SaaSD 2.0 – Crafting experiences with design

After the first successful SaaSD last year, the thriving designer community got together for the 2nd Edition of Freshworks’ SaaSD on the 3rd of March 2018. This year, we had designers travel from different cities to attend the event. It was all about creating a designer community, one that would thrive on the creative talent in the region. Bringing them on the same floor will nurture knowledge sharing on its own.

Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much – Helen Keller

SaaSD 2.0 involved everyone who is part of a creative design process, it was not just for SaaS designers – crafting experiences was the hero here. The design team looked beyond doors for new inventions, always open to new creative minds. It was a kaleidoscope of organized chaos, the core intention of this event was to focus on the community and urge it to grow organically.

SaaSD 2.0 (2018)

We wanted to make sure the attendees got enough scope to ask questions and participate. SaaSD 2.0 wasn’t a lecture, it was an event that involved everyone. The event was neither published on social media nor promoted otherwise. However, it was a sell out 10 days before the D-day, completely through word of mouth!

The underlying idea was to share informative content with the attendees and enable them to use it in their respective fields. We used quirky quotes from famous movie stars to keep the creative juices flowing.

SaaSD 2.0 (2018)

This year we had speakers from various backgrounds, the topics included were ‘How to weave a story via design’, ‘How the human body is a story in itself’ and even ‘Negotiating the right of salary’. The gathering was not meant to be a series of monologues, it was more of an interactive session.

SaaSD 2.0 (2018)

SCD Balaji, the founder of Atma Studios, spoke about illustrations and how you should brand yourself as a freelancer. His ideas on creating an individual niche for yourself in the design field were a big takeaway.

SaaSD 2.0 (2018)
The whole event was curated inhouse by the Freshworks Design Team.

SaaSD 2.0 (2018)

Vasudha Chandak who is on a mission to help every designer find their dream job spoke about how one should present the CV and nail interviews. She has helped build design teams of Groupon, Ola, Flipkart to name a few. Vasudha spoke about recruiting for design in companies and also conducted a mock interview session. It gave budding designers a glimpse into the mind of a recruiter and the confidence to never doubt their designs.

SaaSD 2.0 (2018)

Arvind Mohan, an UX architect with IBM India, spoke about user experience and designing for various screens. He shared his knowledge with a few practical examples.

SaaSD 2.0 (2018)

Shayan Sen, the founder of Cheese, a UI/UX design agency that was among the NASCOM Fastest 50 in 2010, was also present. He spoke about how he leads his designer team and his learnings through experience on how to handle chaos and yet be in control.

SaaSD 2.0 (2018)

Vikram Sridhar spoke about The Human Body: the oldest and the most cherished audio visual design. He is the co-founder of Tahatto; and also a story researcher, performer and theatre practitioner for over a decade now. His session was interactive and involved the audience. It was about looking at nature, closely, for our design needs and inspiration.

SaaSD 2.0 wasn’t a lecture

SaaSD 2.0 (2018)

At the end of the session, there was an interesting panel discussion that included rapid fire from the curator and questions from the audience. The speakers spoke about their individual journey as designers and how the success makes it all worthwhile.

We took a giant leap of faith by betting on the Indian design community and it proved us right. We hope to continue SaaSD every year and in the process find the design talent required for Freshworks.

Our goal is to nurture the local design talent and inspire designers across India to come take that leap with us.