How the Tamil Film Industry stepped in to help the film technicians via Fintech 👇
1⃣ COVID:
The film industry is one of the most affected sectors during the pandemic. FEFSI is an organisation of Tamil film technicians consisting of more than 25,000 members.
They include every non actor in the crew including the light men, spot boys etc.
2⃣ Maniratnam:
Directors Maniratnam and Jeyandra decided to raise money for the FEFSI workers by jointly producing a film. Their target was Rs. 15Cr.
Designing trustworthy digital financial services for India. A 🧵
Small finance banks had recently opened branches in Erode(TN) and offered attractive interest rates compared to big banks. Dad decided to move some money to one of them. After enquiring with multiple banks, he picked a bank that did not have the highest interest rate.
Dad's rationale:
'Most of the bank branch managers were in casual attire wearing a checked shirt and pant. They all look like grocery store owners, just like me, but the bank I chose has a branch manager who wears a coat suit 🕴️ in branch. I am going to trust my money with him.'
I'm doing a UX deconstruction of Bharat focussed apps. The aim is to throw light on the interesting mental models built for new internet users of India.
What is Sharechat?🤔
Sharechat is a regional social network predominantly popular among emergent users. The app allows you to browse, share and download content across 14 Indian Languages.
Psst: English is not one among them
Origin story 🌤️
Around 2015, the founders of Sharechat came across a post in a Facebook group that requested users to drop in their mobile number to receive HD pictures of Sachin Tendulkar. They observed that hundreds of people had shared their mobile number in the group...
Over the last few weekends, I had some eventful conversations with a few of my design pals about the challenges of being a designer in a high growth tech environment. Sharing a few ideas from them.
A thread on design and mental wellness 🧵
1. Your designs are temporary.
Both you and your designs will be replaced eventually. The more digital your work is, the lower are the chances of it being permanent. But the stress your work causes could cause irreversible health damage. Mental health is a priority!
2. Pick your battles wisely
Everyone will have an opinion on your design. Be it an icon or a customer journey map. It's not worth fighting every opinion. Choose your battles wisely. Pick the ones that create long term positive effects.
I moved to Bangalore in 2015 and stayed in a studio apartment near Koramangala. I started making regular visit to a small tea and condiments shop near on my way home.
The shop was run by a Malayalee who hailed from a small town in Kerala. He was known by the name PM.
Everyday I visited we would share a smile and good morning. We never spoke more than that. Infact I don't even know the name of the shop. It was called the 'Chetta's shop'
When I decided to move homes in 2017, I informed him and promised him to visit him whenever I'm around
I have moved 4 homes since then. But it became my ritual to visit his shop for a tea whenever I was in Koramangala. He was the sort of person I had to catch-up with.
As our visits became infrequent we shared more than good morning. Asked about each other's health and life.
How HDFC Bank changed the landscape of banking with technology?
A short history of innovation by the OG fintech giant.
A 🧵
During economic liberalisation, RBI started issuing private banking licenses in India around the early 1990s. Housing Development Financial Corporation which was a housing finance provider was one of the early members to receive the license along with Axis, ICICI and IndusInd.
Deepak Parekh who was the MD of the mortgage provided doubled down on Mr Aditya Puri to run the bank. Mr Puri, who was a rising star in Citibank Malaysia was persuaded to come back to India and build and bank that India needed.