Graduate / How an iPhone told me a story - Engg Mgmt SOP [5]

I don't remember how I felt the first time I walked into a candy store. Though I am sure it wouldn't have felt too different from the first time I stepped into an Apple Store. It had opened near my college, following Apple's official foray into India. I was awestruck. On the iPhone, every tap felt special. Fluid transitions underscored every interaction. I was handling it for the first time and there was no learning curve - very unlike gadgets of that era. Each icon was truly representative of its mission, each button a part of the experience. Yet, the lingering aftertaste were not of the experience; that's a term thrown around loosely. It were instead, of a product that was a story in itself. "An iPod. A phone. And an internet communicator." : Apple didn't need more words to convey the idea. Like any good story, the iPhone was easy to understand. Unlike a good story, such a product is difficult to craft.

In a world whose greatest innovations become old news overnight, it is imperative that a new product not only be technologically superior, but a story per se. Few companies' products tell one, and even the best may stumble. Since phones became larger and laptops slimmer, Apple is having a hard time convincing people to buy tablets. The narrative around smartwatches has not been too persuasive either: it emphasizes easy access to your notifications. This is a use case, not a story. I still don't know why it's better to have easy access to my notifications.

To label storytelling as a marketing tool is missing the whole point; the process begins when a new product is conceived. Story-centered design follows the user from an initial trigger all the way through completing the goal. It influences each micro-level interaction which in turn become the big picture shown to consumers. In the summer of 2011, when I interned at HP along with 5 other people, this strategy proved beneficial in improving HP's customer service application. The application wasn't very user friendly to begin with, and often buckled under the weight of increased queries. Analysing each interaction at the granular level further exposed its shortcomings. I took charge of reworking its interaction design. I wasn't very adept with the subject, but this where the system felt most lacking. Some of my learning happened online, most took place when I ran into a wall with a design problem and brainstormed the solution with fellow interns- not all of whom had experience in design. Tools like Balsamiq and Sketch helped me wireframe and prototype my designs, which I then coded using HTML and CSS. Other members worked to improve the database, architecture and integration. Our team work resulted in HP incorporating some elements of our solution in theirs. Apart from learning interaction design, I understood how people with diverse skill-sets encourage cross-pollination of ideas, resulting in elegant solutions to complex problems.

After completing my undergraduate degree in Computer Science in the summer of 2012, I joined Medinfra - my family's newly founded healthcare consultancy. As in any startup, many processes were being put into place. One of them required a bespoke customer relationship management system. I drew upon my lessons in story-centered design while performing user research, analyzing requirements, and creating wireframes. My work was appreciated and I was asked to lead the development of the product. The experience I had gained at HP proved very useful as I led a team of talented, diverse individuals to build another successful system. I evangelized my team with my vision of the product by simulating how users would interact with it. It helped pare away all that was superfluous and communicate just the essence. And it worked. It wasn't immediately evident, but 10 months after rejecting the first prototype, we had on our hands a scalable, multi-tenant, metadata system. It immediately reduced the customer onboarding time by 50% and incident turnaround time by 30%. My first brush with corporate leadership taught me that the single most important way to create an impactful product is through a team which is both aligned with the core mission, and motivated to stick with it. Spirits may flag during failed launches, when it becomes imperative to reinstate that the company's fortunes are hinged upon their diligence.

After delivering the desired CRM system at Medinfra, I moved on to HCL Technologies. I joined HCL as a Quality Analyst to work on projects of a bigger scale. My experience here gave me exactly what I was looking for: increased technical skills, a broader knowledge of product-market fit, deep insight into quality-assurance models, and a voice in planning and strategizing new software releases. I also led the deployment of a bug tracking tool which streamlined our processes and reduced human error by upto 20%. To initially convince the management of its merits, I prepared simulations of our transactions, before and after the tool's installation. It was a story molded for the boardroom, and they liked it. I also worked with subject matter experts and product managers. With the depth of their expertise, it was easy to see why they were responsible for shepherding the company's cause. To lead the really impactful projects - the ones that chart a company's future - I need an education to learn what it entails.

At Medinfra, a better understanding of the business impact of making software decisions would have added more value to my role. On other occasions, knowing how to critically assess the implications of technology in a corporate context would have been advantageous. To fulfill these goals, I intend to pursue a Master's in Engineering Management.

The case-based pedagogy at Duke's MEM program is a big draw for me. Studying a few myself, I have learnt a lot about organizational behaviour and team-building. Cases are remarkable; they present an unbiased story of how people strive to bring about change. Whether people succeed in their endeavour becomes ancillary - my learning happens in the steps taken to get there. Doing this in a collegiate environment will add more depth to my knowledge due to the quality peer group I will be interacting with and the incredible faculty I will be able to seek guidance from. I would like to stretch the program over three semesters, thus allowing time for an internship that will further add to my learning experience as I strive to utilize my education to create impact in whichever organization I work in. Electives like 'Commercializing Technology Innovations: Turning Visions into Value' will prepare me for a role in product management or product strategy. Being interdisciplinary and cross-functional in nature, this kind of a role allows me to use my strong suits in user research, design and technology. More importantly, it gives me the opportunity to create products which delight users and add convenience to their lives.

I myself write stories for the Huffington Post. Telling a compelling one through thoughtfully designed products is what I find most exciting. One idea that has inspired me due to its simplicity and practicality is a turnkey solution for shopping online - to build a service which combs the internet to find the best deal on anything the user searches for, and helps purchase it without leaving the app/website (Analogy: Booking through Expedia versus searching multiple airlines/hotels - Expedia is simpler and faster). I would like to incubate this project in Duke's I&E academy. The Duke Business Society and competitions like HackDuke and Duke Start-up challenge will also be of immense help in this endeavor of mine.

My conversation with __ (Duke MEM alumnus now working as a product manager) has convinced me that not only does Duke open doors to an excellent career, but also graduates people who readily extend a helping hand to members of their community. The idea of giving back to the community is at the core of building products that simplify people's lives. This is my motivation for an MEM education, and for all my goals that follow.