1 post tagged “proto.in”

Proto: The start up event in India

Does that title make any sense to you? "Sexy. Trendy. Design. Technology" was the topic give to me as a speaker at the 3rd edition Proto.in in Chennai. For those who are unaware of what Proto is - Proto.in is a conference that aims to create an ecosystem for start-ups (mainly in the digital space i.e mobile & web) in India.

This was my first conference talk and with a topic like Sexy. Trendy... Design I had no clue what to talk about initially. Another factor that confused me about what to speak about was the fact that there were 2 parallel tracks - Business track & Technology track' on Day 1 of the conference and I was to speak in the Technology track. This meant that I would have an audience who talked in PHP, Python, Java, SQL, etc, etc trying to understand or listen to a designer to whom all those languages were gibberish or Greek!

But the question still loomed over my head.. what do I talk about? Sexy. Trendy. Design. Technology... how could I possibly present this topic?

OPTION 1
Sexy + Trendy + Design + Technology
Do I talk about how all these add up in the creation of a new product?

OPTION 2
Sexy & Trendy : Design & Technology
Should I seperate the two clusters and talk about what defines Sexy and Trendy products and then move on to how Design & Technology are integrated?

OPTION 3
Sexy & Trendy Technology enabled by Design
Or should I talk about how Design thinking can be used to create Sexy, Trendy products.

I decided to choose option 3. This topic seems to come a lot naturally to me than any of the others. It is something I practice and therefore was much more comfortable talking about.

Unfortunately because of the parallel Business track there wasn't much of an audience in the Technology track. (around 25 listeners). I guess most people who were attending Day 1 we there mainly to learn what it takes to start a company and this was exactly what was being discussed in the other room. Eitherways,I had a great experience.. the people who did listen in, showed interest and engaged in interesting conversation after I had finished my talk.

All in all !! Was a great FIRST !! Looking forward to lots more...