a live broadcast. XR Studios and Silent Partners Studio used disguise’s award-winning xR workflow to transform the American Idol stage into a whole new virtual world complete with oversized props, giant hands, a house and daisies falling from the sky. From there, extended

reality truly took off. The disguise xR solution has since been in several ground-breaking broadcasts including the 2020 MTV VMAs, the 2020 Junior Eurovision Song Contest, the 2020 Latin Billboards, the Euroleague Final Four Basketball tournament, iTV Sports coverage of the 2020 UEFA European Championships, and, most recently, TV Azteca’s coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. As the access to high-speed network connections become more commonplace and more and more broadcasters aim to cut down future travel and carbon emissions, the popularity of xR-powered

broadcasts will only grow. Entering the Metaverse Extended reality is not just for film and TV, it has a broad range of applications. One of them being a major opportunity for brands to create unforgettable experiences. Recently, brands like Walmart, Siemens, SAP, and Honda have been using extended reality to create virtual conferences or product launches with ‘wow factor,’ where presenters can interact with immersive data visualizations or show their products off in imaginative environments - taking audience engagement to a whole

new level. This is just the beginning. Cue the rise of a phenomenon known as ‘the metaverse,’ a digital twin of our world which has been tipped to be the successor to the internet. Brands are already building experiences in the metaverse. Fashion brand Balenciaga has held virtual fashion shows and Gucci has created digital-only products. American DJ Kaskade also hosted a hybrid in-person and virtual concert as part of Epic Games’ Llama-Rama event series, promoting Rocket League’s

upcoming season in the game Fortnite’s Party Royale. Future Possibilities In the near future, we will no longer be limited by the reality we experience. This opens up brand new possibilities for creatives or the technically-minded to train themselves up in creating the assets to populate this virtual world. At disguise, we help train future talent by offering free eLearning courses in our AR, xR and Virtual Production workflows. For those who want to venture towards this

career path, the future in it is, much like the graphics, anything you can possibly imagine. Learn more about disguise xR

“Cue the rise of a phenomenon known as ‘the metaverse,’ a digital twin of our world which has been tipped to be the successor to the internet.”

Inspiration

Sabina Weiss

Innovation Designer

Sabina is primarily an innovation designer, with experience in industrial design, interaction design, user and market research. She has worked with major companies like Hyundai Kia, Microsoft and is currently working with Sony. Her curiosity accompanied by deep understanding of design allows her to create unique and hybrid interactions leveraging both design and technology. LinkedIn: Sabina Weiss

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

@theweavemagazine

Creating for Change Access Tools We all are born innocent to the design profession I often wonder about the difference between the design principles of design students and design leaders. Frankly, I think it is the former who got it right. It is the young people with clear minds who are the uncompromised designers. Growing up in design means. mortgage, family, career drive, ego, social status and other things that get in the way of designing with a clear mind. Somehow no longer prioritizing design for people with disabilities, nor following Victor Papanek or Enzo Mari; no longer having time for degree shows nor being curious what the next creative generation thinks. 9 to 5 we learn how to compromise, how to climb the ladder, and before we know it, we become those selfsatisfied design leaders we once envied as students.

This is why I do not want to see myself as a design leader. I want to believe I am still searching for my path, discovering, learning and teaching. As an excellent designer and educator Achille Castiglioni once said, “If you’re not curious, forget it.”

sight and prove we all are creatives. We all are creatives I took this learning to my postgraduate degree in Innovation

Curiosity is the enabler. Thankfully my education at Kingston University London was based around designingthrough-making, giving curiosity a green light in the creative process. It is based on designing one’s own ‘tools’ (or prototypes) Contrastware image-author: Reiji Yamazaki to evolve the design process while getting the end user’s feedback to “We all are creative improve it. I was then interested to work with those who are blind, co-designing a series of high contrast kitchenware prototypes to give them agency in the kitchen. I discovered the resilience and creativity with which they would carry out activities in spite of the absence of

and mean well – if we have access to the right tools we can do things that would make us less complacent and feel good about ourselves for the right reasons.” 16

embroidery machines requires no previous knowledge. Access Tools

Banner Making Workshop at Makerversity author: Gabriela Gesheva

traditional engineering and design silos was the process where I learned to question everything and deconstruct to rebuild better.

Re~Master product shots author: Sabina Weiss

Design Engineering at Royal College of Art and Imperial College London. The cross-disciplinary course spanning design and engineering was distracting from idealised, beautified and finite design rendering; dragging one into the messy, and so-called non-linear innovation process. Celebrating failure was an important learning attribute and breaking through 17

I then became obsessed with craft knowledge acquisition, translation and transmission. Together with Tom Hartley, electronic and information engineer, we created Re~Master, a sketch-to-embroidery interface that evolves hand skills in the digital embroidery process. Enriching and expanding an otherwise conservative craft process, offers a sense of ownership and ultimately empowerment through making. Re~Master is thought out as a tool for making new knowledge more accessible, as direct, off-screen interaction with digital

We all are creative and mean well – if we have access to the right tools we can do things that would make us less complacent and feel good about ourselves for the right reasons. This could be about learning new skills and being better humans and having an actual impact on the world around us. During my Makers with a Mission residency at Makerversity*I became very interested in the idea of daily activism - small actions that collectively can make a big impact. Together with a group of friends** We took part

“Celebrating failure was an important learning attribute and breaking through traditional engineering and design silos was the process where I learned to question everything and deconstruct to rebuild better.”

in the Tools for Change hackathon, dedicated to fighting air pollution. The outcome was the Future of Walking – a lifestyle footwear concept, raising awareness about high levels of air pollution in the cities. We wanted to create footwear that allows people to be part of a collective culture by making microcontributions to cleaning their air. Designed to filter air directly at ground level, where pollution is of highest concentration, resulting in actively reversing air pollution through collective air filtration. I have learned so far that in design, its enabling power lies in helping people where they can do better – be it education, leadership or daily life. It is about access to the betterment where I see it. *Makerversity London is a diverse community of emergent maker businesses. **The Future of Walking project has been developed with Umar Hossain, Ines Marques, Yoo-Jin Jung, Sam Cryer and Anna Heck.

Re~Master Workshop at Victoria and Albert Museum Lates author: Jack O’Leary McNeice

TFW hero image author: Umar Hossain

TFW stepping up image author: Umar Hossain

Thought Leadership

Shailja Singh

VP- Experience Design and creatives at Walking Tree

Over the years of designing for brands like Titan and Nirav Modi, Shailja has gained experience in Visual Merchandising, branding collaterals, Packaging Design, Corporate Gifting and Event & Exhibition Design. With her skills to understand, analyze, represent and communicate new ideas flawlessly, she currently directs a team of designers to design experiences and creative solutions for all brands under the Walking Tree Ventures Pvt Ltd. group. LinkedIn: Shailja Singh

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

@theweavemagazine

Designing User-Centric Experience in Fine Jewelry In the new definition of retail, the consumer is at the center of the brand’s ecosystem. In the post-industrial era, when the battle between product supremacy has been achieved by multiple players in the industry, brands are now competing for consumers’ attention. Consumers today have more power than ever before to drive not only a brand but entire industries. So, how do we, as brand strategists, ensure the success of a brand? As Doug Stephens highlights in his book ‘Resurrecting Retail’ - Purpose is the new positioning. Not just the company’s mission, vision, or values. He asks to dig into the reason your company exists in the first place. If your brand is the answer, then what is the question?

agree with most industry experts who predict a return of the ‘roaring 20s’. Retail, Jewelry, Fashion and Luxury are all here to stay. What will change is who is selling it and how we consume it. It is not entirely true that the pandemic destroyed the market. The crisis has simply amplified the trends that were already in place and created unique windows of opportunity to reimagine the new landscape. As Imran Ahmed from BOF says, ‘Responsible Roaring 20s.’

Who are our customers? In fine jewelry, we can see a remarkable shift in purchasing power with two unmissable parties - women and the eastern world. Women everywhere, especially now in growing eastern markets such as China, Korea, and India, are more independent and in control of their finances with more spending capacity. Women are starting their careers early, marrying late, and starting smaller families and even later. This change in trends gives them more money to

Many of us are concerned about the revival of the luxury industry postCOVID-19, and rightly so. I 20

spend on themselves, thus driving luxury and jewelry sales. It does not indicate a decline in man’s spending desire, rather the opposite. With the same circumstances inspiring decisions, our new-age consumers are informed individuals, who have succeeded their parent’s generational trend of saving money and are hungry to spend. What do our consumers want? With the declining role of religion as a community glue and the rise of brands’ role as community creators, there is a reassertion for the value of purpose. Brand messaging is the fundamental driving energy here, focusing on youth, inclusion, diversity, and sustainability. With the easy access to knowledge, consumers today come with a high degree of awareness. To tap into such a demographic, the golden rule is ‘authenticity.’ It is no more about pretending to care; consumers expect brands to do better. Brands have a voice and an audience, and the messaging can be heard loud and clear.

The three pillars of sustainability Economy, Ecology & Society It is a simple concept. We need resources to survive, and we cannot isolate ourselves from the very presence of people in the system to generate income. It is all interdependent, and any enterprise needs a balance of all three to survive. It is possible, and luxury houses have more power than many others, to become flag bearers of the urgency. The Creative Discovery Process The creative process starts with writing a story. That is the way we can imagine experiences. And when we can visualize them, we can design them effectively. We cannot rest until the story has been executed, consumed, and documented as imagined. Everything must be intentional, nothing left to chance. When the entire experience is engrained into the brand DNA, the customer’s experience across the various platforms through multiple purchasing stages is seamless.

The Buying Experience Jewelry buying has historically been linked closely to tradition and festivity. Over the years, this activity has changed but still retained its association to a celebration, an occasion of happiness. Traditionally a family affair, one rooted in trust for the jeweler. The jewelry industry becoming an organized sector brought about multiple changes. Now, a local retailer competes with a brand that will implement all the aspects of an atelier focused on design + craftsmanship and also deliver the emotional connection such as an entertainment experience.

Retail Space Design

With a focus on reviving crafts and defined by a The physical footprint precise brand guideline, of a brand, i.e., the retail Tanishq took over the store, has been the most country in a new wave significant asset for as of aspiring luxury. On the long as retail has existed. other hand, Nirav Modi Today, it is under the ventured into the space danger of a digital and held by Cartier, Bvlgari, virtual takeover threat. and Harry Winston. In one sense, it is true. Nirav Modi stores were This can also mean it designed to inspire awe, is the beginning of a just like their jewels. There reinvention. Translating was heavy use of mirrors, the brand’s purpose into crystals, playing with light a physical space made & reflections, immediately of concrete materials commanding the awe and textures that will of stepping inside a help in encouraging the museum of modern customer to behave in a wonders. The brand was certain way and influence targeted at a global their buying decision audience marked by the is the challenge here. arrival to introduce the Now that does seem experience only seen like a lot of things, but before in intimidating they must be addressed luxury boutiques in the systematically. Each fashion destinations of brand is different, and the world to the Indian therefore the store audience, which was experience must be an exciting challenge. different as well. That is Similarly, taking this the only way to stand modern Indian brand out. Tanishq stores out to the same cities have a strong influence and placing it next to from Indian crafts, the luxury monarchs which ensures that required more research, the stores stay true to more attention to detail, their location and are and more courage than adapted culturally to before. their audience. The stores, including the staff and Product communication choreography, are aimed - Physical and Digital to pull down formal mediums integration barriers and welcome the aspiring ordinary Indian In the pre-social media with the TATA comfort. era, the shop window

made the first impression on a customer or a passerby. It was perhaps the most innovative corner of the store. I recollect the project my team and I designed to showcase the stretchable embrace bangle in store windows. The USP of the product was that it could stretch to fit into any wrist. The idea was to communicate this feature, and we adopted a mechanical route to create a prop that would expand and contract the bangle in the store

“With the declining role of religion as a community glue and the rise of brands’ role as community creators, there is a reassertion for the value of purpose. Brand messaging is the fundamental driving energy here, focusing on youth, inclusion, diversity, and sustainability.”

windows. It is effective to communicate all the information about the product while making it appear desirable and convincing the customer to enter the stores, all within the attention span of a few seconds. While this strategy remains true even today, a lot of passersby are preoccupied. You guessed it right, they are looking into their smartphones and not at shop windows!! This marks the beginning of a transition from shop windows to phone screens. It is not about one medium or another; it has to complement each other. The messaging starts on one screen and brings the customer to the window. One medium brings the customer from the couch to the window. The window still has to live up to the hype created and has the responsibility of bringing the customer from the window to inside the store. Installing a screen in the windows is the easy way out. But is it the most effective way to communicate? Why use a screen when we have the physical volume to occupy! Window displays will always occupy a strong position in the 23

customer’s experience journey in a luxury/fine jewelry world. Supporting objects Packaging & Gifting The brand’s journey does not end at a sale transaction. The brand will forever communicate with the customer’s life via the product packaging. It is not only expected to be pretty and adhering to brand guidelines but also technically sound

to protect the delicate jewel. Today, innovation in packaging has moved forward leaps by producing solutions customized for every jewel type and design, using only the best materials, surprising forms, and unbelievable mechanical details. It is not only the materiality of the packaging but also the message it can accommodate and continue to transmit through its design.

“The crisis has simply amplified the trends that were already in place and created unique windows of opportunity to reimagine the new landscape.”

Thought Leadership

Shantanu Singh

Director of Product Design at Gartner

Shantanu Singh crafts award-winning customer experience with his extensive experience and consistent effort to blend research, design, technology and strategy. He specializes in leading multidisciplinary teams and establishing design practices in organisations. He is a cognitive psychology scholar and strives to drive impactful and sustainable change through design and strategy. LinkedIn: Shantanu Singh

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

@theweavemagazine

Driving Innovation Against Non-Consumption The rate at which we are experiencing a change in our life, products, and processes has never been faster. In this age of disruption and technology, you imagine something today and the next thing you know is that ‘we can do it.’ Regardless of all the technological advancement and entrepreneurial mindset, only 5% of new products make it to the mainstream.

more. Where are they? Yes, we did see some applications here and there but most of them are yet to become the unicorn they promised and are still trying to find the right experience, agency, or application.

Remember the last promising innovation product or technology that you thought will bring disruption in the current scheme of things. What happened to it! Did it make it to your life or was According to HBS it just another hype that professor Clayton slowly succumbs to nonChristensen, about 95% of consumption? Did you new product innovations or your company invest fail even the Start-up in a product/service that Genome report, which did not go as expected, states that 92% of startWhy? Probably because ups fail. you did not blend the “Trio: Design + Business + I remember when in Technology” to solve what 2014-2015, a myriad the customers needed. of innovations were on the horizon to It is in our nature to resist become the Next-Bigchange. The market is Thing, the Internet was hostile to disruptions, flooded with chatter to ensure that our next about neural networks, big idea is sustainable quantum computers, AR/ and breaks the barrier VR, humanoid robots, for mass adoption we self-driving cars, and must bring together

technology, design, and business models to focus on the purpose i.e., the change people need. One of the biggest reasons many new immersive products fail is either the lack of good experience design or a business model that fails to amplify its value. The niche VR technology was available for a while but failed to break through into mass adoption. While the initial setback can be ascribed to the bulky head-mounts causing nausea and limited content due to lack of design expertise, it is now facing something more impenetrable in its business model resistance to change and lack of incentive. People still prefer to use smartphones and regular game stations for general purpose activities like playing games, video calls, remote tours, etc. VR offers a rich immersive experience, but the cost and hassle outweigh its benefits. However, the industry promoters 26

are confident that the changes imposed by COVID will help VR techs to find mainstream adoption in specialized use-cases such as surgery, troubleshooting, training simulation, practical classroom experience, etc. Value-driven successful products are designed with the people by applying design thinking and technological advancement to the business model that encourages adoption in the disruption space. Before McKinsey & Company, I was working as Experience Design Lead in Designit. Being part of Wipro ecosystem at the intersection of design, technology, and business I had the opportunity to work on some of the best engagements in my career. In 2018, Wipro’s service automation team approached Designit to design the complete ecosystem for their new product. An internetenabled dongle that could be inserted in any car, with several other sensors and a deep learning model it can be used to monitor,

diagnose, and predict car health, security, driving pattern, and more. We researched to understand people’s driving behaviour, motivations, and insecurities and worked closely with the tech team to understand & often expand the applications of the underlying tech. A tightly coupled design and dev team ensured that the product roadmap was based on customer impact & feasibility, so we created our first MDP (minimum desirable product). We shared our research findings with business stakeholders and SMEs to co-create the business model and future vision. One of the value propositions apparent from our research was to be able to “turn any car into a smart connected car”. We positioned it as the change that will bring trust and transparency in used cars and thus removing one of the biggest impediments while buying a preowned car. The Wipro business and sales team quickly converted a deal with Mahindra First Choice (pre-owned cars). Working together with business and tech teams also helped us to look beyond the

automobile market and explore collaboration opportunities with other domains like Insurance, which can use the driving data to offer personalized and accurate offers to car owners. Case study (Source Designit). According to McKinsey, 80% of executives think their current business models are at risk to be disrupted in the near future. Although most executives agree that innovation is critical for their business, only 6% are satisfied with innovation performance.

“It is in our nature to resist change. The market is hostile to disruptions, to ensure that our next big idea is sustainable and breaks the barrier for mass adoption we must bring together technology, design, and business model to focus on the purpose.”

“Disruptions are never fabricated through technology or creativity alone; a supporting business model and desirable user experience are required to create the climate for change, break the resistance, and create sustainable customer impact.”

How To

Evolution and Integration to Stand Out in IT Thoughtworks Information Technology & Services Chicago, IL LinkedIn : Thoughtworks Thoughtworks is a leading global technology consultancy that integrates strategy, design and software engineering to enable enterprises and technology disruptors across the globe to thrive as modern digital businesses. They leverage their vast experience of over 28 years in technology innovation to improve their clients’ ability to respond to change; utilize data assets to unlock new sources of value; create adaptable technology platforms that move with business strategies; and rapidly design, deliver and evolve exceptional digital products and experiences at scale. Authors: Prasanna Pendse - Head of Technology, India Prasanna is the Head of Technology for Thoughtworks in India. He brings his love of technology, knowledge of business and the ability to create effective teams to take on complex challenges that shape our world today. He speaks on wide-ranging topics including evolutionary architectures, microservices, chaos engineering and high-performance Java. He is a relentless advocate of diversity and inclusion.

Mubashar Nadeem - Design Thinker and an Experience Strategist

Nadeem is a design thinker and an experienced strategist at Thoughtworks who has been delivering meaningful experiences over the last 17 years. He stays focused on measurable value by creating the right balance between user needs and business goals. Nadeem enjoys hands-on work that uses design thinking methods for creative problem solving alongside partnering with technologists, analysts and product owners.

Govind Mohandas - CX Lead ThoughtWorks India Govind brings to the table a mix of competencies with a background in product design, business, sport and music. He has led design teams from different geographies and designed experiences, strategies and systems for some of the world’s biggest companies over the past 12 years. At Thoughtworks, his focus is on growing the capabilities and business around customer experience, product and design.

Geet Garg - UX Designer Geet Garg is a UX designer, researcher and usability expert. She has 12 years of experience in the industry and has worked with major brands, across different domains. She spent the initial years of her career in ethnography study which inculcated empathy as a major principle of her design approach.

Sushant Joshi - Product Principal Sushant is a Product Principal at Thoughtworks. His work includes working with clients to assess product-market-fit, create goal-aligned roadmaps and product delivery. He brings in his ever-curious mindset, business knowledge and interdisciplinary thinking to solve problems that form our surroundings. His primary focus area is product discovery - through which he helps address key product risks in the early stages of the product.

Q1. Can you share case studies of developing products where you have seen a unique blend of design and engineering coming together to address a perennial problem? The last few years have seen a rapid rise in digital propositions within the banking space - specific to consumer lending space. This has required traditional banks to evolve their digital offerings. Fortunately,

much of Thoughtworks’ work in banking and fintech has given us the opportunity to create a significant impact through both technology and design. Case in point, for one of the largest private banks in India, aside from evolving the bank’s technology stacks and ensuring stability, Thoughtworks also built an intuitive and simple interface that made a huge difference to the client. In fact, the 30

blend of design and engineering doubled the rate at which the bank was able to ‘digitally lend.’ The bank’s platform was built with modern engineering practices like CI/ CD (Continuous Integration / Continuous deployment), microservices etc. in an iterative way, and the design evolution followed a similar path – iterative with the continuous customer and user engagement. This approach ensured a pleasing and easy user journey that was supported by able engineering rigor. Specific to the design journey – a unified design language ensured consistency across the client’s loan products, extending to user flows and interfaces across channels. User journeys and designs were customized to the client’s tech landscape. In recognizing the significance of design aspects that were beyond visuals such as performance, security, responsiveness, etc. – business, design and technology teams continuously collaborated towards the solution. Conventionally, enterprise landscapes feature several system dependencies, whose unavailability can stifle a digitization journey. To proactively address this, Thoughtworks created user journeys along with the technology teams to ensure customers are able to fulfill their goals using alternative paths. The design approach worked on the fundamental principle of ‘ask me never,’ or requiring minimum customer input. Thus the banking process’s evolution was systemagnostic with minimum customer interruptions. Q2. Thoughtworks is known for its unique work culture. Most of you have been with the company for many years, unlike the common trend in the industry. How can other leaders learn from Thoughtworks culture and imbibe the same within their project teams for success? 31

Thoughtworks strives to be a progressive and inclusive workplace with a focus on ensuring holistic value. For instance, our leadership team values being open, inclusive and setting high standards for aptitude, attitude and integrity. The company also encourages socially conscious initiatives, promotes diversity, values its talent and sustains open and transparent conversations with its highly skilled and driven employees. This transparency and flattened hierarchy create and sustain a work environment devoid of the ‘HiPPO’(Highest Paid Person’s Opinion) syndrome – everyone is encouraged to be fearless, to express themselves and to do their best work. This carefully nurtured work environment naturally impacts the quality of work we get done – by prioritizing excellence through a well-architected, multidimensional and pragmatic approach to clients’ business challenges. Q3. How have you seen the world of design and technology evolve over a period with the change in consumer tastes & preferences, external factors and generation views? We are looking at a shift from design patterns to design systems, from design being an after-thought to a nonnegotiable or intentional, from convincing leaders of design’s ROI to seamlessly weaving it through end-to-end processes. Our observations of evolving design trends reveal a few irrefutable basics – convenience continues to trump all, but with a higher emphasis on quality. Reliability continues to matter, but tolerance for failures has significantly dropped. Authenticity is critical but within the boundaries of uncomplicated brevity. As interactions continue to evolve, perceptions and the role of technology

and behavioural patterns will further impact all studies and disciplines in design. Additionally, the need for intuitive and seamless design, at scale, that powers better usability will demand ‘Differentiated Design’ to further reinforce a brand’s USP. In this dynamic scenario, Thoughtworks’ role becomes that of a catalyst and enabler – marrying design and engineering to deliver futuristic, timely, intuitive, robust yet cost-effective solutions. As the UX discipline navigates this relatively new reality, it is also finding the right balance between protectionism, gatekeeping, experimentation and more. To avoid instances where businesses selectively adopt UX processes to create the appearance of legitimacy and diligence, the design community must consciously choose to engage in foundational UX that is contextual to businesses. Q4. In the dynamic environment, the product life cycle is shrinking. While at Thoughtworks, you assist companies to build successful and scalable products; how do you ensure that the products remain relevant over a period? Thoughtworks looks at product development in two complementary ways: build the right thing and build the thing right. The first focuses on customer experiences, getting rid of extraneous features and ensuring value through experimentation, AI and ML (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning). The second encourages changes to be reliable and quick, coding for readability and observability, and automating everything that can be - from test execution to cloud infrastructure. Additionally, adhering to lean and agile principles ensures our product teams quickly react to what might otherwise challenge the product’s relevance.

Sustaining continuous discovery tracks that run parallel to delivery tracks allows us to stay closer to both evolving end-user and product needs – so, we can iteratively react to the dynamic environment. Summing it up: • Building the right thing involves foundational UX, due diligence, asking the right questions and challenging the status quo. • Building it right involves quality code, frictionless design with a focus on humanizing tech alongside a healthy dose of governance systems and processes to ensure what is built stands the test of time and delivers exponential value. Q5. How upskilling is vital to keeping up with the changes in technology and offering products that can intuitively satisfy the customer’s needs? To keep up with both tech’s rapid evolution, businesses’ dynamic strategies for growth and customer’s demanding expectations – a designer’s learning and upskilling can never stop. Thoughtworkers have internalized this fact – the more we learn, the more we realize there is always more to learn. It’s especially crucial to deliver value in a multi-disciplinary field like design. Thoughtworks’ strength is our community of passionate and curious people who prioritize growth through self-learning, sharing knowledge and exponentially growing the collective wisdom. The work culture also contributes to this approach by discouraging the fear of failure and celebrating the exploration of new skills. What designers should steer clear of is the obsession with trendy tools, plugins and pandering to the UX theatre. Our way of working is not just ‘doing design’ but also focusing on developing one’s skills for research, analysis, exploring alternatives, tradeoffs and negotiating. 32

Thought Leadership

Namrata Dhanak

Senior Manager User

Experience at Accenture

Sir J.J. School of Art alumni, Namrata, is a usability analyst and has worked for UX consulting, leading design strategy for over nineteen years. Having worked in several domains like BFSI, healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, entertainment, FMCG, IT, travel, and legal, she also has expertise in gamification, heuristic/expert reviews, user journey maps, prototyping, task flows, and information architecture. LinkedIn: Namrata Dhanak

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

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Ideating to Bridge Design Practices and Theory talents, and just when you are about to settle for a not-so-great idea, a better one strikes out of nowhere and it all falls in place. Sometimes though, an idea that seems ordinary initially ends up becoming great as you build on it further. Have you ever wondered when to continue exploring and when to freeze on a couple of shortlisted options and develop them further? Design sprints let you allocate separate time for diverging and converging so that you can freely Ideation is thrilling and fun. You could be chewing explore initially, select a couple of best ideas and on a problem for days, detail them out in the next looking for inspiration stage. There is no time everywhere, crossing out for overthinking. Once the one idea after another, timer goes off, you must sometimes beginning to doubt your conceptual move to the convergence stage. Take a moment to reflect upon your last 3 projects. What were some innovative ideas that radicalized the experience of the product? Any awardwinning ideas? Any others that may have been inspired from elsewhere but were great nonetheless as they helped solve a problem? If you are anything like me, you will clearly remember your best ideas and how you had them.

“The important lesson here is, do not seek to make incremental improvements. Think big, make it scalable, look at the larger picture. If your content has 30 categories, design for 300.”

years, the product had evolved into something Frankenstein-esque, with loads of content, often falling under different categories and users with different mental models. Imagine Amazon without its flexible search and filters. How would you like it if you had to find any item using three standard filters – price, quantity, and weight? If you were looking for toothpaste, you would have to go through 40,000 results right from pickle to keyboard. It worked fine initially when the content was limited, but with every category addition, the team made incremental changes to solve the immediate problem, without fixing the core navigation structure. The important lesson here is, not to seek A prerequisite for great to make incremental ideas is to understand improvements. Think big, the problem correctly. In make it scalable, look one of my recent projects, at the larger picture. we discovered that 70If your content has 30 80% of the experience categories, design for 300. issues on the existing site were related to I have had some cool navigation. Over the ideas while sketching 34

“Ensure that people understand the problem and the task well, send out a pre-read before the workshop. Plan for diversity, by inviting participants from multiple backgrounds.” on my own, sitting in a comfortable bean bag in a quiet corner of my office. However, some of the better ideas came through workshops. We had multiple workshops to solve the navigation problem in the above project, but the breakthrough came from a sales lead in one of the workshops. With almost 60 UX designers in the team, this is solid testimony to the fact that diversity of thought and expertise is key to effective brainstorming. Invite people from different backgrounds to your ideation workshops; don’t limit them to designers only. There are several techniques for creative brainstorming, and you could plan them based on the context. You could provide breakout rooms for people to sketch their ideas or write on sticky notes and then reassemble to go through 35

all concepts and vote on the best ones. Consider having mood boarding workshops if your objective is to get a pulse on visual preferences. Inspiration boards may help fetch insights on benchmark experiences from completely different domains. Whatever be the technique, it is important to keep the process fun and efficient. Ensure that people understand the problem and the task well, send out a pre-read before the workshop. Plan for diversity, by inviting participants from multiple backgrounds. Have some cool ice breakers to help people loosen up and feel comfortable sharing ideas. I had a workshop once where we were not generating any interesting ideas, only to realize later that people were nervous about looking dumb in front of the CEO. Facilitate a democratic environment

where people feel welcome to share their thoughts and build constructively on top of each other’s ideas. So, you have gone through the process and shortlisted your top two approaches. How do you know that your idea is truly great? Does it solve the challenges you identified earlier, at the start of the project? A usability test could help you figure out. Besides the usual tasks to test the usability, findability, and efficiency of your hypothesis, include some additional tasks to assess the experience. Converting user needs and business goals into KPIs(Key Performance Indicators) and tracking them against your design could help you decide if your solution really made a difference. And of course, winning an award might be a cherry on the cake.

“Design sprints let you allocate separate time for diverging and converging so that you can freely explore initially, select a couple of best ideas and detail them out in the next stage. There is no time for overthinking. Once the timer goes off, you must move to the convergence stage.”

How To

Sanjib Das Senior User Experience Design Specialist at HCL

With more than 13 years of experience in executing research programs, strategy, design, and validation of meaningful digital, and physical experiences, Sanjib has developed his core expertise in Experience design, Usability, Visual & Interaction Design, and Accessibility design. Sanjib is really passionate about his earned expertise and believes that designing is a solution that can give us a unique resolution. LinkedIn: Sanjib Das

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

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One mistake, and you Lose your Customer Forever! Why did I choose to have a negative sentence as my article title? I want you to feel how careful we need to be with the users and customers. Just because of a bad experience with the brand your customer may lose his or her confidence and uninstall/unsubscribe/ spam. As the reasons can be abundant, these kinds of customers can be many. To get customers onboard again is almost impossible. Building great customer relationships and loyalty to your brand is not easy. These come from the ingredients like trust, confidence, satisfaction, and reliability. The ingredients come from experience, whether it is digital or physical. In this digital era, customers have the world inside their pockets, reachability is more than ever. You have reached their pockets, now you need to nurture that engagement between

the customers and your brand.

to create a smooth omnichannel experience.

Understand Digital Environment:

Whether it is physical to digital or digital to digital, it is all about creating a better experience. Digital experience is evolving organically dayby-day to cater to users at their best of desires. It is not an easy task to achieve. A highly strategic and defined process and a dedicated team with common goals can only achieve it.

To begin with UX on a digital platform it is important to understand the present digital environment, trend, demand, speed. Today’s digital customers have more choices. To grasp users’ attention and keep them hooked to your brand in this competitive world you need to understand what they really want from your brand. Putting yourself in the shoes of customers is not enough to understand your audience. You need to understand the data and analytics to improve the experience. How to improve customer experience and customer engagement in order to maintain a human connection between brand and human on different channels? Create a consistent experience from every different channel

“Putting yourself in the shoes of customers is not enough to understand your audience. You need to understand the data and analytics to improve the experience.”

mapping, heuristic analysis, component analysis, drafting process blueprint, etc.

The defined process has some defined steps to walk. Discovery & Research Learn & Understand Define and Redefine Innovate & Agree Design & Evolve - Create & Consider Deliver - Build & Deploy Discovery begins with “A high-level problem statement,” that could be with the business, product, user, and situation but it has a great impact on thebusiness goals of the business/product owner. Users, stakeholders, business, platform, 39

process, market, data, technology, and trends are key areas to discover and understand to define and redefine the high-level problem statement in detail. This discovery phase will reveal many other problems and hidden opportunities that exist in these key areas. After conducting workshops, stakeholder interviews, analyzing as-is-journey, and understanding the ecosystem of both users and system/process you would be able to define the existing system and process. These would lead you to develop personas, user journey

With this, you need to validate and revalidate your understanding and iterate outcomes from the previous exercises accordingly. Ideate, defining solutions, listing features, and mapping them with the respective users and their pain points would be the next step to move further in this process. A detailed to-be-journey is expected to be created to make sure that the solution is serving the users’ needs and it is tangible indeed. Since users are at the heart of this user-centric solution hence it is very much important to validate the solution with the real users but at the same time, it should achieve business goals too. This is a real challenge everyone faces to deliver potential solutions. You need to capture the ideas into wireframe prototypes. Solutions are to be checked with the technical stakeholders to check feasibility based on the technology and platform. The low or mid-fed prototypes would need to

be enhanced into highfed functional prototypes. Business analytics would make sure the designed solution meets all user stories. Another round of validation is to make sure that the solution is actually serving all the use cases. A highly detailed and tailored design language system would be created to make sure there is consistency across solutions even in different channels and devices. Now the dish is ready to serve to the developers. A detailed hand-off process would

be defined to hand over the designs to the developers with the detailed design guide. A detailed design guide would help reduce developers’ dependency on the designers and will save a lot of time for each stakeholder. The next job is to make sure things are in place and functioning properly. UAT and usability tests would be conducted to report out the response, performance, speed, and of course user satisfaction. Then launch and nurture.

“A detailed to-bejourney is expected to be created to make sure that the solution is serving the users’ needs and it is tangible indeed. Since users are at the heart of this user-centric solution.”

Case Study

Prashanth Shanmugam

Interaction Designer at Google

With over 7 years of professional experience in Design Technology, Prashanth has a profound passion for UX Design, Usability Testing, and User research. From being an interaction designer focusing on modules of an application to a product designer focusing on the design, strategy & vision of the entire product, Prashanth has delivered a high-quality experience for both the online and offline world. LinkedIn: Prashanth Shanmugam

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

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Designing for a Billion Users As designers, we unintentionally benchmark our user’s ability to use a product based on our knowledge and expertise. This unconscious bias leads to an exclusion phenomenon where a vast set of users might not be able to use your app or product to its fullest. Inclusive design methodology helps us empathize with a full range of human diversity spanning across physical ability, language, culture, gender, age, and other forms of human difference. While accessibility and inclusivity are not the same, accessibility is one of the outcomes of inclusive design methodology. For example, a stepfree pathway is an accessible solution for

“While accessibility and inclusivity are not the same, accessibility is one of the outcomes of inclusive design methodology.”

people in wheelchairs, but inclusivity considers it for people with strollers, crutches, or other temporary and situational disabilities. Closed captions in videos were meant to help people with hearing impairment, but inclusivity extends it for users with a temporary disability like an ear infection or situational disability like watching a video in a noisy restaurant. The bendy straw was designed to serve people with motor disabilities, but it very well serves the purpose for anyone chilling by the side of a pool. Statistically, 1 in 7 people has disabilities worldwide - another compelling reason to adopt inclusive design principles. Designing products for people with permanent disabilities results in designs that benefit people universally. Small changes could bring a vast difference in the product, and open up the experience to more people. It could simply

mean adding an “Other” option in the “Gender” field when you design a user profile or allowing users to pick their gender pronouns to display in their profile. This inclusion helps a large user group feel included while using the product. Considering inclusivity in every aspect of design including interactions, imagery, localization and copywriting helps you diversify the ways to use the product and brings a sense of belonging to the users. Inclusivity in interactions Optimizing apps for onehand use is a great way to address accessibility and extend it to a broader spectrum such as temporary disabilities like fractures and situational disabilities like holding a baby or shopping bags. Search bars in mobile apps are usually on top of the screen and are inaccessible on devices with large screens for single-hand users. Apps like Twitter and Instagram solve this problem by

colours, physical sizes, and cultures. Localizing effectively Language plays a crucial role for users to adopt, use, and benefit from a product. Users feel included when the apps and products they use are tailor-made for their preferred language and allowing users to directly Inclusive Imagery culture. Apple, Slack & type on search bars when Netflix personalize their Representing people you long press on the images and content on through icons, search from the bottom their website based on illustrations, and navigation. Spotify puts the geographical photographs requires the cursor on the search location. This helps thoughtfulness. This bar when you tap on users easily connect and representation can be the search icon from interact with the content done by either the bottom nav while abstracing or diversifying and the product that is you’re on the search tab. showcased. While the imagery. The redesigned Safari designing screens with Abstracting can be browser for iOS 15 has different typefaces, we moved the search bar to created using more need to consider that not conceptual but still a finger-friendly position all languages have human like or even and it supports many typographical objects or animals. Apps frequently used actions on long-pressing the tab like Reddit and Netflix use emphasis such as bold & italics. While scripts like abstract images for user icon. Chinese & Hindi do not profiles to cover a broad have bold or italic segment of users with “The more purpose attributes, using spaces preferences. we place on inclusive varying and colors will help Diversifying, on the other communicate the design and the more hand, aims to represent the users with a multitude information hierarchy of attention we give it the screens to the in our conversations of differences. Apps like users. Airbnb’s clever use Snapchat allows users and design processes, to create a personalized of spacing works avatar to the precise level flawlessly for most the more usable languages worldwide, that accurately portrays our products and opening the app to work them in the digital world. experiences will become Another way to make for a huge user base. for a broader set of illustrations inclusive is by users across the world.” representing the characters in various skin

Inclusive colours and icons Apps like iOS Stocks solely depend on colours to convey a crucial piece of information from the app, the trend. Green indicates an increase in stock value, and red indicates a decline. Symbolizing the stock trends with just colours is inaccessible for people with vision impairments. It is even uncertain for regular people while using the app under bright sunlight or through sunglasses. Simply accompanying icons like up/down arrows with colours helps in faster recognition in all instances. Also, in apps like Calendar and To-Do, imposing patterns on colours lets all types of users easily recognize and differentiate the various tints. Recapping the inclusive design methodology,

designers should account for patterns and interactions that help people with ability, mobility, vision and hearing while designing for the global audience. The experiences we design should be simple, quick to start, and have consistent behavior across all instances. Inclusivity also advocates clarity by choosing legible fonts, using icons wherever needed, and incorporating sounds and haptics at the right moments. What we create as a designer has the potential to impact individual lives in deeply meaningful ways and to influence the culture around us. The more purpose we place on inclusive design and the more attention we give it in our conversations and design processes, the more usable our products and experiences will

become for a broader set of users across the world.

“Considering inclusivity in every aspect of design like interactions, imagery, localization and copywriting helps you diversify the ways to use the product and brings a sense of belonging to the users.”

How To

Ravikiran Papthimar

Director of Product and Technology at Incture

With over sixteen years of Industry experience in Product Development, Build and Delivery across multiple domains be it, BFSI, ERP, BPM, CRM, SRM, Mobility, Big Data or IoT, Ravikiran Papthimar, is currently the Director of Product and Technology at Incture. His expertise spans across Product Management, People Management, Customer Value Creation, Account Mining, Ideation, Profit-Loss and Business Development. He is an effective leader with proven abilities in leading large teams and bringing order to chaos. LinkedIn: Ravikiran Papthimar

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

@theweavemagazine

Progressing by Tailoring Systems and Products for Every Situation The Enterprise software market is expected to reach 570 billion US Dollars by 2022. However, usability has been a challenge. Enterprise software’s have a reputation of being usability‘s final frontier. As per research, Enterprise applications had twice the number of usability issues as consumer software, and almost 10 times those found in websites. Apart from the usual suspects of complexity and security requirements, one of the main reasons has been that the buyers have not been the users of the system. Consumer (Employees) demand for Tailormade products has reached astronomical proportions in recent times. A few years back this was limited to mainly consumerfacing products and it was limited to brick and mortar stores. However, this has expanded and

is contributing to a fundamental shift in the way enterprise software is getting sold. It is moving from a top-down model to a bottom-up model. Businesses that do not incorporate an element of personalization into their offering risk losing revenue and customer loyalty.

“Businesses that do not incorporate an element of personalization into their offering risk losing revenue and customer loyalty.” So, what is Product Customization? Product Customization or Product Personalization is a process of delivering customized goods and services to the customers as per their needs and desires.

Why is it needed? Every customer is unique with his/her own demands & needs. The days are gone where the customers were running behind products. Customers are now spoiled for choices and tailoring products for each customer is one of the unique ways to stay relevant. This is especially true if you want to succeed in a small business or in your entrepreneurial venture. It helps to listen to what customers need is and prioritize and tailor the offering to suit the customer’s needs. This means putting the customer at the centre of the picture, rather than your own ideas, thoughts, and preferences. How can one tailor products for specific customer needs? Here are a few ways to find out exactly what your

potential customers want and how to go about bringing their dreams to reality Do your market research: There is no substitute for doing thorough market research. The process involves the collection and analysis of data with respect to consumers, market competition and how effective current marketing programs are. Generally outsourcing this to a third party helps, getting a neutral, unbiased view is important. Run discovery & delivery in parallel:

Validate early and often through prototyping,

experimenting, and running beta programs. Empower the user so that he/she can choose what is best: Leverage user onboarding to choose what is best for them. Achieve the balance between configurability and more opinionated design: As workplaces become more complex and diverse, configurability will remain a leading desire. The platform approach is better in the long run: Platform provides you with the option to leverage different modules based on the

need of the customer. Look at the UX: The user experience expectations of your enterprise solution may not just be influenced by your direct competitor’s offering but more so by the latest trends in the consumer tech world. Leverage what is done in Business to Consumer (B2C) world: There is no reason for enterprise product design philosophy to be any different from its consumer counterpart. Invest in education and seamless onboarding experiences: First impression counts. Whether it is hardware

or software, having an easy onboarding process is critical in order for customers to successfully use your product. Do not try to force the system to be everything to everyone: It is impossible to build a business and market a brand in a way that serves everyone.

“There is no substitute for doing thorough market research. The process involves the collection & analysis of data with respect to consumers, market competition and how effective current marketing programs are.”

How will it help? Product customization is here to stay.Here are the the top 5 reasons for this: Customers like it: Customers make it, customers like it. This way there is a connection which is established between Product & Customer. You can charge more: Customers are willing to pay up to 20% more for a customized offering.

desire. Helps in more sales: Delivering customers exactly what they want is a good business model for increasing sales. Provides insight into customer behavior: 1 in 4 Customers are willing to share their personal information for getting a better customer experience. Finally, we all want our product to work for the user and not the other way around.

It builds brand loyalty: Earn customer loyalty by giving them what they want. Current customers are not averse to switching brands if they do not get what they

“Customers make it, customers like it.” 48

Interview

Leah Heiss

Design Researcher/ Co-director at RMIT University

Leah Heiss is a Malcome Moore award winning human-centred designer, researcher, Co-director of the Wearables and Sensing Network (W+SN) and CSIRO visiting scientist with the role of the Eva and Marc Besen International Research Chair in Design at Monash University. She has brought HCD to technologies for healthcare. Linked In: Leah Heiss

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

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Improving the Emotional Experience of Wearable Health Technologies How do you apply principles of human centred design, for HealthTech products and how does the equation change from consumer or durable products in this case?

Go wide for inspiration: Seek inspiration from diverse sources when designing. Reframing the design of HealthTech is vital to improving the acceptance of these technologies.

Applying aspects of human-centred design to the creation of MedTech products is essential for two reasons. Firstly, it improves the uptake of these products and can increase compliance; secondly, good design can help de-stigmatise medical devices and promote more mainstream acceptance. Moving onto how we apply HCD to HealthTech products; this depends mainly on the designer. Within my practice, I have five primary approaches or ‘tools’ in my toolkit that help me to approach complex health problems while keeping the person at the centre of everything I do.

Prototype comprehensively throughout the process: Use design artifacts to strengthen collaboration in interdisciplinary teams and build trust with technology users. Invite people in throughout the design process: make participatory strategies an integral part of the product development process. Collaborate widely across technical and non-technical disciplines: Continually look for ways to strengthen collaboration using design tools and methods

Small wins continually Seek incremental steps to enable progress in projects, despite complexity and uncertainty.

“The design intent was to bypass the instinctual fear response that we have when we are confronted by something as frightening as losing a sense.” 50

So what can a designer do about this stigma? From a design perspective, Facett aimed to move hearing aids from disability to desirability by making hearing aids look precious and beautiful. The design intent was to bypass the instinctual fear response we have when confronted by something as frightening as losing a sense. Instead, it hopes to evoke a sense of wonder, imagination, and curiosity. To disassociate Facett from While wearable products Can you share a case are trending across the study of developing such languages of disability I sought inspiration from world, how do you products? the mineralogy collection determine the number of In 2016 I was invited to in our Melbourne Museum features and product design Facett, the world’s to inform the colour, capabilities that first self-fit and modular surface texture, form, and should be included in a hearing aid for Blamey clustering of the wearable device ? Saunders hears. Hearing technology. The outcome loss affects around 30% This is really about what is a technology that of adults over the age of the user needs. There is becomes part of our 65, and in 2008 the World identity, not separate so much ‘piling on’ of Health Organisation functionality to current from it. estimated that 360 million wearable devices that people in the global they can become The Facett project population suffered from used all of the design overwhelming to the ‘disabling hearing loss.’ user. Current platform strategies mentioned While the incidence of technologies enable us above to engineer a to ‘stack’ functionalities – hearing loss is very high, technology that was there is a significant delay so a watch can become human-centered and to the uptake of hearing a falls monitor and helped to shift the stigma aids, with estimates of up of these devices. more. Ideally, we use this to two-thirds of people flexibility to who have a hearing tailor devices to the impairment not adopting current needs of users these technologies, but have an option to stigma is a huge factor in enhance or upgrade this delay. these later on. 51

While human-centered design principles are applied, how do you use emotional engagement with the customer for delight or loyalty? Emotional engagement is central to designing artifacts that resonate with users. Particularly in the HealthTech space, we need to think about how a product will integrate into its owner’s daily life. If we can design artifacts and products that evoke wonder or delight, rather than medical devices that evoke fear, this will start to shift the way people think about their health technologies. It can help to reframe medical devices as personal technologies in order to improve loyalty and even impact compliance.

What tactile tool methodologies and design principles do you use to create products that are appealing to the masses and are easily adaptable? I focus on developing tools (including my Tactile Tools) that engage the participation of experts from across disciplines to encourage collaboration. The Tactile Tools also help experts understand the lived experience of

health seekers as they empathize with their journeys. Link Coming to creating principles, I am focused on continually developing approaches to improve HealthTechs through a tested series of methods. The five principles above developed through my Ph.D. and a decade of practice help the products I design to shift classes from medical to personal.

“If we can design artifacts and products that evoke wonder or delight, rather than medical devices that evoke fear, this starts to shift the way people think about their health technologies.” 52

How To

Dr. Glen Moriarty

Founder & CEO of 7 Cups

Lisa Meighan

MBPsS - Director of Clinical

Dr. Glen Moriarty, Founder, and CEO of 7 Cups is a psychologist who combines his background in psychology with his love for technology and helping others. 7 Cups has reached over 60 million people in 189 countries in just over 8 years. He is driven to reduce suffering and ensure emotional support is available to everyone through technology. He feels that serving vulnerable populations is key to solving broader health challenges. LinkedIn: Glen Moriarty

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

@theweavemagazine

How to Combat Isolation During the Pandemic Using Technology “No man is an island, entire of itself’’ - John Donne. The interconnectedness of humanity has been evident for centuries, and it is no less so today. The 17th-century poem, from which the quote above originates, highlights the impact of isolation on humans and the need to be part of a community to thrive. By necessity facing a global pandemic has changed how we behave and connect with others. Before the pandemic, we would not have questioned meeting a friend for a coffee or perhaps a stroll outside surrounded by nature with a loved one. However, billions of people have been spending a significant amount of time at home following government policies, and for many individuals, feelings of isolation and even loneliness followed. Fortunately, we have a great sense of

connecting to others digitally, which many have relied upon during the pandemic. It is well known that loneliness and feeling isolated have a lasting impact on an individual’s mental health. Loneliness is subjective and occurs when individuals feel like their social needs are unmet (Mind, 2019). Feelings of loneliness are very personal and likely lead to an individual feeling isolated from others. Often, when feeling isolated, it can be very challenging to have meaningful connections with others because there is a tendency to withdraw. Various studies have also shown that feeling isolated can have a lasting impact, such as symptoms of depression, raised levels of the stress hormone cortisol, addictive behaviors, anxiety, and sleep problems. These are all significant reasons to reach out using

technology. Connecting with others using technology, especially during the pandemic, has made coping with uncertain circumstances since the onset of the pandemic easier. We have held birthday parties and other significant events over video calls attended work events and courses over Zoom calls and were made to feel a little more connected. There are many ways to feel less isolated using technology, and some of these ideas may include: -Creating a group to message your loved ones digitally. -Holding an event over a video call to connect with your family and friends. -Marking milestone events even when you cannot attend in person by meeting over a video call so you do not miss out on significant events! 54

By using technology we can learn to feel less isolated and more connected. 7 Cups is an on-demand emotional support platform and a caring and thriving community of people who support one another. 7 Cups have helped over 60 million people in emotional distress since 2013. It is available globally in 189 countries and 140 languages. We provide 1:1 free support sessions with a trained listener, personalized growth paths to help you feel better and online therapy with licensed therapists. Our mission is to help people feel less alone, more connected, happier, and healthier. We also provide support in our COVID-19 dedicated subcommunity, which you can find here: Click here We genuinely believe that having someone to vent to can make a significant difference to someone out there needing a supportive and caring discussion. We provide various ways in which 7 Cups can support individuals during the pandemic, including: 55

- 1:1 free discussions with an active trained listener. - Personalized Growth Paths - step-by-step paths to feeling better and working on healthy habits such as sleeping better, managing anxiety, developing coping skills, and many more!. - Sharing Circles - we encourage members to share what is on their minds in a safe and moderated environment. - Our thriving and supportive community of millions of people makes you feel less alone, and you are always guaranteed to feel like you are not alone with the problem you are facing. Often the same problem

you are facing, there are many others with a similar issue in life. - Affordable online therapy with licensed therapists that provide asynchronous based messaging therapy in a secure and confidential space. You can send unlimited messages to your therapist and receive a thoughtful response to your messages. It is a great way to feel less isolated, process your thoughts and feelings, and work on your goals - Please remember, we are all in this together. Drop by to visit us on our website and download the iOS or Android App today!

“We genuinely believe that having someone to vent to can make a significant difference to someone out there needing a supportive and caring discussion.”

Photography Contest Stories can be found in the nooks and crevices of an old house, hidden between the lines of a legend, or in a random passerby on the road. Only the most skilled photographers can capture the true beauty of the streets and display the wonder of life. Weave presents to you the winners of our photography contest on Street Stories.

Ajinkya Shiwarkar People caught living their life, creating stories out of it.

"The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.” -Robert Doisneau Chaitanya Patil A series of pictures where you will experience emotions as they look at rays of light.

Thought Leadership

Ms Pradnya Godbole

CEO- deAsra Foundation

Pradnya is the CEO of deAsra Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Dr Anand Deshpande, Founder of Persistent Systems Limited, intending to help entrepreneurs in their entrepreneurial journey. She was a programs manager at Persistent systems before moving to deAsra, merging both technology and empathy is her forte, and at deAsra they have enabled individuals to start, manage, and grow their small businesses successfully; more than 120,000 entrepreneurs have already benefited from their tools and programs. LinkedIn: Pradnya Godbole

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

@theweavemagazine

Using Technology for Social Impact at Scale: Powering Businesses, Creating Jobs India is a vast country with plenty of challenges. Here, education and healthcare are some of the toughest sectors to work on. When it comes to addressing these challenges, there are three constraints – availability, access, and affordability. Affordability must be addressed by reducing prices of goods and services, thus fuelling an ecosystem where people have more money to spend. According to data by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, as of 2020, more than half of India’s population falls under the working population. This indicates that there are many people with the potential to work. However, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s data says, as of the end of 2019, the unemployment rate for graduates was 18.5%. Although India is one of the fastest-

growing economies, the pace of job creation is slow and remains lesser than what is needed for the approximately 1.2 crore people who enter the workforce each year. deAsra Foundation was formed by Dr Anand Deshpande to address this problem. Soon we realized that to create jobs, we needed to support job creators. Steady income can have a very significant impact on individual families and ultimately on society at large. It is reminiscent of the phrase, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” deAsra’s first goal was to support 25,000 businesses in 5 years from its launch. The businesses we had in mind were small, or micro, belonging to the middle of the pyramid. We found that though they were the major powerhouses of job generation, they had no support systems to

formalize and accelerate their growth. Typically, their annual turnover is between ₹10 Lac and ₹ 1 Crore and have the potential to provide 2-10 jobs. While designing our model, we realized that although it was important to generate as many as 15 million jobs every year, we also needed to equally focus on the need for these jobs to have decent pay. With this in mind, we started designing a solution to support such a large number of businesses in such a short period. The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford describes design thinking as a five-stage process – Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test, which we adopted to develop solutions for our target business profile. We started with researching the pain points and needs of entrepreneurs, which allowed us to recognize how to 62

Entrepreneur Journey Map

eliminate the barriers to setting up and running a business. Our goal was to provide everything an entrepreneur needs in one place and be a one-stop solution for them, keeping access anytime, anywhere through technology at the forefront. In the course of development, we first started by offering a very detailed online selfservice business-in-abox model. However, through this model, entrepreneurs needed help through bite-sized packages. Subsequently, this led to deAsra offering separate services which included business health check tools, legal and compliance support, and various checklists concerning funding,

cash flow management, and legal registrations. This brought out some key learnings for us users want specific help, precise information, and minimal interaction for accessing and consuming knowledge and services.

in standardizing services and identifying itself as an ecosystem enabler. deAsra is recognized as a strong knowledge partner as our journey has enabled us to develop expertise and seamlessness in processes such as the induction of business The Covid pandemic yet mentors and experts, again underlined the curation of templates importance of technology and business guides, and the need to leverage maintaining the quality of it. deAsra’s expertise offerings, and deploying in smart technology resources using solutions, combined technology. with knowledge In the present day, of small business deAsra has more than entrepreneurship, played 1 lakh users who have a strong role in providing availed benefits from our a ready-to-use wellplatform. More than half equipped platform. of our users fall under the age of 35 with close Over the years, since its to 25% of them being inception in 2013, deAsra women and around has evolved into a 75% of them being men. successful organization deAsra has a wide reach

across the country in terms of platform visitors with the majority coming from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Today, deAsra lends tried and tested models to Entrepreneurship Development Organizations (EDOs) that may have limited ecosystem offerings. For example, an EDO may have the bandwidth to tackle issues involving only funding or market linkage. Furthermore, EDOs may also face difficulty in scaling their operations, especially services like personalized consultations by experts. This is when deAsra’s comprehensive digital solutions become useful to help EDOs on various fronts, one of the most important being helping them to scale. There are quite a few approaches that deAsra has adapted to partner with EDOs. deAsra has a plethora of online business tools and templates, such as business performance

“Pick a cause you are passionate about, think of challenges, and curate tailor-made solutions to create a large impact.”

evaluation tool, funding readiness assessment tool, marketing plan assessment tool, and partnership deed template. These resources have been curated with the help of experts from different domains and are readily available for entrepreneurs to use and benefit from. EDOs can incorporate these into their ecosystem, thereby empowering their beneficiaries with the right offerings. deAsra also contributes to entrepreneurship development programs by engaging in skill transfer sessions and joining hands with skilling institutes to solve the lack of infrastructure and bandwidth to empower business journeys.

to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on promoting entrepreneurship for small, micro, and nano entrepreneurs in India.

I would strongly recommend anyone reading this article to participate in nationbuilding and contribute to solving the problem of job creation in whatever ways they can. As an individual, you can mobilize aspiring entrepreneurs and connect them with various support services. As an SME(Small and Medium Enterprises) I request you to consider funding small, targeted interventions for the recovery of small businesses, especially in these precarious times (funding for scale and growth, funding for Leveraging the data training programs, etc). about small business Creating social impact users and their business should be a part of every journey that the deAsra educated individual’s platform has collected goal and there are over the last years, we many ways to go about now seek to act as a voice for small businesses it- Pick a cause you are by influencing policy and passionate about, think research in this space. In of challenges, and curate tailor-made solutions to the past we have given recommendations to the create a large impact. Maharashtra government, Let us all pledge to serve the nation and take the Mahratta Chamber responsibility for a shared of Commerce Industries prosperous future. and Agriculture, and recommendations 64

Inspiration

Nikhil Kumar

Co-founder of Deside and UI/ UX Designer at Frozeniris

A D’source International Design Award 2020 winner and NIFT graduate, Nikhil has co-founded Deside, India’s own marketplace for thrifting, passing preloved clothes. He is also working as UI/ UX Designer at Frozeniris passionately building impactful and relevant brand journeys. Previously he has also worked as a communication and industrial designer. LinkedIn: Nikhil Kumar

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

@theweavemagazine

My Journey while Creating for Change “We must design for the way people behave, not for how we would wish them to behave.” - Don Norman To me, Design is a ‘holistic approach for solving problems by prioritizing the consumer’s needs above anything else.’ I loved creating 3D products and came up with a thought to explore the trending digital products in the field of design. It was unplanned, and I started exploring by creating things I liked; I realized that design principles are the same in any domain. I rolled up my sleeves and moved beyond uncertainties to get to new challenges. I believe in myself as everything worthwhile in life is uphill, which means I have to choose to go and get it. I have to put one foot in front of the other and take one step at a time on the hill. I began my career as a UI/UX Designer with Frozeniris with a team of

people helping brands scale using the first principles of design. At the firm, my journey was not only just a transition from an accessory designer to a digital product designer, but it was also an opportunity to work through the whole UX pipeline from researching to launching a product. I had the opportunity to wear different hats and work with several people outside of the UX field, such as engineers and project managers. I learned to try various things and familiarize myself with the craft of UX intimately. I came in knowing a few necessary skills; however, I learned quite a bit on the job by working and collaborating with others. The Journey so far with Deside The next phase of my life started when my college mates Kamakshi Jain, Akanksha Sinha, and I came up with the idea of thrifting and the need

of breaking the stigma a of secondhand clothing. The concept came when the pandemic arrived; we saw that there was a massive increase in the number of online purchases since everything was shut. The problem was already there in the current scenario due to fast fashion and an increase in carbon emission. We thought about how to decrease carbon emissions and add value. We all know that there is a need for sustainable fashion, and a platform is required where the life of clothes can be extended before they end up in oceans. We did research and saw that there were plenty of thrift stores on social media but there was no common platform where they could collaborate and manage their sales, shipping, earning, and track orders easily. We came up with a multivendor e-commerce website with a large trendy and branded 66

collection at affordable prices for our buyers and an opportunity for thrift shops to become sellers. Along with other services we help in sorting styles and aesthetics according to trends.

them with a better order management system.

On Deside anyone can become a seller with a few simple steps and start their own small businesses. Our company focuses on We started with users first, the authenticity and talking with them, taking quality of the service surveys, empathizing as well as products. A with their pain points, thought turned into a and coming up with rock-solid plan of making a problem statement. thrifting an easier and a We saw a problem of trustful concept in India. overconsumption; we A small step towards looked into their ways and solving some of the most created a path that leads complex and critical to breaking the stigma challenges faced by our of wearing second-hand planet, and I believe a clothes. small effort by each one of us can make a lot of The ideations included difference. how we might solve for our users and provide We follow the ideology of them with an intuitive doing the right thing, right solution. The consumption for the environment, right of data from them helped for the customer, and us keep our thoughts making the website as in the sink and take a simple as possible. final decision. We also In the last six months, found that 70% of fashion we rotated more than influencers were looking 300 clothes from one for a place to sell their wardrobe to another. clothes, and 62% of thrift The overall turnover in 3 stores were managing as months was more than a side business so, they 3 Lakhs; it was a proud were looking for a place moment for us to see to make it easier, while people accepting the 78% of sellers found it change. We would get difficult in keeping track of more than five requests their orders and earnings. every day wanting to sell They wanted a solution their clothes. We got over that could minimize their 40% of first-time thrifting cognitive load and help customers who loved 67

the experience and the concept. Creating Change Change is providing a new perspective to the people around us so that it becomes a habit for them and it continues to create a massive impact. As said, less is more in design, the same applies here too, contributing small, small efforts can make an enormous difference in the future. “We must grow and stretch ourselves a little every day, and be an inspiration for others.”

“We must grow and stretch ourselves a little every day, and be an inspiration for others.”

“We all know that there is a need for sustainable fashion, and a platform is required where the life of clothes can be extended before they end up in oceans.”

Case Study

Sandeep Virmani

Principal Customer Experience Design Consultant at Palo Alto Networks

With over two decades of experience in the technology industry, Sandeep has developed his own unique style of working as an Individual Contributor (IC Role) with strong analytical, problemsolving skills and collaborating with cross-functional teams. Working closely with the product management teams, and customers, he is able to deliver sleek, and effective UX flows, best practices, rapid iterations, and innovation to bear. LinkedIn : Sandeep Virmani

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

@theweavemagazine

Rush to Cloud: Cloud Computing Fundamentals There is a reason why primary IT operations are moving to the cloud way of development, then staying with traditional IT. As infrastructure costs increase, so does the development cycle, a need to push the code and maintain the security of the data, which is fragile and everchanging. With Cloud, everything changes. Serverless Security, Development, and Operations are attracting companies to meet the waterfall requirement for their endpoints. The best way to understand this is to cover the ground aspect and the technology behind this.

“With Cloud, everything changes. Serverless Security, Development, Operations are attracting companies to meet the waterfall requirement for their endpoints.”

Race to cloud computing Platform as a Service The cloud concept is built on layers, each providing a distinct level of functionality. This stratification of the cloud’s components has provided a means for the layers of cloud computing to become a commodity just like electricity, telephone service, or natural gas. The commodity that cloud computing sells is computing power at a lower cost and expense to the user. Cloud computing is poised to become the next megautility service.

Platform as a service (PaaS) has a complete development and deployment environment in the cloud, with resources that enable you to deliver everything from simple cloud-based apps to sophisticated, cloud-enabled enterprise applications. Software as a Service

Software as a Service (SaaS) provides a complete software solution that you purchase on a pay-asyou-go basis from a Cloud Service Provider Infrastructure as a (CSP). You rent the Service use of an app for your organization, and your Infrastructure as a users connect to it over service (IaaS) is a cloud the Internet, usually with computing service that a web browser. All of the offers essential compute, underlying infrastructure, storage, and networking middleware, app resources on-demand, on software, and app data a ‘pay-as-you-go’ basis. are located in the service IaaS is one of the four provider’s data center. types of cloud services, The service provider along with software as a manages the hardware service platform SaaS as and software and with a service, and serverless. the appropriate service 70

“With a combination of cloud service provider APIs and a unified agent framework, users gain unmatched visibility and protection.” agreement, will ensure the availability and the security of the app and your data as well. SaaS allows your organization to get quickly up and running with an app at minimal upfront cost. Serverless Serverless is a cloud computing execution model that provisions computing resources on-demand, and offloads all responsibility for common infrastructure management tasks (e.g., scaling, scheduling, patching, provisioning, etc.) to cloud providers and tools, allowing engineers to focus their time and effort on the business logic specific to their applications or process. The most beneficial way to define and understand serverless is focusing on the handful of core attributes that distinguish 71

serverless computing from other compute models, namely: • The serverless model requires no management and operation of infrastructure, giving developers more time to optimize code and develop innovative new features and functionality. • Serverless computing runs code on-demand only, typically in a stateless container, on a per-request basis, and scales transparently with the number of requests being served. • Serverless computing enables end-users to pay only for resources being used, never paying for idle capacity.

important aspect to save the companies data, platform, and services from cyber-attacks. Understanding CyberSecurity

Example of an AWS serverless computing

When companies and their customer data go serverless in the cloud, it becomes the responsibility of the companies and Cloud Service Providers (CSP) to secure infrastructure, applications, data, and entitlements across the world’s largest clouds, all from a single unified solution. With a combination of cloud service provider APIs and a unified agent framework, users gain unmatched visibility and protection.

As the companies development stack gets settled on the cloud the cybersecurity plays an

Cyber Security firms provide security from container security to threat detection to web

Example of an AWS serverless computing

customer representative and see that the endusers get a seamless and consistent experience over cloud interfaces. With many end-points integrated and multiple layers of applications being embedded into the cloud infrastructure, customers see unified experiences across endpoint integrations.

development. application and API security, security teams benefit from best-in-class Scan infrastructure-ascode (IaC) templates, protection. container images, serverless functions, With high traffic on and more while gaining the cloud, It becomes powerful, full-stack super Important for runtime protection. This the cloud providers is unified security for and cybersecurity DevOps and security firms to integrate teams. with any continuous integration and Moving Ahead continuous delivery (CI/ CD) workflow to secure As a user experience cloud infrastructure and designer, I function as a applications early in

Cloud has started to gain momentum and visibility due to its structure and as the pandemic hovers all over the world, business continuity seems to gain momentum, and the world continues to work from home and remote location to and push services through cloud infrastructure.

“With many end-points integrated and multiple layers of applications being embedded into the cloud infrastructure, customers see unified experiences across endpoint integrations.”

Thought Leadership

Abhishek Mohanty

Co-founder and Co-director at LagomWorks

Abhishek Mohanty co-founded and co-directs LagomWorks, focusing on applied anthropology and ethnographic research-led design and innovation engagements with corporate organizations, educational institutions, social enterprises, and startups in India, the Middle East, and the EU. Along with the larger team, he also carries out original anthropological research at the intersection of society and technology, centered on the (future of) work and ways of working, data and platforms, and livelihoods and scale. He has over 17 years of professional experience, drawing upon interdisciplinary training as a result of a Masters in Social Anthropology (SOAS University of London), as well as a prior PG Diploma in Management (XIM Bhubaneswar) and an undergraduate degree with honors in Economics (Hindu College, University of Delhi). LinkedIn: Abhishek Mohanty

MIT Group of Institutions | September 2021

@theweavemagazine

Anthropology as an Episteme for Estimating the Relevance of Design Thinking A little over a century ago, Bronislaw Malinowski sailed to the Trobriand Islands, an archipelago now part of Papua New Guinea to carry out anthropological research. At the time, the kind of research he intended to conduct was novel. For it was predicated not on armchair reflection (or self-referential assumptions) but instead, observed and lived in the field, with the people it sought to study. It championed ethnography as a methodological immersion in the lives of others. The book Argonauts of the Western Pacific followed in 192223, laying the ground for science that asked why people behave and conduct themselves the way they do. As Malinowski writes: “...in every act of tribal life,

resident anthropologist and strategist with Facebook), describes how ethnographic thinking provides “an interpretive lens to see how cultural worlds are organized … [as well as]... frameworks for thinking about how they are formed, and how Today this quote they evolve and interact”. might be considered Moving through the problematic and ‘empathize’ and ‘define’ anachronistic, and not in stages of design thinking, the least for the colonial gaze it perpetuates (who and up to the ‘generation of ideas,’ insights rooted truly is the native?). Yet implicit in these lines and in ethnography permit as Malinowski documents the designer to analyse and ask why, before throughout his seminal tome is what most design turning to the synthesis thinking professionals of the what. Even in the latter stages of ‘prioritizing would likely recognize ideas’, ‘prototyping’, and as the contours of that enduring tool of their ‘testing’, the designer returns to ethnographic practice, the empathy map: asking what people insights to anchor say, do, think, and feel. their solution (which touchpoint on the user Fast forwarding the journey might it warrant narrative to a more designing for?). As my contemporary setting, colleagues and I often Jay Hasbrouck (the submit, ethnographic there is, first, the routine prescribed by custom and tradition, then there is the manner in which it is carried out, and lastly the commentary to it, contained in the natives’ mind.”

thinking and design thinking are thereby, in fact, coterminous. In its essence, anthropology is the study of lifeworlds and how and why they come to be. It studies the spaces and places we inhabit, the relations and flows which structure our societies, the cultural rubrics which define our every day, and the lived experiences with humans and nonhumans (consider technologies, apps, and objects on one hand, and policies and programs on the other) from which we derive meaning and construct our identities. And thus, I argue, where ethnography is practiced in engagement with anthropological theory and with the comparative perspectives it permits (how do other people use the app?), anthropology proffers itself as a veritable yardstick by which to gather how acceptable the design is to the user. Or, in short, to what extent will the solution work? As an example, I turn to an anthropological study we carried out at LagomWorks earlier this year, wherein we sought to understand teleconsultation’s 75

limited uptake in India by doctors and patients alike, notwithstanding its promise for leapfrogging healthcare. After all, teleconsultation was not new to the country, having been introduced over a decade and a half ago. The ongoing pandemic had given it a significant fillip, with the entry of multiple platforms, better technologies, and improved access. It also commanded administrative attention now, with an evolving digital health policy and a supporting national skills framework. As I have explained earlier in this essay, anthropology concerns itself with lifeworlds, every day, and lived experiences. And so, through the difficult summer which the country witnessed, we studied teleconsultation ethnographically, by asking how it was practiced and experienced by its multiple stakeholders. How did doctors and patients schedule appointments? Did they transpose the physical routine onto a digital architecture? How did habits such as seeking a second opinion play out?

What helped build trust? For whom was the app designed? And how did the app team articulate design principles? Our observations built on

A medical practitioner in peri-urban Mumbai scheduling consultations. Medicos often say that scheduling takes up a lot of their time. March/April 2021. Source: LagomWorks research on emic futures

existing anthropological scholarship on how reactions to questions of health and disease were never biomedical alone, but also inherently social. And the fact that Indians derive their identities through their family and community. Just as people would often have a friend or family member accompany them on a visit to the doctor, so it was with teleconsultation sessions, where a patient was joined by one if not several members of the household, asking questions and tabling clarifications (often to the doctor’s consternation). Yet, most teleconsultation apps and platforms privilege one-to-one interactions between the patient and the doctor. Given the transmutation of the physical world into the digital, there was, therefore, a need for a uniquely Indian design, and not one which borrowed from evidently misplaced Western notions of individual privacy which tended to efface the role of the family or community. In short, how might we design such a contextual teleconsultation platform? What could make it acceptable to the Indian patient? And her household? What could

ensure that the doctor’s time is used efficiently? Anthropology’s inimitable strength lies in its ability to provide context. This is also how it differs from design research. While the latter centers its lines of inquiry on a design and its features/functionalities, anthropology is explorative. The question of the Indian design for a teleconsultation app/platform had us zooming out to a broader question of healthcare, and layering the original ask with ethnographic insights ranging from how people still relied on traditional systems of medicine (such as Ayurveda and Unani), to how they would insist on a physical prescription, or how ASHA and community health workers played a critical role in the processual scheme of things by filling the intrinsic need for human interaction. It is here that I table my point of departure, as I conclude my argument, that the science of anthropology and its accompanying methods (and in particular, ethnography) do not merely share a symbiotic relationship with design thinking, but also serve as the

episteme or vocabulary of knowledge through which the relevance of its application can be gauged. Is it time, I ask then, for a ‘designthropologist’ to work alongside the ‘designeer’?

Community Health Workers in a Bangalore hospital stepping in to fill the gap of human interaction which an online consultation initiative is unable to address. March/ April 2021. Source: LagomWorks research on emic futures 76

Team Weave

Ayush Gupta

Rohit Lalwani

Team Lead

Guide

Atharva Kulkarni Bisman Minhas Co-Editor

Co-Editor

Dharati Verma Author Research Team

Anvesha Dubey Content Team

Ananya Dey Marketing Team

Saee Joshi

Author Research Team

Suchira Biswas Content Team

Rajdutta Malusare Marketing Team

Jigyasa Dixit Content Team

Shubhankar Nandapurkar

Shrushti Dhobley Marketing Team

Marketing Team

Aayush Bidkar Design Team

Aditi Dhawale Design Team

Jignesh Pradhan Design Team

Himika Adhikari Design Team

Anantvijay Design Team

Original Team

Saurabh Dhankar

Anush Nadkarni

Devashish Boralkar

Ishaan Nakate

Miral Zafar

Priyanshi Katiyar

Riya Katariya

Samiksha Banka

Saumya Kharkar

Sriram Ajith

Surabhi Bajaj

Yashi Pareek

Zeel Modi