Nitin has 21 years of work experience in Digital Transformation, Product Design & User Experience. He specializes in leading multi-functional teams and establishing best user experience practices and processes in the organisations.

The world is moving towards digital and is experiencing digital-first ecosystems. Naturally, the usage of digital has become pivotal in the nation’s growth. But the true potential of an economy lies in the marriage of digital and CXOInSIGHTS physical universes. While the pandemic pushed digital living, we still witnessed long queues outside stores and rush at the airports. Another such example is the Google glass. It may not have worked well but the concept of a digital layer in a physical universe was an exceptional take on modern-day immersive experiences. Needless to say, phygital ecosystems will be the future of selling and creating a sustainable customer journey. A prime enabler of the phygital universe will be the mindfully designed integrated platforms or the everything apps. A careful combination of the physical and digital ecosystems, blended with technology and topped with human touch to ensure customer centricity, empathy and self-service, the integrated platforms will be a true example of design thinking changing this world. With design thinking and integrated apps, businesses will now be focused on solving for specific customer use cases in a mobile friendly experience that connects the two seamlessly.

With design thinking and integrated apps, businesses will now be focused on solving for specific customer use cases in a mobile friendly experience that connects the two seamlessly

A new and young entrant in this space has recently launched its own Super App. The platform is allowing people to experience airports beyond the usual. It was impossible for airports to think like an OTA and provide a flight booking experience connecting the digital universes with physical. However, with this app, it has become a reality. Airports will no longer be limited to catching flight but will also be a gateway to culture, cuisines and crafts. Because the business looked at crafting solutions for specific persons and not the masses, a fulfilling experience like this was developed. In the current era, there is a pressing need to build a hyper-relevant ecosystem for the 21st-century customer. The customer who is impulsive once but extremely calculative the next time. The same customer is picky and their perception drives the sale, brand love and most importantly, loyalty. Nearly 63 percent of consumers say they would think more positively of a brand if it gave them content that was more valuable, interesting or relevant. Imagine the scale that’s achievable and the personalization potential for businesses.

Design thinking has also enabled brands to adapt to a D2C model and reduce the acquisition cost of this customer. In case of an FMCG product such as a packet of Besan, physical universe allowed selling just the packet of besan. These bouquet of products and services are a result of this iterative design thinking. With this, you are closer to a customer and build an experience with the recipes, nutritional conversations and other adjacent products. At the end, it gives birth to an experience economy which is reducing the distance and creating a two way communication between a customer and a business. In the current era of selling, disciplined thinking, consistency and the right mix of iterations build a winning formula. Integrated apps will allow this to smoothly function. A customer that enters these applications will be served with a bouquet of services and products that fit their taste. These will create an eye for experiences.

Another area of opportunity for businesses in case of design thinking is to make businesses real faster. A fintech that started three years ago now has a valuation of Billions because the gap between the business and the customer reduced tremendously. It powers a relationship of trust between the two parties which leads to convenience with such an extensive experience. At the end, being meaningful and relevant is the most important for design thinking to work successfully in a phygital world. An iterative process, will be a recipe for excellence. The world has seen successful apps in payments, communication/ instant messaging, transportation among others. However, the area for service based everything apps still remains unexplored. The potential of this segment is unparalleled and as a group, we have successfully invested in this with our recent venture. In today’s world, brands need to understand the need to work together for the upliftment of the economy at large. This is a decade of habit alteration for digital. If the digital and physical ecosystems join hands, the world will witness the evolution of experiential living.