Avantika Designeering Series

Whenever the designers want to address the user's problems and design an innovative solution, the first thought that crosses their mind is by following the Human-Centered Design methodology. Keeping the users at the center while interacting with a product helps designers make their products more usable and widely accessible. The most common way of doing this is by empathizing with the user. But how can designers create innovative and accessible products while empathizing with the users for better user experience?

In search of answers to all such questions, today we connect with Riya Thosar, Director of Product Design at SAP. With over two decades of global industry experience, She has designed consumer and enterprise products for a wide range of industries and global audiences. Let’s know more about her journey and experiences in the Women’s Day special episode of “Avantika Designeering Series Podcast.” You can connect with Riya on Twitter @RiyaThosar. Don’t forget to subscribe to our show and share your comments on [email protected]

Nowadays, consumers subscribe to a more innovative and personalized experience. To meet the evolving user needs, service providers need to build a strong emotional connection with the users. And not having an emotional understanding can lead to a rift between the user and the service provider. To avoid this, designers need to practice empathy and gain a clear understanding of the constantly evolving customer needs. But how can designers create an emotional connection and foster customer loyalty?

To know more about this theme, in this episode, we interact with Ritesh Rajan, Deputy Vice President - Design at Edelweiss Financial Services Limited. He has over a decade of experience in User Experience Design, Design Strategy, Research, and Project Management. Let's know more about his journey and experiences in the latest episode of the "Avantika Designeering Series Podcast", "The Equity of Empathy." You can connect with Ritesh on Twitter @_riteshrajan. Don't forget to subscribe to our show and share your comments on

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The automotive industry has witnessed numerous changes over the past few decades. Simultaneously, with the evolving customer expectations and new trends, designers are trying to create unique and emotionally inclusive experiences. But to achieve this goal, they need to overcome challenges like safety, utility, accessibility, and the impact that a product has on the user. How can designers step up to these challenges and positively impact the minds of the users? To know more about this theme, in this episode, we interact with Pratap Bose, Vice President of Global Design at Tata Motors. With over two decades of global experience across various cultures, he has developed a unique understanding of diverse business cultures. Let's know more about his journey and experiences in the latest episode of the "Avantika Designeering Series" podcast, "Gearing Automotive Industry." You can connect with Pratap on Twitter @BosePratap. Don't forget to subscribe to our show and share your comments on [email protected]

Branding is one of the most important aspects of a company as it makes the brand memorable and reliable for the consumers. It builds familiarity with a brand by providing impactful and consistent brand experiences to its customers. To achieve this goal, designers must learn impactful branding practices. But how can designers adopt such impactful brand practices to engage with the maximum number of their customers? To seek answers for such queries, in the 43rd episode, we interact with Jose Barrera, Head of Brand Design, Jio. He recently launched the Jio BrandLab, where his team is developing the platform for Jio's biggest brands. Let's know more about his journey and experiences in the latest episode of the "Avantika Designeering Series" podcast, "Branding Digital Life." You can connect with Jose on LinkedIn. Don't forget to subscribe to our show and share your comments on [email protected]

Emotional design is a way of evoking positive emotions in the users and providing a great user experience. How these emotions take shape, depends on factors like aesthetics, usability, emotional connect, user interaction, etc. User interaction helps in understanding the user diversity and their needs, working on which designers can provide immersive experiences. But how can designers use emotional design to articulate positive emotions among the users and provide immersive experiences?To answer these questions, in this episode, we interact with Lara Mendonça, Head of Product Design at Bumble. With her passion for inclusive and dynamic design, she has been building inclusive and diverse teams and empowering them in designing successful products. She is an expert in design direction and strategy, design operations, mentorship and growth, communication and leadership, and a lot more. Let’s know more about her journey and experiences in the special episode of “Avantika Designeering Series” podcast. You can connect with Lara on Twitter @laraisuncool. Don’t forget to subscribe to our show and share your comments on [email protected]

To have an inclusive design mindset, one needs to understand user diversity. And for that, having a communication channel with the users is a must. It helps understand what the users need and how they perceive a product. It also helps build on the operability of a product and make it more accessible. But how can designers build an inclusive design mindset to increase the reach of their products? To know more about this theme, in this episode, we interact with Ujjwal Varma Pinnamaraju, Head Of Design, OnePlus India. He holds expertise in user experience design, interaction design, usability, user interface design, and product design. Let's know more about his journey and experiences in the latest episode of the "Avantika Designeering Series" podcast, "The Secret Spell of Design". You can connect with Ujjwal on Twitter @ujjwalvarma. Don't forget to subscribe to our show and share your comments on [email protected]

Design thinking can be used to find innovative solutions to the various problems in an organization. When used in the context of organizational culture, it can yield innovative and efficient outcomes. A culture purposefully built on design thinking principles can improve the productivity of an organization and open up various innovation opportunities. But how can the cultural designer use design thinking to enhance the efficiency of an organization?To understand the concept of design thinking and the importance of culture in an organization, in this episode, we interact with Parameswaran Venkataraman, Chief Design Officer at Fractal Analytics. He has over two decades of experience in design and leadership roles in various companies like IDEO, Dr. Reddy’s, Kantar and more. Let's know more about his journey and experiences in the latest episode of the "Avantika Designeering Series" podcast, “Unveiling Culture Design”. You can connect with Parameswaran on LinkedIn. Don't forget to subscribe to our show and share your comments on ads@avantika

In this day and age, to meet the user's endlessly evolving needs, innovation is a necessity, and a major driving force for that is creative thinking. Creative thinking aids a person’s problem-solving abilities by analyzing problems from fresh perspectives and synthesizing practical solutions. And when unorthodox ideas start flowing through creative thinking, that is when innovation strikes. However, these are never a constant stream of ideas as for most people, they are followed by something called a creative block. But how can designeers cultivate creative thinking and deal with issues like a creative block to boost their problem-solving abilities and reach better and innovative solutions?For getting the answers to all such questions, in this episode, we interact with Prabhat Mahapatra, Design Manager at Adobe Design Lab. With professional experience of around two decades in the design industry, he holds his expertise in creative thinking, product, graphics, and space design. Let's know more about his journey and experiences in the latest episode of the "Avantika Designeering Series" podcast, “The Cloud of Creative Thinking”. You can connect with Prabhat on LinkedIn. Don't forget to subscribe to our show and share your comments on [email protected]

The rise of technology, digital services, and social networks has led to increased customer expectations. Customers are demanding personalized services throughout all industries – particularly banking and finance. From shopping online to online banking, customers have been presented with the opportunity to get what they want and when they want conveniently. Simultaneously, e-commerce, personalization, and new ways of communicating with customers have led to tremendous benefits for customers.To understand the effect of digital transformation on customers more thoroughly, in this episode, we get into a conversation with Swamy Seetharaman, Head of Technology at CRED. With professional experience of around three decades in several multinational companies, Swamy holds his expertise in domains like technology transformations, product strategy, and building organizations. Let's know more about his journey and experiences in the latest episode of "Avantika Designeering Series", “Symphonizing Technology for Customers”. You can connect with Swamy on LinkedIn. Don't forget to subscribe to our show and share your comments on [email protected]

The world is changing at an incredibly fast pace, and there are new challenges we must face every day. Having a “learning mindset” has never been more important than now. Since failure is such an inevitable and essential part of the design, it is important to be surrounded by people who can not only accept but also embrace failure. And one way to do this is to cultivate a learning mindset, both among team members as well as the organization as a whole.In this episode, we interact with Deepak Menon, Partner Director at Microsoft. He has lead Product Experience across all Products at Microsoft India R&D. This includes all of Office on Android, Visio, Visual Studio, Bing.com, Cortana, Azure Services, and Kaizala with over two decades of professional experience. Let's know more about his journey and experiences in the latest episode of "Avantika Designeering Series", “The Window of Design”. You can connect with Deepak on LinkedIn. Don't forget to subscribe to our show and share your comments on [email protected]