Think Design

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CIO of Grihum Housing Finance Ltd., a financial services company. We provide affordable home loans to low and middle-income groups across India, focusing on customers underserved by mainstream lenders through our extensive branch network and digital services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Think Design?

We engaged Think Design as our UX/UI design partner for the 'EkHum' Digital transformation program at Grihum Housing Finance. Their mandate was to help us design intuitive, user-centric experiences across multiple applications serving diverse user groups, including field sales teams, branch users, head office employees, customers, and external partners.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Think Design was responsible for the end-to-end UX/UI design workstream for our Ekdigital transformation program. Their engagement began with understanding our housing finance business processes, user personas, and operational realities across sales, credit, operations, customers, partners, and head office functions.

Their scope included understanding our housing finance business processes, mapping end-to-end user journeys, creating detailed user stories and workflows, and translating them into wireframes that could be directly consumed by development teams. They also helped design employee engagement and workflow experiences to enable seamless collaboration across the EkHum platform.

Their key deliverables included user research, persona creation, journey mapping, process workflows, user stories, information architecture, wireframes, and detailed UI designs. They worked closely with our business and technology teams to refine and validate these journeys before development began.

In addition to designing the Loan Origination System (LOS), they contributed to several other applications within the Ekecosystem, including employee workflows, engagement platforms, partner-facing journeys, and customer-facing experiences.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 6–10 teammates from Think Design.

How did you come to work with Think Design?

We found them through a referral. We chose them over other options because they had high ratings, their pricing fit our budget, and we liked their way of working and executing projects.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April 2024 to March 2026.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The most significant outcome was the successful rollout and adoption of the Ekplatform across our business functions. The UX and journey designs created by Think Design played a key role in ensuring that users could quickly adapt to the new system with minimal resistance.

From a delivery perspective, the quality of the user journeys, wireframes, and design specifications resulted in a high degree of first-time-right development, significantly reducing redesign and rework efforts during implementation.

The platform enabled a fully paperless onboarding journey and contributed to substantial improvements in turnaround times. For example, a fresh customer login journey that previously involved multiple manual steps can now be completed digitally in approximately 40 minutes.

Equally important, the platform was successfully adopted by diverse user groups, including field sales teams, branch users, head office employees, customers, and external partners, which validated the effectiveness of the user-centric design approach. The success of the transformation program, industry recognition received for the initiative, and positive stakeholder feedback were all strong indicators that the design foundation was right from the outset.

While we did not establish a separate measurement framework specifically for UX outcomes, several business metrics reflected the success of the overall program and the effectiveness of the user-centric design approach.

From a delivery standpoint, the quality of the user journeys, workflows, and wireframes significantly reduced ambiguity during development. This helped us achieve a high degree of first-time-right implementation, minimizing redesign cycles and rework during the build phase. The fact that the platform was successfully rolled out nationwide and expanded beyond the initial Loan Origination System into additional business applications is a strong indicator of the scalability and effectiveness of the design foundation created by Think Design.

We didn’t formally track a percentage reduction in rework compared to previous projects, so I wouldn’t want to quote a number that isn’t backed by data. That said, based on my experience leading multiple large-scale transformation programs, the level of rework on Ek was noticeably lower than what is typically seen in projects of similar size and complexity. A major reason was Think Design’s structured approach of first understanding the business domain and user personas, then developing detailed journeys, workflows, user stories, and wireframes before development began.

Because business, technology, and design teams aligned early on the intended user experience, we encountered fewer requirement clarifications, fewer design revisions, and significantly less back-and-forth during development. In my view, this contributed substantially to achieving a largely first-time-right implementation across several modules of the platform.

The most meaningful feedback came from our users and business stakeholders. Despite introducing entirely new digital processes across sales, credit, operations, HR, customers, and partner ecosystems, user adoption was faster and smoother than typically expected for a transformation of this scale.

Field users appreciated the simplicity of the mobile journeys, while branch and head office teams highlighted the intuitive workflows and reduced effort required to complete day-to-day tasks. Business stakeholders consistently commented that the final applications closely reflected the processes and journeys that had been discussed and validated during the design phase.

Another strong indicator was that the Ekplatform successfully expanded beyond its original scope. The design principles and user experience framework established by Think Design were reused across multiple applications, including employee workflows, partner journeys, customer self-service capabilities, and engagement platforms. This demonstrated that the design foundation was not only effective for a single application but scalable across the broader digital ecosystem.

From a leadership perspective, one of the strongest validations was the confidence business teams had in the platform from the outset. The clarity of the journeys and workflows helped align stakeholders early, reducing change resistance and contributing significantly to the successful rollout of the transformation program.

How did Think Design perform from a project management standpoint?

Think Design’s project management was structured, collaborative, and dependable. They worked closely with our business and technology teams, maintained clear communication, and proactively managed dependencies and feedback.

They consistently met agreed timelines and were responsive whenever requirements evolved. Their disciplined approach to discovery, journey mapping, and wireframing helped keep the program on track and contributed significantly to a smooth delivery.

We communicated via in-person meetings, virtual meetings, emails, and messaging apps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What impressed me most was their ability to understand the business before designing the solution. They invested time in learning the housing finance domain, understanding different user personas, and observing how field, branch, and head office users actually worked.

Rather than jumping straight to UI design, they focused on user journeys, workflows, and user stories first. This ensured the final designs were intuitive, practical, and aligned with business objectives, resulting in a high degree of first-time-right implementation.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Overall, we were very satisfied with the engagement. If I had to suggest one area for improvement, it would be to bring even more reusable design patterns and industry benchmarks from similar large-scale transformation programs to accelerate certain design discussions.

That said, Think Design was highly collaborative, receptive to feedback, and continuously evolved their approach as the program progressed. Their contribution was instrumental to the success of the Ektransformation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the senior marketing manager of a life insurance company based in India. I am responsible for digital marketing and corporate website management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Think Design?

We hired Think Design to revamp our entire corporate website.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to move our website from a static, informational site to an e-commerce site since we were introducing new online products and services. We wanted to increase our new product purchases and increase our online renewals.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We sent out an RFP and invited five design agencies to submit their proposals. We shortlisted two agencies in phase one and then, awarded the project to Think Design based on their previous great design work and experience in our industry.

Describe the project in detail. 

Think Design first conducted a discovery phase and a workshop with relevant stakeholders. After understanding our requirements, they presented three design options. We shortlisted one option, and they proceeded to the wireframe stage. We started development and followed an agile development process.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a UI/UX expert for the initial workshop. After that, we worked with one project manager and a team of two UI/UX designers on the rest of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The new website was clean, lively, and fun, in an otherwise dull industry. Our management committee was impressed with the new design, and our team was lauded for our efforts.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our interactions with them were smooth and easy. Since the agency was based in the same city, they came to our office for face-to-face meetings. We relied on Google Docs and email for our communication.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They mentioned at the start that design is their strength, and they clearly demonstrated those skills with this project. The team is responsive, flexible, open to new ideas. They always came up with creative solutions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior VP and head of the client solutions group at Analyttica Datalab, a U.S.-based company with a subsidiary in Bangalore, India. We do data analytics, machine learning, and AI for different industry verticals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Think Design?

We needed a partner to consult the technology architecture for a solution idea in the data science and analytics domain space. We also wanted a UI/UX partner who could design the entire frontend.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Think Design created the wireframes after we spent time discussing and whiteboarding the solution, a technology-enabled advanced analytics platform that runs on Java and React. We collaborated on the ideations and their team did revisions based on our feedback. Think Design also designed the UI/UX, for which we have a U.S. patent.

The solution had two B2B and B2C segments. The former was for individuals while the latter served companies to scale employees companywide. The platform has a statistical layer and can handshake with Python, among other tools, to statistically align. We then went to market with the flagship offering–which focused on solutions for repeating problems–as an analytics trading solution.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was the senior design head, who worked with four designers behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Think Design?

We evaluated a few companies that could understand the concept, read our minds, and then execute the design. We then reviewed Think Design’s workflows, solution model, and portfolio. They met our needs and seemed to be flexible in approach. The team supplied a proof of concept and we gave them a three-week delivery timeline for it, which they met. We then proceeded with the engagement.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them between March–September 2016. Since September, they've assisted us on an intermittent basis. Think Design is still our UI/UX partner for new requests.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We were delighted with the final results. The design won an Australian award; both the UX and UI were robust and simple. The solution gained 2,400 international B2C registrations in four months. We had a 17% conversion rate – which is about 14.5% higher than the market rate – and 76% of registrants enrolled in a course. Nearly three months after launch, we signed a client that used the solution to upscale 300 associates. We also partnered with a 2,500-member company that will use our product. In total, users represented 40 different countries and intuitively appreciated the product’s value.

How did Think Design perform from a project management standpoint?

The team worked exceptionally hard, often past normal business hours. Think Design exceeded expectations for hiring a passionate design team and managing resources. We worked in-person three times a week because communication tools were ineffective. Think Design used Excel to track progress and PowerPoint for presentations, whiteboarding, flipping, charting for storyboards.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team doesn’t just deliver products; they create value by holding their performance to high internal standards. Occasionally, the team redid their own work because they weren’t satisfied with the initial results. That attitude was part of the company culture.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While scheduling is always imperfect, they could have done more planning. Think Design could have created a more collaborative environment to make planning more effective.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend them for companies that need UX design. Prospective clients should research Think Design’s past work and request a proof of concept to build a good relationship between teams. Although in-person communication isn’t always needed, it helps the partnership.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I oversee Operations at an IT Services company focused entirely on assisting healthcare companies in the US. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what reason(s) did your company hire Think Design?

We were designing a Learning Management System that was better suited towards enterprise needs. We wanted something that could help us internally while still being a useful tool for others.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to come up with an app that would be easy to use, easy to add content to, easy to use off the web and on mobile device. It also had to be easy for the HR team to monitor progress on and to create rules that would help auto assign content at set durations for new entrants to the organisation based on seniority and role.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were referred by a friend who was running another organisation.

Describe the project in detail.

We hired ThinkDesign to create a complete turnkey solution. They designed a solution and iterated it several times with mock-ups to keep things simple. Finally, they created the visual design and converted it to HTML for us to develop upon further. And also to create the complementary website for us.

What was the team composition?

There were 3 members from ThinkDesign we were interacting with. Mahesh Marath [Head of Design, ThinkDesign] was leading the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We had tremendous success with this effort. Not only was the product visually appealing, it was designed well enough for us to internally drive a change with far less resistance than we have had with other such changes.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had an easy workflow together. Since we were both based in Bangalore, Mahesh and team would visit us often. We would also get on calls to discuss when needed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

ThinkDesign took ownership of designing a well thought out product for us. They did not make us dictate to them the whole way. They led from the start and kept things going in the right sequence and at an appropriate pace.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They lack industry subject matter experts. So the effort is intensive up front to get them up to speed on the product, the issues at hand, how the workflow is in the particular dept, etc.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Trilogy is building is network of distributed cloud computing across rural America. I am the co-founder and CTO at Trilogy

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Think Design?

We hired Think Design to make updates to our website.

What were your goals for this project?

To make changes to our website to reflect our product updates and messaging

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We have worked with Think Design for more than 2 years. So we chose them to make the changes

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Think Design designed and implemented the changes requested.

What was the team composition?

Creative head, graphics designer and web developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Consistent branding and messaging is important to us. The website reflected that very well. It helped in getting the word out about Trilogy.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project was managed by a project manager and the planning and execution was done well

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Think Design team is very passionate about design and Design Thinking is in their DNA. They do a great job in understanding our ideas and converting them to a visual.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not anything specific.