Technology has certainly changed the game, but the essence of design remains rooted in creativity and problem-solving. Embracing new tools while maintaining the core principles of design is key to staying relevant and successful in an ever-changing landscape.
Azmina Poddar
Managing Director, Accenture Song
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Tell us about yourself and your work.
I am the Managing Director and Chief Creative Officer at Accenture Song, a leading global provider of digital transformation services. She oversees the design and creative aspects of Accenture Song delivering innovative, human-centered, and impactful customer experiences across industries.
As a design consultant, I have shared my design sensibilities and ideas with various sectors, such as travel and lifestyle, sports, telecom, banking and insurance, retail, and consumer. I hold a postgraduate certification from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Sir. JJ School of Arts.
How did you get associated with UMO Design Community?
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I had signed up at UXINDIA 2023 as a speaker and then I got involved in various activities.
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What are your expectations with the 1MW program?
I want to mentor and also help sponsor a few design students. I want to make sure more and more women are driving impact through design.
What is your suggestion to female students who wish to pursue design as a career?
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You bring yourself to work and not your gender. There is no difference in gender but make sure you bring in your sensibilities, your intelligence and your empathy each time to a problem that you solve.
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How is pursuing a design career different now compared to the time when you started as a professional?
I began my career in a time when Google didn’t exist, and I had to manually search for everything. YouTube came along when my daughter was born. I wouldn’t call myself a dinosaur, but I did have to put in a lot of hard work, spending hours crafting designs to achieve the right results. Nowadays, things are much easier and more efficient for designers. We no longer need to spend hours on execution; instead, I advocate for using more thinking and less doing. By prioritizing thoughtful ideation over mere execution, we can achieve more innovative and impactful designs. Technology has certainly changed the game, but the essence of design remains rooted in creativity and problem-solving. Focusing on refining ideas before diving into execution can lead to more effective and innovative designs. Embracing new tools while maintaining the core principles of design is key to staying relevant and successful in an ever-changing landscape.