Design thinking needs to challenge conventional thought process. That’s when innovation happens

Before, the outset of book buying and delivering companies like Flipkart or Amazon in India, the whole book purchasing experience was mostly going to the bookstore, browsing the books and then buying what you like with limited options of payment like cash or occasionally card payments. Chances were you won’t even find a book you really have your heart set on because bookstores have a limited capacity of stock holding. User experience to the rescue- Consequently, Amazon has overturned the very idea of book buying and delivery solutions from across the world to your doorsteps. Today Amazon dominates the online shopping industry. As Brian Reed says, ‘everything is designed. Few things are designed well.’   Amazon is all about delivering a premium user experience by keeping the customers’ needs as the foundation.   Amazon operates through websites, mobile apps, m-sites and what not. Amazon promises each customer a personalized shopping experience, a wide range of...

Have you noticed how the tea kettle is designed? Why is it designed differently from other pots that hold liquids like water? It is because the tea kettle holds boiling hot liquid which needs to retain that temperature till it gets consumed.  It also needs to serve the purpose of pouring the hot tea into small cups, without it getting cold while doing so. Hence the kettle is designed with a handle to lift the hot pot. A spout is incorporated so that the liquid can be carefully poured into the small cups with ease while retaining the required temperature. Now imagine using the regular water pot for storing and serving tea. You will probably end up burning your fingers; mess up the place while pouring tea and it will most likely be served cold! Human mind is capable of imagining far more sophisticated solutions to problems when we are faced with constraints. The kettle demonstrates that someone successfully overcame the problem of handling hot tea and could elegantly serve it...