This week, our guest is Dharmesh. He is one of the leading user research experts in India. He was previously working as the Head of Research at Setu. He also worked in various fintech companies like ClearTax and Rupeek before that. We talk about opportunities in research today. How convince leadership to allocate budget for research. We also talk about some of his latest projects.

Reach out to Dharmesh here: 🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dharmeshba/ 🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/dharmeshba 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dharmeshba/?hl=en 🌎 Website: https://linktr.ee/theindianotes

This week, our guest is Chetty Arun. He was previously the Director of Design at Razorpay. One of the best fintech companies in India. We talk about his journey of becoming a designer. How he went about scaling the design team of Razorpay. His personal challenges and learnings along the way. We also touch upon organizational culture as a topic. Chetty has had an amazing journey. I had a wonderful time talking to him. I hope you enjoy the episode as well. ------------------------------------------ Reach out to Chetty here: 🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chettyarun/

🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChettyArun

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chettyarun/

🌎 Website: http://chettyarun.com/

This week, our guest is Paul Finney. He is the Founder of Spacekayak. Spacekayak is a web3 native creative studio and they work with some of the finest web3 companies in India.

We talk about his journey of becoming a founder. How did he build Spacekayak’s team from scratch. What are his thoughts about the future of web3 design. And of course what are the future plans for Spacekayak.

Reach out to Paul here:

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulfinneyx/

🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulfinneyx

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulfinneyx/

🌎 Website: https://www.spacekayak.xyz/

This week, our guest is Chandra. He is a Product Designer at Gojek. He was previously working with Obvious, one of the best design agencies in the country.   

We talk about his journey to becoming a designer. His time at Obvious and his experience while building Pause. He also talks about the current design education and design job market. We touch on a bit about mistakes to avoid while applying for design jobs.  

Reach out to Chandra here:   

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandrasekharn/

🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/ncresq

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maybe_chandra/

🌎 Website: https://nchandrasekharr.github.io/

This week, our guest is Akshay. He is a Senior Product Designer at Observe.ai. He is also the author of the book “Designing Human-Centric AI experiences”   

We talk about the framework that he uses to design for AI. We also take a deep dive into AI, what role it will play in the future of design, and some of the misconceptions and exciting predictions around AI.

Reach out to Akshay here:   

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshaykkore/
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/akshaykore
📚 Book: https://akor.in/aibook-in/

This week, our guest is Shivam. He is a Senior Product Illustrator at Swiggy. He previously worked as an illustrator on Flipkart as well.  

We take a deep dive into Shivam’s journey of discovering illustrations and getting started with them. We also talk about the role illustrations play in products, how to collaborate with teams, and his advice for illustrators who are getting started.

Reach out to Shivam here:   

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivam-thapliyal-b5236aa9/
✍️ Writing: https://thapliyalshivam.medium.com/
🌎 Website: https://www.shivamthapliyal.com/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thapliyalshivam/

This week, our guest is Karthika. She is a Product Designer at Vodafone and she is a builder.   

We take a deep dive into talking about her side projects. How she went about building them. We also talk about her journey and her advice for builders or creators who are getting started.   

Karthika’s story is truly inspirational and I had a wonderful conversation with her.   

Bangalore Roomie: https://twitter.com/BangaloreRoomi
Flinder: https://flinder.netlify.app/
Bookmark of the day: https://www.bookmarkoftheday.xyz/


Reach out to Karthika here:   
🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/s-karthika-37a6aa13a/
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/designermaybe
✍️ Writing: https://medium.com/@skarthika
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kkkkkarthika/

This week, our guest is Sanketh. He is a Design Ops Lead at Postman and previously worked at Deloitte.   

We take a deep dive into talking about Design Ops and its importance of it in organizations. We also talk about how to convince stakeholders to invest in Design Ops, and also about building and measuring the value of Design Ops.

Reach out to Sanket here:   

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanketpath/
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/sanketpath
✍️ Website: https://blog.sanketpathak.com/

This week, our guest is Chhavi Shrivastava. She is a Senior Product Designer at Bumble and she previously worked at N26.   

We take a deep dive into talking about content creation and how we got started with it. We also talk about what first steps you as a listener can take to get started with content.

Reach out to Chhavi here:   

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chhavishrivastava/?originalSubdomain=uk
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/justchhavii
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justchhavii/
✍️ Medium: https://justchhavii.medium.com/

This week, our guest is Deepika Gopalkrishnan. She is a Healthcare Designer and the founder of Dverse labs. It is a healthcare-based startup that started by developing disruptive technologies for combating COVID-19.   

We take a deep dive into understanding how physical products are designed, and how she took her product from zero to one. We also talk about the challenges of being a designer as well as an entrepreneur and how she tackled them.

Reach out to Deepika here:   

🌎 Website: https://www.deepikagk.com/
🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepika-g-6b2481154/
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/deepika_gk
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/design_a_ton/?hl=en

This week, our guest is Kshipra Sharma who is currently a Lead Product Designer at RazorpayX. Kshipra started her career architect before moving into product design.   

We take a deep dive into understanding concepts like diversity, inclusiveness, and what are discriminatory practices in design. We talk about the practices Kshipra and her team adopted to increase diversity in Razorpay’s design team and make it a more inclusive workspace. We talk a bit about how her journey in taking RazorpayX from 0 to 1 and what it means to a Lead Product Designer.

Reach out to Kshipra here:   

🌎 Website: https://kshiprasharma.com/
🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kshiprasharma22/
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/kshipra_sharma
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kshipra_sharma/

This week, our guest is Akash Kuttappa who is currently a Product Manager at Flipkart. Akash has previously worked in Scapic as the Head of Product, which eventually got acquired by Flipkart.   

We take a deep dive into his journey of becoming a designer and then a product manager. We also talk about 3D and AR which is his domain of expertise. We also talk about what he is currently working on at Flipkart.   

He is also the first guest who is a Product Manager on this podcast.  

Reach out to Akash here:   

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akashkuttappa/
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/kttppa
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akashkuttappa/

This week, our guest is Murari Jha who is currently a UX Designer at Google. He previously worked in notable companies such as Headout, Instamojo, and Bookmyshow.   

We talk about design systems, a few very interesting design case studies from his days in Instamojo, and what it is like to work in a company like Google.

Reach out to Murari Jha here:  

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/creativemj/
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamcreativemj

This week, our guest is Darshan Gajara who is currently the Head of Design at GraphCMS in Berlin. Darshan also runs a newsletter called Product Disrupt which helps designers find resources and stories on design & tech.   

We take a deep dive into his journey of moving abroad to work in Berlin, how he runs Product Disrupt, and a few stories from his freelancing days.   

Product Disrupt: https://productdisrupt.com/
Work Abroad (Waitlist): https://workabroad.guide/

Reach out to Darshan here:   

🌎 Website: https://darshan.design/
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeirdoWizard
📸 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DarshanGajara
🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darshangajara/

In this week's episode, we have Debashish Paul who is currently at Twitter and previously worked at Facebook or now known as Meta where he invented many systems and interfaces with over 60 patents to his name.   

We're going to dive into his journey as a designer in solving problems, his experience working in some of the biggest tech companies, and the process he follows.

Reach out to Debashish here:   

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debstract/ 
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/debstract 
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debstract/ 
🌎 Website: https://debashishpaul.me/

In this episode, Rohan Mishra. Rohan is currently working as a Senior Product Designer at UrbanCompany. He previously worked in Zomato and lead multiple initiatives there.   

He also runs a community called ‘Design Sundays’ which helps designers who are just getting started. We talk about multiple things like building and growing a community, mentorship, learnings from Zomato days, and what he is currently working on in UrbanCompany.   

We also talk about building and launching a product in another country.   

Design Sundays: https://home.designsundays.in/

Reach out to Rohan here:   

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamrohanmishra/
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamrohanmishra
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamrohanmishra/
🌎 Website: https://rohanmishra.design/

In this episode, we have Akhil from Drumworks. Akhil is very well experienced in building and launching side projects. In last year alone, we launched 3 different side projects and all three of them got a significant engagement. He also talks about Product Hunt, Build community, and what the future holds for his side projects.

Letterhunt: https://www.letterhunt.co/
Adsets: https://www.adsets.xyz/
Buy Me A Crypto Coffee: https://www.buymeacryptocoffee.xyz/

Reach out to Akhil here:   

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bvsakhil/
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/akhil_bvs
🌎 Website: https://akhilbvs.webflow.io/

Our guest for the latest episode of Product Stories is Vaibhav Bhasin. Vaibhav is a self-taught Product Designer. He is currently working at Gojek as Design Head of Mobility Products.   

We talk about transitioning between various organizations, designing for southeast Asian countries, one of Vaibhav’s projects at Gojek, and his transition from being an individual contributor to a manager.  

Find Vaibhav on ADP List: https://www.adplist.org/mentors/vaibhav-bhasin
Designing to Encourage the Habit of Tipping: https://blog.gojek.io/ka-ching-designing-to-encourage-the-habit-of-tipping/

Reach out to Vaibhav here:   

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaibhavb8/
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/vaibhavb8
🌎 Website: http://vaibhavb8.com/

The guest for our latest episode is Radhika Sen. She is a graphic designer turned UX Designer. She is currently working as a UX Designer in Microsoft. We talk about studying in a design school, her exchange program, what is interaction design and how can one get started, and her most challenging design project.  

Reach out to Radhika here:  

🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/radhika-sen-88bb3436/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radhika_sen_88/
🌎 Website: https://www.radhikasen.com/

A question that I constantly keep getting is why did I start Product Stories or why do I host a podcast. Tbh when I started, I was not clear about why I wanted to do it. Over time, it became clear about what the podcast is about and who is its audience. In the latest episode, I talk a bit about my design journey and how Product Stories podcast took shape. 

Contact me:  
🌎 Website: https://getproductstories.com/
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/kaushikmuraliux
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaushikmuraliux