Specialised in digital transformation with an over 18 years of experience in various fields such as Product design & User Experience, Nitin has built robust monetizable products for the biggest Internet companies in India

The most important aspect for any digital platform business is getting UI & UX for the mobile right. The success gets defined by good conversion & customer retention rates. Empathy with customers drives major business and product decisions these days. As a thumb rule, always put data, research & design thinking behind your marketing campaigns. Brands should be committed to deliver the services, which they promise the users at the time of booking. Consumer-loved brands continue to make a user-focused product and content strategy in the place now by investing in UX in the present context. Getting discovered, delighting your customers and earning the conversion is the right sequence for winning a market share. Currently, we have about 350 million active smartphone users in India making us one of the biggest markets.

We all would agree that the dynamics of India is very different from the rest of the world. Majorities of the Indian rural population are not well versed in English and are most comfortable in their respective regional language. Many leading brands have already understood that in order to capture a greater audience, they need to focus on regional communication. UI/UX here plays a critical role in making things intuitive and simple for consumers. Close to 60 percent of the urban population access content in regional language vis-a-vis English. According to the studies, regional language consumption is four times that of the English language. There fore, regional communication plays a pivotal role in digital space. Till a few years back, there was no supporting infrastructure such as compatible software and data connectivity for the growth of regional communication. But today, the regional communication is redefined with the rapidly advancing technology. Designing the right offering for targeted consumers becomes essential and needs to start at stage zero in this digital-first era. The multi-lingual play can’t be rolled-out successfully without great user experience. The primary goal of any business is to increase its sales and fetch the growth of the business. Design plays an essential role in achieving this goal. So, invest in UX at all stages.

People buy from the brands they trust. Establishing trust through various digital channels is another vital concern. One needs to understand that the internet is a channel, not a tool, although many marketers will define it as such. As a channel, it offers a broad choice of tools to help you market yourself, but to be successful one needs to build genuine relationships with the consumers and trust is an essential factor to support you in this quest. The key elements that should be remembered are the rule of the four Cs: Commitment, Competence, Communication and Consideration. In the designer’s rule book, it is written in big bold as the first statement: ‘You don’t control the customer. But you do control the experience’.

Users knowledge is advancing all the time. Digital user experience and design are changing customer expectations and enabling them to be more inclined to rich, interactive, fast and engaging digital experiences

Market segment and consumer persona are two very important aspects, while crafting experiences. Brand positioning and user journey are another critical angle, which need to be considered at the time of finalising UI & UX. Today, consumers expect brands to be transparent about how they use their data through giveaways, rewards, and customer service. Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning are improving the overall service experience, and helping brands get closer to the customer and maintain trust. Eliminating ambiguity is the key to the success of a good UI, especially in inexpensive/cheaper mobile devices. Simple yet elegant platforms are a must have to penetrate into the market.

One piece of advice here, don’t treat your customers like transactions. Great companies are built only with deeper customer empathy. User interface and user experience are the two complementary sides of the same coin. One can help retain the customer for a long time and second can fetch a greater ROI. UI helps solve for performance and information issues, on the other hand, UX strives to give your brand an edge over the competition in the crowded landscape. One key thing to note is that users have a lot of choices and alternatives for similar product and services. Smooth user experience & design help to strengthen the overall customer satisfaction further fuelling to win the consumers. Companies are winning markets in all segments with the help of the right product mix and reaching their targeted users with personalised and contextual user experience. The number of unicorns in consumer-faced digital platforms is the true testimony for this.

Users knowledge is advancing all the time. Digital user experience and design are changing customer expectations and enabling them to be more inclined to rich, interactive, fast and engaging digital experiences. As user’s perception & expectation becomes critical, average applications can no longer act as a makeshift. Digital user experience always has to come first. Completing the story and highlighting the key proposition is what can be achieved by a good UX. By 2020, there is close to 100 billion dollars of spends on digital in India. Potential customers no longer follow a linear journey. Improvise and tweak your UI & UX based on the insights. The biggest brands of the world leverage data-driven customer innovation to stay ahead of the disruption curve. Understanding who your customers are and identifying the best channels to reach them, is the foundation layer to establish a good UX culture for your company. Latest technologies and digital strategies are revolutionising global consumer behaviours. My journey has made my belief stronger,‘Why to think small when the world can be your canvas? Let’s craft for the world, right here in India.