Akhilesh Balasubramani

As a kid, I had always been fascinated with objects around me. Nothing made me more exuberant than breaking something apart to understand its mechanics and build something unique out of it. My eagerness and enthusiasm to ideate and create innovative products from materials around me sparked an interest in pursuing a career in design.

I'm a Multi-Disciplinary designer with a passion for crafting experiences that have a positive impact on people's lives. Whether it's through user-centred UI/UX Design or innovative Service Design, I believe in using my skills to solve complex problems and improve the human experience. With a focus on empathy and critical thinking, I strive to design solutions that not only meet users' needs but delight and inspire them. I hold the view that empathy and critical thinking are the two most essential abilities for a designer. Through the years, I have learned how to balance empathy and critical thinking, and mastering this skill has helped me look beyond designing screens or products.

My Areas of Expertise: User Experience Design, Visual Interface Design, Data Visualisation, User Research, Systems Design, Service Design, Graphic Illustrations, & Digital Strategy.

Other Skills :

Programming: I have always had a strong passion for programming. I have experience with Python, C++, Arduino, & HTML.

Video Editing: Everyone needs a hobby. I love editing videos as a pastime activity and have experience with several video editing software.

Visual Communication & Branding: With a strong focus on visual communication, I possess expertise in creating compelling brand identities that effectively convey the essence and values of a business or organisation. My skills in branding ensure impactful and cohesive visual experiences that resonate with target audiences.

Electronics: As a kid, I wanted to be a mechatronics engineer. I have a keen interest in physics and electronics and have worked on various projects.

Contact

Degree Details

As someone with expertise in both UI/UX and Service Design, I am skilled in integrating them to create cohesive and seamless experiences that drive customer loyalty. My in-depth understanding of the context in which digital touch-points are used and their role in the overall customer journey enables me to create interactions that align with customers' needs and expectations. By doing so, I can enhance the customer experience, differentiate the organisation from its competitors, and ultimately increase revenue and profitability.

I have recently realised UX Design is more than just designing screens or products. It’s about the experience that comes with it. It’s about curating a memory in people’s minds through products/services that leave them with an everlasting impact. Since then, I have been learning how can one conduct research holistically without any bias and use critical design concepts to design solutions to problems that affect a wider mass.

With every project, I aim to bring together art, science, and technology to create experiences that are intuitive, seamless, and memorable. Because to me, design is not just a job, it's an opportunity to make the world a better place, one experience at a time

Project Brief

The objective of the project is to address the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and startups and employ service design to assist aspiring entrepreneurs struggling to launch their own businesses, as well as early-stage startups attempting to overcome the common obstacles that often result in failure. By analysing startup failures and empathising with the challenges faced by entrepreneurs, the project aims to create a service that would help budding entrepreneurs navigate the intricacies of launching a business.

Problem Statement

Despite the rise of startups and new-age high-growth industries driven by technology and innovation, startup failures remain prevalent even in the UK's thriving private sector. With 60-70% of startup ideas stopping at the pre-incubation stage, entrepreneurs face numerous challenges that can hinder their success, such as lack of knowledge and skills, limited resources, and uncertainty about the market. While incubators and accelerators offer valuable resources and support, they may not always be the best option or solution for every entrepreneur or startup.

These programs have extremely low acceptance rates, high costs, and may not align with the entrepreneur's business goals or needs. They prioritise solely on the growth of the business and tend to ignore the well-fare of entrepreneurs. Therefore, entrepreneurs require more accessible and customised help and support to overcome these challenges and increase their chances of success.

Research Plan

In carrying out the research, I diligently identified the problem, allowing me to empathize with budding entrepreneurs and startups, gaining clarity on their struggles. This key understanding played a crucial role in planning the subsequent steps for the project.

Recognizing that the project's focus area was initially broad, I understood the importance of narrowing down the key focus area. By seeking answers to pertinent questions, I successfully honed in on the specific aspects that required attention.

It became apparent that while many resources focused on addressing the challenges faced by established businesses, there was a significant oversight when it came to acknowledging the struggles encountered by individuals during the business setup phase. This realization motivated me to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive solution that encompassed all the problems entrepreneurs face, as existing services fell short in this regard.

To gain deeper insights, I delved into published articles and blogs that aimed to address these specific issues. This in-depth examination proved beneficial in furthering the project's objectives and broadening my understanding of the subject matter.

Proposed Solution

I have focused my project on catering to small-scale entrepreneurs and leveraging my role as a service designer to provide them with a transformative service that turns their ideas into successful businesses.

The proposed solution/service is a mobile application that encompasses the following features:

Meet: This feature enables users to connect with other skilled individuals for potential business partnerships. It allows users to discover people with diverse backgrounds and skills, find suitable partners to start a business together, offer freelance services based on required skills, and provide consultancy services to fellow entrepreneurs working on startups.

Learn: Through this feature, users can access educational resources tailored to their needs. They can search for topics they wish to learn more about, participate in skill-sharing activities where they can teach their expertise to others (either for free or for a fee), and even sell valuable research data, presentations, case studies, and other resources to assist fellow entrepreneurs.

Connect: This feature includes social sections where entrepreneurs can share thoughts and insights about entrepreneurship. It facilitates random connections with other entrepreneurs using the app, and users can utilize filtering options to find and engage with specific individuals.

AI: The application incorporates an Entrepreneurial AI Assistant that takes into account user data, bios, goals, and skills to provide personalized answers and guidance to user queries.

Medium: Digital