Bangalore is a vibrant city that is referenced as the Silicon Valley of India because it is the major IT hub of India. It is the capital of Karnataka state, in south India. I was able to interview three designers working from the Bangalore SAP office: Monisha is a UX designer for the industry cloud, Krishnan is a UX designer for digital supply chain, and Nivedita is a UX designer on the SAP Cloud Platform team.
A Passion for Improving Life
Monisha, Krishnan, and Nivedita found that their curiosity and desire to improve life for others guided them to become designers. Krishnan shared that it started out as a process of helping his mom write documents and emails faster on the computer. “I realized this is actually quite interesting. It’s ultimately you help people do their daily activities a little better, a little faster so that we can do something else. Design is both actively gaining knowledge but also applying it to create user experiences that enhance people’s work or daily lives.”
A Day in the Life at SAP Bangalore
All three designers mentioned that their day started off by grabbing coffee with their co-workers and team and discussing their different projects. From there, Krishnan shares that “sometimes you have a lot of work. Sometimes it’s kind of a relaxed, so in that time you try to do a little bit of research on what’s going on, outside and inside, because our world is ultimately the SAP Fiori world.” There is no real standardized work day, but rather they adapt their day to their deadlines and what must be accomplished.
Collaboration is Key
With that in mind, collaboration becomes even more important to their job and to helping them solve problems. Krishnan points out that “One of the best things about a team is the fact that it’s not just about work. We sit and talk a lot, mostly about design and SAP Fiori, which helps us to learn a lot faster. Designers cannot work in silos”, Krishnan states. “I’ve done that before I joined SAP. And it’s very difficult to learn when you’re just looking at your own design and there’s nobody to tell you what is wrong, and what is right. It doesn’t allow you to grow at all.” Designing is something that evolves and improves through the input and feedback from customers and other designers that bring in different perspectives.
Intuitiveness is Inspiration
The designers mentioned that a good user experience is focused on empowering the user. It is making the product intuitive for the user and ensures that their tasks are completed easier. This is accomplished though making the product as user friendly as possible, so that people do not need to be told what to do or how to complete a task. A great design is if the product or application can easily guide the individual. Like WhatsApp guides Nivedita’s parents to easily share photos and text her. “I do not need to show them how the app worked because it is intuitive. Each button and icon is clearly labeled,” she explains.
Let’s Get Social
The Bangalore office is not only a social place during work hours but holds other social events. “Each and every festival is celebrated,” says Nivedita. Diwali has just passed recently, and the entire office was decorated with lights and colors. People dressed up in their traditional outfits to work to celebrate the festival. Due to these fun activities, others have recognized SAP for its great office culture. Monisha told me with pride that “This year, SAP has been awarded being the best company to work for in India.” She adds that “We party, so that’s where you kind of mix with the people, you see, go visit them and meet and talk over drinks.” The culture in the Bangalore office is all about having fun, while getting work done.
A huge thank you to Monisha, Krishnan and Nivedita for all your help.
