Interview with Vishal Jadhav

As a design thinker, I believe strategic design can transform brands, businesses, & society in a unique way. A well inform design can touch the subtler dimensions like ease of use, users comfort, accessibility, aesthetics, desirability and so on. I like to see that our designs not only empowering the users but also adding value to the businesses and society.

Everyone is a designer I believe, only few are fortunate enough to find the right expression and medium to translate it into tangible. Since from childhood I liked scribbling, drawing, making and breaking. But that was for my own joy. When are started using these skills for others with intention to help them somehow, that made me a designer and later design entrepreneur when I started my design studio.

I have a deep passion for crafting exceptional user experiences in the realm of digital products. As a dedicated designer, I actively engage in design research, devising innovative strategies, and providing consultative support to our clients. My goal is to assist them in solving their unique challenges through a combination of strategic design thinking and meticulous execution.

While my primary focus lies in user experience design, I also seize opportunities to explore other creative avenues. I find immense satisfaction in delving into the realms of Brand Identity Design, Spatial Design, and Ideation for Physical Products. By broadening my creative horizons, I can satisfy my innate thirst for imaginative exploration and contribute diverse perspectives to my work.

Well, everyone is unique. Every designer, be it junior or senior, well known or unknown, practicing in any discipline must be very open to listen and observe. Learn from the other disciplines in addition to what they are already doing. Master the communication & presentation skills. Importantly they should develop some business accumen that will help them to align their solutions for businesses. Nowadays, it has become extremely important to consider sustainability aspect while designing solutions.

From good to great is a journey, its a continuous process and not the destination. Continuously learning, upgrading and adopting to the change is must. Designer's sensibility and their ability to empathise are their greatest strength that needs to preserved and nourished. And of course, make technology & AI as their companion to work with.

The primary objective of any design is to fulfil its core purpose for the users it serves. However, a truly exceptional design goes beyond functionality, skilfully balancing a multitude of other aspects such as level of detail, creativity, efficiency, effectiveness, usability, aesthetics, and emotional connection. In today's world, where environmental concerns loom large, the integration of sustainable design solutions has become imperative for designers and creators alike. By prioritising sustainability, we can ensure that our designs not only meet user needs but also contribute to a more environmentally conscious future. I think all these combining at best possible extent makes design good design.

Good design adds value in businesses as well as in user's life. On the business side it helps company's to reduce cost, increase revenue & profits, improve engagement, customer satisfaction, customer retention, enable innovation, scale fast and so on.
Research has already proven that companies who invest in good design got multiple times more return than the companies who don't.

Solutions for solving physical, mental health, education problems for underprivileged people.

Training and teaching design.

Empathy, Curiosity, Sensibility & Focus

Steve Jobs, John Maeda and few designers from India as well.

Musician or must chosen any art form

Blessings, best wishes from the people around, guidance from mentors, opportunities offered to me and some efforts I took in that direction.

Prismic Reflections® - an award-winningUser Experience Design studiospecialised in solving business challenges through strategic designs.

In a journey of more than two decades, we have collaborated with start-ups as well as established enterprises in tackling challenges likeMVP launch, enhancing User Engagement, Adoption, Conversions, Retention&User SatisfactionthroughStrategic UX design.

For me, design is not just a profession but a mindset—a sophisticated method of problem-solving and communication that beautifully connects people.

My true passion lies in collaborating with businesses and individuals to explore their big visions. I like immerse myself in research, discovery and strategy to craft design solutions that elegantly solve complex problems. Throughout my career, I have successfully undertaken projects ranging from B2B and B2C applications to enterprise-level initiatives, encompassing UX research, architecture, visual design, branding, and strategic planning, catering to companies of all sizes.

I enjoyed working on building experiences for digital products of healthtech, fintech and companies in other sectors. Apart from UX projects I also love working on Branding projects to craft bespoke identities, define their visual language etc

I remember, first time I worked on 3D project for a company working in card stack parking. I handled modeling and animation to show how multiple cars can be parked in limited space.
Then I worked on one graphic design project for US based company, it was 20 years back then.

I love to sketch with pencil and paper primarily, followed by drawing tool on my i-pad, figma for UI design tool and different frameworks like design thinking, design sprint, human-centered design etc.

There is no fix and specific time slot, but very early morning or little late night I think I can produce much better with focused approach

In UX I primarily focus on core business goal, user needs & their (user's) aspiration. All my strategic and tactile decision comes from that space.

Its hard to seperate myself from the work I do when I am totally into it. There is no feeling of I there. Work is me and me is work. Yes after completing the work, I feel good. There are times when I fall short on my own expectations when I complete something.

It feels great!

Design is always created for targeted users/user groups. So entire success of design depends of the upto what extent it serves that purpose. Other part of success is linked to business who is initiating and investing in it.
As a designer, we also need to factor in the social impact while we are designing.

I think good design covers all the above points which I broadly mentioned in "Successful design"
In addition to it, fundamentals of design is critical in any design piece.

As a designer, we should be aware of potential negative impact that our designs might create. Making users more aware and conscious about their choices when they interact, following sustainable design practices, advocating circular economy and such aspects needs designer's involvement.

Its changing and evolving rapidly. Designers have more responsibility and more powers with new tools. Design is broadening & encapsulating more. Design should serve well being of the planet as a whole now and not just stay limited to needs of business or some individuals or group.

Inspiration always come from nature and circumstance or situation I face. Deep and careful observation, meditation, reading books feeds my creativity.

Minimal - I love the most. However, it depends on project demand, client's need and user's emotional need. As a designer we should be versatile enough to work with and on any style.

I am from Bharat i.e. India. We have a rich cultural heritage. It's so diverse hence difficult to meet the design needs for every culture, hence challenging. But its fun as well.

As a studio we work under various engagement model like retainer, time & material, fixed price etc

Companies must put some effort and have patience to grasp the design process. Of course, everything is moving rapidly but good things take some reasonable time. Also, not every design decision will have logic, allow some time and space for creative magic.

Selecting a good designer depends on the needs of company. But those who are good at their foundation, have a strong (even limited) portfolio and some soft skills is good to consider.

In simple steps - Discover, define, strategise, design, validate, launch and evolve.

My macbook, i-pad, my pencil sketches

As a design entrepreneur, Its more strategic than tactical now. Filled with lot of variety of responsibilities in developing client relationship, building team, focusing on culture and RnD.

Be smart but don't skip deep work mode. Dont miss the fundamentals & foundation in design.
Be a good creator as well as good curator.

Chase of perfection can kill your happiness and satisfaction. However, it should not be an excuse to chase the excellence.

I dont think I have figured it out yet. There are many mantras :-)

Critical thinking, balancing logic and magic in design, problem solving, analytical thinking, business empathy, selling & negotiation.

Pencil, Paper, i-Pad, Macbook, Figma, chatGPT, Excel sheet, Spiritual, self discovery books, design books etc

Plan it well. Sometime its ok to go off the track.

Strategic thinking in UX UI, Branding projects, art direction.

Expanding our design studio, adding more design disciplines & services, spreading the design knowledge.

We work as a team

Through my linkedin profile given below
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishal-jadhav-29b19823/