Women Techmaker..An Experience!

Women Techmaker.. A phrase that I can closely connect to for more reasons than one. Here's my learnings from the Women Techmaker Event conducted at the Google, Bangalore office as a part of the International Women's Day celebrations on the 28th of March 2015.

The Android Wear Design Sprint Experience

Though a Design Engineer by profession, there are a very few design challenges that I have found more interesting than the Android Wear Design Sprint Experience @ WTM15. Taking up the challenge with other Women Techmakers, in the process networking and looking at things from other's perspective were key take-aways from this design challenge.

The entire experience of designing a wear was introduced very beautifully to us. The picture of colleagues at a coffee table busy looking into their phones got etched into my mind. That's the scene we see at so many places these days. It's the most awkward in an elevator when people find it difficult to smile and prefer unlocking their phone to look into the menu instead of getting to know the other person. Yes, we are all beneficiaries of technology, but I would say technology has taken a toll on us to some extent.

I liked the idea of getting notifications on my watch which would just allow me to take an action on it or leave it. This reminded me of the phones that existed about decade ago, where we could either leave a text message or make a call. Let's not even get into what our phone can do for us today. Designing for the wear was a great experience. Notifications had to be crisp and short. I would hate reading a paragraph of instruction or notification on my wear. This was one aspect that we needed to bear in mind while taking up the challenge.

The intent of the design sprint was to make us experience the idea of talking to our wearable and taking actions based on what it has to offer us. A few key characteristics of any wearable device are it launches automatically(you cannot expect to unlock your watch to get your notification), it is glance-able(you cannot read an email on the wear but get a notification that you've received a mail), suggests and demands(a continuous accept-reject cycle) and zero or low interaction(Ideally, a tap to accept and a swipe to reject).

Diving into the details, there are five prime stages of the Design Sprint.

1. Understand : Understanding involves two key areas. One, the challenge in itself and two, the user. Understanding the challenge : To get to any solution, we need a problem at hand. And here's where the design challenge comes to play. The design challenge tells us our intent for the sprint. "Build to come alive on the wearable." Identify the service that you are going to offer through the application that you are designing for the wear.

Understanding the user : Before any design, it's essential we put ourselves into the user's shoes. Identify personas of those, most likely to use your app. Having an insight on what they would need and expect, is essential from a design perspective. It's recommended that we dive deep and list down the probable location, time, activities, devices and sensors that the wear device would have of the personas identified. A great metric that will help us understand is a graph of user value vs technical complexity. Having a good balance between the two would be a great bet.

2. Diverge : It's necessary that we brainstorm into a variety of solutions that we could offer to the user and pick the best one for grabs. Do not get into the "how" details of the solution. Let's put our thoughts on the "what" aspect of the solution leaving the implementation to be done after the design.

3. Decide : Once we have the list of solutions that the application could offer for the wear, it's not very difficult to pick the best one to deliver. Pick up one solution that we can deep dive into for looking into the design nitty-gritties.

4. Prototype : No great product has ever evolved without a good prototype. Invest time in thinking about a few key moments that your application would offer. Key moments are the kinds of features that our app has and a few that will set it apart. Once the key moments are identified, we could navigate through its depth and look to design each screen flow that you would like in our app.

5. Validate : Show it to our stake holders, present it to them and get feedback of the various prospective user perspectives.

The entire activity was done in about two hours. Eight teams demonstrated various services for the wear based on identified personas. The time boxing meant that we would think how a task could be done in such less time, but eventually would complete each chunk of the task well on time. The learnings were plenty but a few I could pick out were team-work, listening to others' perspectives, collectively arriving at a good feasible solution and most importantly, network.

Some more wisdom by the women techmaker leaders...

Shibani Sanan -Director of Engineering, Google

Being self aware and breaking stereotypes is the key! You're not alone!
Journey of hardwork,perseverance, dedication, passion and intution.
Follow your dreams.
Don't underestimate yourself.
Speak up and let people know that you want to move ahead!
Grab opportunities as they come instead of waiting for validations.
Try a little bit more everytime.
Don't try to be perfect at everything! Just be best and good enough at what you do. Enjoy and stay motivated!
Find the passion at work.
What keeps you motivated?
Have a successful and rewarding career.
Focus on what matters!
Save time on travel.
Support at home + Motivation at work = Fulfilling life
Don't try to solve every problem. Focus on what matters! Become more efficient at work.
Have a role model and be a role model to someone.
Have a mentor, coach and sponsor!
Mentor - Close to you, the same level, helps and guides you.
Coach - Makes you think deep into yourself. Makes you find your own answers. Makes you think of a solution for yourself showing you the path.
Sponsor - A senior executive who is going to look out for you. They think of you to put their hand up for you, in your absence.
Take a leap of faith..YOU CAN!
It's very difficult to change, but it's important to change.
Take disruptions that come by and look to overcome the tide!
Never imitate anyone.
Domain knowledge is so crucial!
Spend more time on planning and design...Coding comes much later.
Team and technology is important!
I am where I am because of the people around me.
Sell your ideas to people who can sell it further!


Design - Another crucial area in computer science in addition to programming!

Vidya Laxman

Don't wait for permission.
Ask for it. And just say 'yes'.
Your career is your responsibility.
Articulate your goals.
Strengthen your strengths.
Just say "no".
No, your work does not speak for itself.
Guys are your friends.
Network, network and network.
You can lead without a title.

Pavithra Kanakarajan, Product Manager, Google

You share other's shoes.
You speak multiple languages - Customer, Technology and Business.
You wish to download your food.
You ask a lot of questions.
You make mistakes.


The day ended with us getting loads of goodies which included a pen drive and a cardboard tool to use the cardboard app and appreciate the world of 3D among many others!

The perfect balance of rivalry and revelry!

Very few relationships in life allow us to juggle between rivalry and revelry, effortlessly. And the one with our siblings definitely goes into that list.Call it balance or the bell curve, we all enjoy the pampering and the bantering with our siblings. Here's how life, in many ways changes after you have the little sibling in your life!

Being the first child of the house, I was pampered royally at home. And it took some time to digest sharing that privilege with someone else, especially when I was young! When all the eyes always looking at you, pulling your cheeks and carrying you all around the house is suddenly transferred to the new entrant of the house, it sometimes hits you hard!

When the little one is in your mother's tummy, you eagerly wait to welcome her into this world. You are delighted to have an addition into your life who is quite your age and can be a potential partner in crime. You are happy to imagine having a little sister to play around with you! You think this will be the end to the little occasional boredom you have in your life! And the day comes when she enters the world. You see a few jumping around to welcome her. A few shed tears of joy. And you, smile all along to have a new companion with you. There are new toys that come at home. You sometimes get a few new clothes while they buy many for the little one.

A few days pass by. Perhaps, a few weeks. And then you suddenly feel your importance going down. The frequency of people lifting and cuddling you exponentially reduces. It's probably an illusion that the innocent in you feels. An illusion that may probably last for a few years when you grow up. The thought of having to share your mother's love or your father's pampering does not go too well with you. There are times when you just feel like fighting with her not realizing that the tender kid has no clue what's going around and what is going through inside you.

Over time, the two of you grow up. The rivalry soon turns into revelry. There comes a stage where you enjoy picking up a fight with her, pull her leg, tease her but the moment a stranger raises their voice at her, the over protective elder sister in you wakes up and you probably make that voice heard! It's even worse if it's some bully in school who tortures her. Over time, may be you do not even realize, but she secretly starts looking up to you. She learns from the scolding you get at home and that saves her from being a victim at home. She probably never gets reprimanded or beaten as you've probably taken her share of them too a few years ago! She's usually smarter since she starts reading your novels very young, much before she gets to your age. She hates it when teachers at school compare her with you. It's even worse if you were a teachers' pet. She gets famous in school because of you but she wants to be known by her identity. The thought of being called your sister does not go too well with her. She may hate to wear your old clothes or old shoes but as a consolation, she gets a personal tutor to help her with her homework. Slowly, she consults you for life's decisions because she knows you've been there and done that! And she finds out that you probably understand her the best!

I guess the bond further strengthens as life goes towards coming a full circle. She'll fight for you with your parents for you to get permission to go out for dinner. She will be your most honest critic and one of your best friends. One, that you can confide in, for life. You start sharing small secrets with each other. You start telling each other your priorities, your likes and your tastes. There can be differences in opinion but then you are mature enough to now discuss it out and appreciate each other's point of view. There are times when others try to get the rivalry in you two by asking who's better among the two of you. And you'll find each other pointing their fingers on the other one with a smile. You need to be her chef, care-taker, chauffeur and cleaner. All of it, when your parents are out of station and have entrusted the responsibility of taking care of her on you. And you really don't mind it then because you get to the boss of the house. You can command her to do things and get them done easily. There are times when you team up to fight with your parents explaining to them how times have changed and how we must keep moving forward. In addition to all this, the two of you become each other's shopping buddies, street food partners, beauty experts and above all the go-to-buddy in times of crisis.

We soon reach a state when the bond gets really special! This love, care and affection erases all those memories of fight and jealousy from our childhood.. And, we silently thank god for giving us this partner-in-crime in life. Once a rival, but now you revel in each other's company!

Role of Youth in Social Service

Not very long ago did our Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Central Park address the youth while speaking of his plans for India. Prime Minister Modi said, "A hundred million youth joining hands to transform our nation, to put the light of hope in every eye and the joy of belief in every heart, lead people out of poverty, put clean water and sanitation within the reach of all, make healthcare available to all, a roof over every head." - That's his vision for India. This summarizes the herculean task the youth of this country have on them to ensure that India's vision of being a developed nation by 2020 becomes a reality.

The United Nations reported India to have the world's largest youth population. Statistics say that our nation has 356 million 10-24 year-olds. In this nation of high diffidence, it is the youth, who could bring about a change. The youth can induce a sense of confidence in the society and join hands in ensuring that we, as a society, are getting better and living a more peaceful life.

In a nation with such huge numbers of resources in the form of this country's youth, it is very essential that the youth is aware of their role in the society. In this era of rat race and competition, we are generating millions of professionals, months after months. But then in the race of achieving fame, earning money and being at the top, the youth often compromise on giving back to the society. This is where understanding the role of the youth in social service becomes the need of the hour.

The reason we are talking about the youth is, one, because of their existence in large numbers and two, because of the new ideas and energy they bring to the table in addition to the knowledge that already exists in us. In the times when we are always fighting for our rights, let us sit back and think about our duties towards the nation.

There is no dearth of distractions for us in this age of technology and gadgets. Our smart phones can never be separated from us and a few of us, I am sure, would get into depression if they are asked to put away their smart phones for a few days, forget about few months. Why can't we think of taking time off on weekends and volunteering to teach in a government school or teach a group of illiterate Indians? Educating multiple sections of the society on regular basis can soon result in a literate, educated India. In the recent past, we have managed to achieve many feats in fields of science and technology. But it's certainly a matter of shame when many rural parts of the nation do not have basic sanitation facilities.

The youth can get involved in matters of public interest playing their part in spreading awareness on cleanliness, helping in times of natural calamities or helping the less privileged in whatever way they can. It is for us to break the trend of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. It is for us to join hands in helping the poor either through education, vocational training or by just instilling the right sense of direction in them.

It's essential that we alter our priorities and look to contribute to the nation, contribute to the society in solving problems of high impact. The problems of the society are way too many to list out. But a sense of enthusiasm and energy from the youth of today can soon find solutions to many of them and help the country in more ways than one. The primary goal of every youth must be to serve others in the society. To serve, lift the other and grow forward together. Social service, certainly does not mean, leaving all the routine activities of an individual and devote yourselves only towards the society. But it's essential that we include giving back to the society in the best possible way to our priority list. Starting changes as small as not littering the society and making others aware of the same is a great start. Touching more lives through our daily work is another way. If we are working towards making someone's life better either through the software we write or through the services we provide or through the lessons we teach, we are on the right track.

There are numerous initiatives started by the Indian government for the upliftment of the weaker sections of the society. Actively getting involved in it, contributing to the implementation and betterment of these schemes can help the nation progress faster. The "Brain Drain" hits the nation quite often with more educated individuals venturing abroad to pursue their careers. Bringing down its count and having more educated minds into the system can trigger ripples of change into the nation, at large.

If each of us do our bit of social service whenever possible, with nearly 80% of our population being less that 40 years of age, we can together transform this country into a developed nation where basic factors like education, sanitation and healthcare are not deprived to anyone. Let's work towards making Former President APJ Abdul Kalam's vision of Developed India 2020 come true. I would conclude with the quote by the American President, John F. Kennedy. "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

Five little things that really matter!

Little things in life can transform a gloomy day into one that makes life worth living. A pat on the back is sometimes way more difficult to get than a Vera Moda gown. Appreciating the things that can brighten our day is a great way to move forward. Yes, we all have our worries but watch out for these small things and life would seem beautiful, for every sunset is followed by the sunrise.

1. Knowing you are the reason behind someone else's smile There's no bigger pleasure in the world than reversing a frown on someone's face. Not only does it make you happier, it ensures that there's enough endorphins in the air. Sadly, in today's world, a smile has become a luxury that not many people can afford!

2. Watching the beauty of Nature We've always watched the trees, the sun, the moon et al. around us. But the day we start consciously noticing the beauty in these little things around us, we've started appreciating our creator's masterpieces. Watching a sunrise or sunset sitting on the beach with water kissing your feet or watching a rainbow smile onto you adding some colour all around can really make your day.

3. Having a perfect moment and having it perfectly captured There are very few times in life that things fall in place exactly the way we want. Be it a promotion, a propasal or just a random moment that we've been waiting for. Having it perfectly captured for us to re-live that moment more than a hundred times after it's gone is truly special. No wonder, the photographers at weddings and occassions charge us a bomb!

4. Getting complimented when you least expect it Who doesn't like compliments? Getting one when we least expect it can really make our day. Something as simple as "Nice shirt" or "You really made my day" can do a world of good to us. So, next time, don't be stingy on giving those compliments!

5. Spending time with the people who make life worth living There are loads of people around, but a few really make life worth living. We miss the water when wells go dry. And we miss our dear ones when they are no longer around. Making them feel loved when they are with us or gifting them a small token of love for keeping us going to achieve more can be a great way to show them how much they mean to us.