Backbencher: Across the Design-verse

Last month, when Aravindan U told us that we are hosting the next Friends of Figma, Chennai event at Zuper , I was quite nervous just thinking about speaking in front of people as I had never done this before in even a small space - and this event was going to host for a total count of 100+!

To be quite honest, we were drowned with a lot of work. We were speed-running the deliverables for this month's projects in hand thanks to Akshobhya R leaving for his vacation, that we had very little time to prepare for this event. Then just 2 weeks before the event, it dawned on all of us. I was becoming anxious by the day, thinking about what to talk. It was only at this point that we got to know from the event organisers that about 150+ people have registered for the event.

When we finally decided the topics to talk about, there was a sense of comfort knowing it is about what we have been doing for most of our time here at Zuper - working on Advanced Prototyping and doing a Well-Documented Hand-off.

Akshobhya R & Bharath S. have both been very passionate about prototyping. It always gives us the extra spark that our ideations and final designs need. Mind you, this wasn't just about finesse. This was about showcasing an idea to people (in our case, stakeholders) to better relate to our thought process and the design decisions we've taken. We as designers take perspectives for granted - and prototyping fixes this when it comes to others' perspectives. Without this, design cannot showcase itself.

Just as much as how prototyping is important, annotations is equally important for a good design-to-dev handoff process. What good is your design - whether it's the perfect solution, or the best prototype you have cooked - if it can never see the light of day the way you intended it to?

Uncle Ben once said, "With great power, comes great responsibility."

Designs have to be well-documented in order to achieve a 1:1 transition from Design to Development. And that's what Aravindan U and I spoke about.

Speaking of Aravindan U , ever since he joined our team, we've skyrocketed our productivity and creativity. His initiatives and support towards the team have helped us shape our work in the most optimised way ever. That goes to say how much a structured way of working helps. Believe me when I say it was entirely his contribution that helped us make this event a success! (a small plug here - he created all the illustrations for my presentation, from scratch, just few hours before the event. Now that's called inspiration and working with passion!)

Everything aligned perfectly; the feedback we received truly exceeded our expectations. Students, interns, and working professionals alike found the event quite informative and expressed a strong desire for more such events in the future. We're extremely grateful to Friends of Figma, Chennai , and our appreciation extends to Sandeep Baskaran for fostering such an incredible community.

"Beyond the Canvas" wouldn't have been possible without our behind-the-scenes Zuperhumans! A huge thanks to Afigith Prakash Sanjana Uppili Vignesh Vinayagam Sanjana A Komal Bohara Aravindan U Chithra R. for pulling this off.

#LifeAtZuper #Zuper