Interview with Saurabh Rathi | A Multi-Disciplinary Designer with an Engineering Background

I am an experienced designer specialising in crafting innovative user experiences that seamlessly integrate both physical and digital elements. With a background in both engineering and transportation design, I possess a unique skill set that allows me to conceptualise and implement novel interfaces and interaction paradigms.

My approach involves a blend of designing for electrons, such as creating intuitive software interfaces, and designing for atoms, which involves crafting hardware components that complement these interfaces.

My journey into design was sparked by a childhood fascination with automobiles and their captivating forms. From a young age, I found myself immersed in sketching cars, filling my school notebooks with doodles of sleek vehicles. This passion led me to pursue a career in engineering, driven by a desire to unravel the intricacies of automotive mechanics.

I am honoured to be a part of the Devices Design Group at Amazon, where I serve as a multi-modal UX Designer. Within our group, we are dedicated to designing seamless and intuitive experiences for users interacting with Alexa across various surfaces and modalities.

As a multi-modal designer, my role revolves around considering all possible interaction modalities, including touch, voice, gestures, and more. By understanding how users engage with Alexa through different channels, I strive to design experiences that effortlessly cater to their needs and preferences.

Design, to me, is the culmination of a lifelong passion for creativity and problem-solving.

A good design seamlessly integrates simplicity, functionality, and attention to detail. It anticipates and fulfills user needs intuitively, enhancing the overall user experience. A good design is not only visually appealing but also highly usable and efficient, embodying the principle of simplicity and functionality.

The main source of inspiration was looking at how people think, feel, and behave. Watching people who were new to driving in US and the challenges they faced was very interesting and inspired me to come up with a solution.

Winning the London Design Award holds immense significance for me, my company, and our team. Thank you!

The main challenges I faced during the design process revolved around creating a novel interface without many existing samples of work to reference. Additionally, I needed to ensure that the information was visualised in a way that was easy for non-technical or less tech-savvy drivers to understand and utilise effectively.

To overcome these challenges, I took a first-principles approach, focusing on fundamental concepts and building from there. I prioritised creating a strong information hierarchy to cater to both expert users who may want to delve deep into the data and amateur drivers who require high-level yet actionable insights.

By designing with clarity and simplicity in mind, I aimed to make the interface intuitive and accessible to a wide range of users, regardless of their technical proficiency.

Winning this award holds significant personal meaning for me as a designer as it validates the hard work and dedication I've put in.

My advice for aspiring designers aiming to create award-winning designs is to prioritise continuous learning, and embracing new trends, technologies, and methodologies. Practice iteration and feedback, welcoming constructive criticism as an opportunity for growth and refinement.

Focus on solving real-world problems, understanding user needs, and designing with empathy and purpose. By following these principles, aspiring designers can increase their chances of creating impactful and award-winning designs that resonate with users and make a meaningful difference in the world.

My parents, colleagues and teachers at Art Center.