Design for the "Indian" user
Indian users are selfish, lazy and status hungry. So how do you design for this archetype?
Hey You,
Today’s edition dives into a few insights that we’ve had at Lights Out, while designing for the complex Indian user.
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Today’s edition is extra special. I recently hosted a “Designers Round Table” with 2 of India’s top design heads. Shreeya Malpani (Head of Design, Cult); Srinath Rangmani (Head of Design, Swiggy) and Munz TDT (ex. Head of Brand & Design, Dunzo). This episode is already blowing up on Youtube & Spotify.
It’s for the FIRST TIME that the 3 of them (who’ve known each other for a while), came together along with Adil and me, to talk about their insights & learnings over the years. If you know of ANY designer / PM / Founder or someone who’s remotely interested in building a product in India, this episode is a beautiful reminder of how nuanced the Indian consumer is. Give it a go.
And today’s edition, is a crisp one, where we harp on the learnings that Adil and I have had, as a design studio, building for the Indian market.
Lets dive in.
Over time, we've learned some powerful lessons over the years that have completely transformed how we approach building products. I wanted to share a few of these insights with you today:
1. Indian users are selfish, lazy and status hungry
While starting out to build any product, we’ve usually seen product teams make the mistake of building products that cater to their own preferences and behaviours. Whereas in reality, the average Indian consumer is vastly different - they are:
Time-starved (even though we value our own time very less, as opposed to the west, we’re still extremely time starved, because we have multiple options. Zepto nahi chala toh Swiggy check karo)
status-conscious (if your product can make me look intelligent, I’m going to be a lot more loyal towards you)
only care about products that deliver clear, immediate benefits.
Designing the full experience, from marketing to onboarding, with this user archetype in mind has been game-changing across all the products that we’ve designed.
Every time we’ve designed for a user who can flaunt his status in front of his peers, he has stuck around. Status can be achieved through multiple ways within the product. Some of them are:
i) Personalised discounts, that are clearly communicated
ii) Exclusive access / benefits
iii) UX copy that clearly communicates the good, bad and ugly (I’m more likely to talk about a product that I understand more than products that have ambiguity)
2. In addition, tailor your strategy for each channel.
Most product teams take a one-size-fits-all approach to their marketing and growth strategies across channels. But you would soon realise that what works on Instagram rarely translates to, say, Amazon. The mindset, behaviours and expectations of users on each platform can be vastly different. It’s ideal to ruthlessly customise your positioning, content, and tactics for each channel - it takes more work upfront, but pays huge dividends.
3. Optimise for the "second time user"
Most product teams are laser-focused on just acquiring that first customer. All user flows are wired to convert that first customer, somehow through the hooks & nudges. But everyone soon realises that true success comes from turning that first-time buyer into a loyal, repeat customer.
So now everytime we design a product, we obsess over the post-purchase experience - making returns, cancellations and order tracking seamless.
It's this "second customer" that really determines the long-term health of the business.
4. Use "show, don't tell" for alignment
When presenting our product vision to stakeholders, I used to rely heavily on long-winded presentations and feature lists. But I found that this often left people confused and uninspired. Now I create detailed, interactive walkthroughs that let people experience the end-to-end user journey. This helps us all align on the big picture and uncover hidden challenges upfront.
So if you’re a PM, just prototype as much as you can while presenting something innovative. Target the metrics that this new product change is going to move and you’ll see a lot more alignment.
5. Multiple Roadmaps
When it comes to roadmapping, I no longer just present a single path forward. Instead, I explore 3 distinctly different options - this makes it easier for leadership teams to understand the tradeoffs, and gives me a chance to consider truly novel approaches rather than playing it safe.
Well, that’s it for today. Another interesting edition coming your way next week. Until then,
Gratitude,
Sak