Ep. 325 - The secret to designing for India’s plurality with Amit Das

SummaryAmit Das, SVP of design at Urban Company, has spent years understanding how Indians actually live with their appliances. In this episode, he breaks down what designing for India's plurality really means, from durability and shared usage to what premium looks like across different households. He also challenges the popular idea of smart living and makes a case for convenience over complexity.About the guestSVP of design and native products at Urban Company, Amit Das is a software and hardware designer, blogger and hobby artist. He has previously worked at Housing.com, FusionCharts and Fab.com, and has co-founded two startups.Who should listen* Product and industrial designers who want to understand what designing for India’s real and diverse user base actually looks like on the ground.* Founders and product teams building consumer hardware or home appliances for the Indian market.* Anyone curious about how culture, affordability and everyday behaviour shape the products we live with.* Design students and early career professionals looking for honest, practical perspective on what the field demands beyond aesthetics and trends.Topics discussed in the episode* Rapid fire round: one appliance Indians buy more for hope than utility, buttons or dials, one everyday object that teaches good design, one button you would delete, your favourite industrial product and why, which product has the most emotional value, should products behave like tools or companions, the most over designed product in Indian homes, and manuals or no manuals?* You write about designing for moments rather than steps. How do you see household appliances in daily lives, and does this philosophy apply to digital products too?* India has many Indias. What are the most defining differences you observe in how people use products across different economic and social contexts?* What framework does Urban Company use to understand these diverse user dynamics, and how do you conduct ground level research including in home visits and shadowing?* Why did Urban Company venture into building native hardware products like RO water purifiers, and what was the origin story behind that decision?* How do different Indias define premiumness, and what does premium actually mean across social strata, geographies and product categories?* How should designers think about CMF for durable appliances that sit in a home for many years, compared to trend driven shorter shelf life products?* What does smart living actually mean for Indian homes, and why does the current definition of smartness often increase cognitive load rather than solve for convenience?* How do you balance aspiration versus affordability at scale, and what are the hardest trade offs between design aspiration, cost, reliability and repairability?* How did you transition from digital to hardware design, and what skills, mindsets and experiences should young designers build if they want to get into industrial design?Reference links* https://www.linkedin.com/in/dasamit88/* https://www.godgeez.com/about* https://www.instagram.com/godgeez/* https://medium.com/uc-design/amit-das-633fb92042e0* https://medium.com/@godgeez* How to Become a Senior UI/UX Designer? | The Ultimate Career Framework by Urban Company’s Design SVP* https://www.quora.com/profile/Amit-Das-5* https://x.com/Godgeez* https://www.instagram.com/urbancompany/* https://www.urbancompany.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com