Design thinking is at the center of my life. Armed with an education in design and design processes from one of the leading design schools in the country, I was ready to go out and choose my battles. So I started right away, along with some friends, to set up a design studio called FL!P and spent a decade engaging with some of the most interesting problems to solve for various groups of people.
By the end of that 10 year phase I had worked on over 300 projects that spanned from complex Interactive design, Gaming and Video animation to Grass-root level design solutions for NGOs and other Civil Society groups. The studio delivered value on multiple fronts for the clients it engaged with. Design powered Businesses that embraced Scenario based design and the User Centric approach to problem solving. I had enough experience to now firmly believe that Design thinking can be applied to any aspect of life.
I reflected on all that I had done and it was time to step into the next chapter of my life. I took a sabbatical and reengaged with the world around me. Only this time with a difference. I was going to choose very carefully on which problems I wanted to solve, and it is then that I was introduced to the idea of StreetBuzz. I saw here a fantastic synergy of all my various interests and abilities.
The challenge to be a part of a team that could potentially change and turbo charge the way communities and individuals engaged with each other. In its ultimate form, StreetBuzz has the ability to provide the world a single portal to engage with all that interests us and connect to with the best minds in the planet. To design the fundamental building blocks of this engagement is at the nerve center of this problem. And again, Scenario based Design and the User Centric approach that I have come so much to trust and believe in, reveals the answers. I’m now in a battle that captivates me. Much is yet to be done, but already I’m excited with what we have accomplished and what we are able to do collectively at the bleeding edge of Design, Technology and the Internet.
Arvind Prabhakar
Co-Founder & Head of Design