When the product is an innovation, it’s difficult to figure out monetization. “Product market pricing fit” is an outside-in process and requires the participation of everyone including the designers to determine the right price of a digital product. This article looks at some key considerations and approaches to keep in mind for creators involved in pricing discussions of a software product.
Trust the design and the designers
Before we move any further, let's look at the key people in a typical company in the pricing discussions. It may be marketing, product, R&D, finance, operations, sales, and engineering. Marketing can help with the positioning, messaging, and measuring the success of it in the market. Product and R&D understand the product, its roadmap, leads its build but may only focus on product features and innovation instead of value. Finance folks are data-driven and analytical but might tend to take a cost centric approach of costs and margins, instead of a value-based approach. Operations and engineering are data, technology, and…
It is easy to say there is not much design centricity in the financial industry. Experience design cannot be taken lightly now that financial customers expect to conduct all their business online. The right design can help make billions for a large financial institution.
A digital revolution is taking place across all industries, including the financial industry. Banks are closing many branches and becoming online. Society is becoming more cashless. COVID-19 may accelerate this movement where the digital device is the new banker.
Working for a bank
Employees have a job to solve customer’s problems. Bank employees experience frustration daily when working with outdated banking back-office systems. If the bank’s digital product is full of problems, banks lose money, clients, and reputation. Banks realize this and invest heavily in creating good customer experiences. Opportunities for designers and product managers in the banking industry has increased in recent years,
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Adopt some of these design tools, improve your work environment and process to increase overall efficiency.
Design tools worth consideration:
Find the right UX method
Design Research Technique is a huge repository of design techniques for every project stage. 18F Method Cards has a collection of tools to use in a design project. Each card presents the what and why of the method, how to use it etc. This is an open source project you can contribute on Github. There are more like Medialabamsterdam with a toolkit of methods, IDEO design kit, Servicedesign tools, Hyper Island toolbox, UX Process, and Gamestorming that has several games/tools for co-creation sessions.
User testing and recruiting
Usertesting.com is the most used at present but…
A glimpse into the past, present, and the future. Fintech is a huge opportunity to consider if you are still deciding where to put your skills or money.
2008: Pecuniary amelioration
The fintech revolution began in the last decade around the 2008 financial crisis with companies like Affirm, Credit Karma, Betterment, Kickstarter, Avant, Kabbage, Square, Stripe, Venmo, etc. Recession, in general, is a good time to create startups. Whatsapp, Groupon, Instagram, Uber, Pinterest, Slack, GV, Cloudera were all founded between 2008 -2010 timeframes.
Fintech startups came with new ideas to solve existing problems, took risks, filled the vacuum of innovation in banks, and created products that had far superior customer experience than traditional banks. The pervasiveness of cell phones accelerated this growth in the years to come. …
Life is all about relationships. Relationships are created to fulfill a need. Business, physical, emotional, social, financial, political, etc. We have to relate to ourselves, our family, boss, co-workers, to our own expectations, shortcomings, and our success. As we grow up, they somehow become a burden and cause of unhappiness
As kids only something external made us unhappy, however, as grownups we are always seeking something external to make us happy. The key to a happy relationship is using knowledge and awareness to manage our own minds and broaden our vision.
Nothing is perfect
A relationship is at a basic level a mere understanding between people. We mistake these understandings as perfect when there is nothing called a perfect understanding in this world. It is ever-changing just like our mind and needs constant attention every day.
In any relationship, start with an understanding that sometimes we may be wrong than the other person…
And sometimes it’s classic blue and more than a color.
2020’s Color of the Year was not out of the blue
The start of the new decade marked with — Pantone 19–4052 classic blue. It’s no coincidence that 10 years ago in 2000, Pantone named another shade of blue- Cerulean blue as its color of the year. Perhaps Pantone decided to start a new decade with another “blue-brother.”
This article examines this year’s color and the vibes it’s giving off, the trend so far, and looks ahead towards the 2021 Color of the Year.
Why should we care?
Many color companies declare the color of the year, every year. The bigger question is how does it matter and why should we care? How can a…
Humans have come to believe that we are the center of the universe and universe exists to serve us. We are in fact all temporary residents in a permanent place and have a responsibility towards the future of this planet. We always will want more and expand our needs, but the earth does not produce enough for our greed. We have always been in pursuit of human happiness for thousands of years and the world is still not a happy place. We need to plan along the contours of life, that manages our needs and desires, start from within, and impact the world around us.
Might over right
The system we have created around us values size, power, possession, and brute force over compassion, humanness, and sharing. This is a system that recognizes our worth by what we have and not by who we are as a person. The policymakers and administrators of our countries tend to look outwards to other nations to compete and assess us. It creates an unhealthy race to nowhere and mutual destruction. Compassion, humanity, and inclusion, and ultimately nature are calamities in such environments. Change ultimately needs to come from the bottom of this pyramid because views and narratives are created within the…
Vegan cafes, meatless meals, and healthy organic foods are trendy these days. Awareness is growing around issues like organic farming, side effects of modern medicine, climate change, healthy living, animal welfare, moral issues of eating meat, industrial agriculture, and pollution.
Many unhealthy eating behaviors are a direct result of advertising, which fosters a false desire to keep up with others or to achieve supermodel ideals. A tribal mentality to follow the illusionary standards promoted by profit-seeking corporations has created misunderstanding and bad judgment towards healthy eating.
According to Ayurveda — a 5000-year-old health protocol from India — the digestive system…
It is said that our quality of sleep defines our health. Sleep is not needed just to relax our body, but also our emotions and mind find balance through sleep. Making some simple lifestyle changes and sleep hygiene can go a long way in improving our overall health.
Why is it important?
During sleep, our mind, body, and life energies rest, reset, detoxify, and rejuvenate to keep us healthy. We go through a subconscious state during sleep that is important for physiological and cognitive functioning. Our dream sequences help us heal stress and anxiety by processing stored emotions and memories. Sleep deprivation can cause a degradation of our immune system, increased cancer growth, and cognitive impairment.
Oversleeping can be as harmful as sleep deprivation. It is seen as a sign of serious health issues and causes muscle degeneration. …
Everyone is beautiful in his or her own way. Beauty cannot be obtained through a facial cleanser but via balancing the whole body, improving digestion, optimizing energy, and diagnosing the nature of one’s being dosha. True beauty comes from taking care of our health and hygiene, and understanding that we are an invaluable manifestation of life’s energy. Beauty has many parts. It is the outer beauty that is a healthy body, the inner beauty that is a warm and pleasing personality, and innocence of mind and heart.
Outer Beauty
Outer beauty is simply a reflection of good health that comes from good digestion, healthy eating habits, and lifestyle. Our busy modern lifestyle, which is so deadline-oriented, makes it difficult to have healthy eating habits.
What we eat and digest is very important for maintaining our health. It is recommended to eat the largest meal at lunch when the digestion is the strongest. Eat only half the appetite. Twenty-five percent should be water and the remaining air. Be quiet while eating, focusing on the process of eating without being distracted by TV or other work-related activity. Avoid drinking cold water…
Himanshu Bharadwaj
Digital Creative Director, UX Strategy + Experience Design. Product Innovation and Design Thinking Expert. NY | CT. http://epitomecreative.com
