#sparkchamber 031620 — Sheel Damani
Kindred spirit alert as #sparkchamber welcomes designer, brand strategist, and storyteller [by way of copywriting] Sheel Damani. An artist at heart, with the idea of transforming the lens of how we all look at work, she engages at the intersection of business, technology, and human values, helping companies frame their product/business strategy with a clear voice [market positioning], defined user-purpose [job stories], and a real plan [experience strategy]. She uses design as a tool to think, plan, and bring useful and meaningful concepts to life. “Call them products, services, or marketing — I look at all interactions as stories, and every process from the lens of information architecture in an attempt to intentionally align things.”
A woman designer in a man’s world of entrepreneurs, technologists, and leaders, Sheel is transitioning into the space of design-leadership and management. Learning each day to be better, and seeking to work with people who bring a mature, collaborative approach to design, “I look for inspiration from the universe. I think it comes from all walks of life if one is observing.”
Her perspective and expertise is on display at Medium with a bounty of quick reads that outline forward-reaching strategies for information architecture, brand storytelling, user experience, and more. She speaks on the wisdom of developing for an evolving audience — don’t look for perfection before launch as the audience may have changed by the time you get to market; a more successful approach is to “fail fast, and go back and rework something” — and the positive impact of “bringing design as a conscious thought early on.” Link to more of her business side.
On the “art” side, Sheel — a “left-handed crafter, right-brained artist” — draws to express her personal love for patterns, pen and ink — lovely!
1.] Where do ideas come from?
Ideas come from the muscle of observation, muscle of curiosity and muscle of imagination. All need regular exercise and training.
When we make positive connections within, it helps us see beyond the visible situation or existing solutions.
2.] What is the itch you are scratching?
The itch is to bring positive energy to business ideas through design, inclusion and inspire stakeholders to see a more significant goal beyond operational or profitable success.
The work we do for the external world is only a fraction of the universe within. Aligning our daily life towards a meaningful pursuit brings satisfaction that one may not need to find from outside of routines :)
3.] Early bird or night owl? Tortoise or hare?
I love early mornings. The mind brings a seamless connection of thoughts at 4 or 5 AM with good sleep.
I believe in immersing in the subject/industry, I am working for, by reading and collecting related information for a few days before ideation. I write everything down as stories. As mindmaps, small paragraphs or keyword summaries to breakdown my thoughts and sleep over it.
Flow is a feeling we all discover when we forget about the result and carve-out a complete piece over continuous sittings or in a single session. In my case, I prefer to bring a form to most ideas in one sitting [irrespective of time] if I feel thoughts are flowing well.
4.] How do you know when you are done?
When the design speaks to me. At the end of the day, a voice does tell you if something is shaping out well. I stop there.
There will always be scope for improvement. You just know, that a piece is well done to ship when it has a significant shelf life and potential to build further on it with time.
