I remember seeing children used to skip a rope for fun and nobody then identified this fun as a sport. Skipping rope was everyone’s childhood activity. But, it has been ages since anyone thought of trying it. It’s a high-level cardio exercise that requires a lot of endurance strength.

I explored this during COVID days and has been a part of my life since then. While I was active in the past 2 years, 2024 started with recurring fever and cold due to weather changes. I lost the strength and wasn’t able to jump well as I lost the momentum. I was waiting for a recovery.

I asked Aman Verma (Head Coach, Jumprope Federation of India) for help. He advised me on how to approach this. He suggested taking baby steps. I should do low-impact activities like brisk walking. Then, I can try skipping if I feel better.

After a few days, I was doing fine and thought of the idea of doing 1000 Jumps for 10 days to get all my strength back. Aman & I planned out sprints. I would increase reps and build strength with a proper warm-up & cool down while sprinting as injuries are bad & recovery takes months to get back. I was super excited and started visualising the next steps.

Finally, the challenge starts

After 10 days of being persistent, the scoreboard goes like this.

The performance also depended a lot on the time of day I was practising. It also depended on how much energy I had left, my sleep last night, and my food intake.

At times, I got up late and could not practice, but I made sure I could give 20 minutes later in the evening or night..! Discipline is hard and I struggled to show up every day. Sometimes I felt high, sometimes low, sometimes, I was just clueless about what I was doing. That’s when a mentor comes into play, Aman made sure I am progressing as decided without backing out.

I made up my mind to show up, no matter what time of the day, just do it. I am still learning discipline in my daily activities. I am also building patience in every situation life throws at me. Such challenges helped to push the boundaries. They also build confidence in exploring new ways to start and get small wins every day.

There were a few important pointers I focused on around this challenge:

• Daily deep breathing exercises
• Staying hydrated
• No junk, low carb good, intake of fruits, dry fruits, veggies, etc.
• At least 7–8 hrs of sleep
• Warm-up and cool-down before & after the sprints
• Avoid unnecessary screen time

Results and Some Learnings

• Lost 1.8 Kgs
• Improved jump posture
• Better footwork
• Timing of jumps
• Felt enthusiastic & energetic
• Better sleep quality
• Better breathing patterns during the sprint

Thanks, Aman Varma & Jumprope Community for the lovely support & motivation to unlock this challenge!

After this sprint, I will take a short break to rest and get energy. I will need it for more action this year. Movement is a necessity, movement is medicine! Please Move Often & Stay Fit!

Jumprope as a sport helps in improving Physical & mental strength. Anyone thinking of trying this Fun Sport, Pls DM.

Meanwhile, tune In for more action here

Instagram & Youtube

#fitindia #fitness #jrfi #ropeskipping #jumprope

UX Writing, Microcopy! Well a new term for me! Which looks intriguing and I hope I can catch them well.

For me, writing is to express a thought with simple clear words with a fusion of creativity and articulation.

With a vision to learn and practice writing skill and get a glimpse of what UX writing is, I decided to follow the 14-Day UX writing challenge with Cartoon Food. It covers writing for tags for SEO, Promotions, Errors with Empathy, Cancellations, Loss Aversion, etc. Each has its own set of rules and styling.

Challenge was to practice writing with a given Scenario, Challenge, and Character limit. Come with solutions in max 10mins to see how quick thoughts can relate to the given scenario.

Here it goes!

Thank You! Ryan Farrell Cartoon Food for the Great UX Writing Challenge! Thanks for reading! I would love to know your views, suggestions, and feedback on this!

Can reach out to me at LinkedIn or Twitter!

UX Writing Challenge was originally published in Prototypr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Chat Bots are the next big thing in the age of Artificial Intelligence, Where AI is no longer a futuristic notion. It’s blooming everywhere. Bots are the engaging element for the users/customers. They are the face of the Product/Service/Business. Conversational Experience needs designers to jump in, take risks and create something new.

So, the bottom line is “Business who believes designing a better UX for Bots will grow, the rest will fall behind!” Which side are you on?

• Improving Communication flow with BOTS

Create a Personality of a Bot. (Give a Name, Avatar, Tone of conversation).

The Stereotype Bot and a Personal Assistant creates a lot of difference in guiding a user for the next step. Giving a Name, Character and a Unique style of conversation enhances Personality and makes it meaningful for users to communicate further. Since these bots are designed for humans, it should look and behave like a human.

• Why Personality of Bot matters?

We remember this guy who is Cortana’s distant relative named “Clippy”. Clippy was ostensibly designed to help user write easily by avoiding unnecessary caps, grammatical errors, punctuations, etc. We easily remember him however annoying that assistant was! The impression of Clippy was long-lasting. We see some of the great players are on the market as Alexa, Siri, Cortana, Google Assistant! etc.

These are designed with specific purpose and we can easily communicate and relate with our concerns and requirements.

• Pre-defined Flow (one by one) vs Free Flow (Random).

After Casual Talk (Hi/Hello) we chat about Business Talks (booking a Movie Ticket, Flights, etc.) In pre-defined flow, Bot keeps asking questions one by one and makes the process lengthy, while in free flow its a crisp and simple process.

• How bot behaves when User changes their mind.

Human brain keeps changing their decision frequently, Bot should be clever enough to understand. A predefined flow will end up asking questions and won’t able to answer if the user changes his decision which leads to Bad UX by asking the user to start over.

• How Random Access Navigation enhances Customer Experience.

A crisp and simpler chat is more meaningful as we are here to save people’s time. A pre-defined structure is rigid, while Free Flow is flexible. Users should be able to deal with Bot as how he deals in real-life.

• Dialogue Writing

Each Dialogue will bring a step closer to the User Goals. That’s the reason, a unique and impactful dialogue plays a critical role in conversation design. We remember famous dialogues of the movies because of the impact that words create in our life. We connect very well because of the character who delivers the tone perfectly.

That’s why the novelists and scriptwriters create a great impact in design a better Book reading or Movie watching experience.

• Relate with ChatBot dialogues

The conversation with end users can be designed in such a way that triggers the correct intention of the user and navigate them accordingly.

This will help in getting the following ways:

• The user will understand more about the Brand
• The user will quickly navigate to complete all the tasks
• The user will stick to clear intentions and avoid loopholes

Which will impact the following:

• Business Growth
• Customer Journey
• Free Flow conversation as Human

Bots will become clever & human-like, hence users would get addicted to their intelligence. Following a proper information study & involving better User Experience Design methodology, your Bot will be more engaging to your audience. Adiós!!

https://in.pinterest.com/pin/137359857368680862/ www.giphy.gif

Personifying Bots — A guide to create Humanlike conversations! was originally published in Chatbots Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Giving back to your community is valuable in itself, but helping others also offers many benefits. A strong team can take any crazy vision and turn it into reality. This is more about “How I learned more about the community and humanity, once I stepped outside my regular routine”. Service to others has always been important to me and I have always been happiest when I have tended to another’s needs ahead of my own.

Fellow Teammates

Great energy before the long-awaited day, where the team got an overview of past conference experiences from Bapu Sir and how volunteers have been playing a key role in making it successful. Got to know more about him as an Inspiring leader and important things about all assigned tasks which each volunteer needs to understand and take care while working. The conference begins with a little push from Design Institutions, Organizations, Passionate Individuals and Design Community across the Globe. Each one came with some expectations and happily achieved them.

“Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing”.

An open-minded and encouraging flow of communication between organizations and community members were the launchpad for making such conferences successful. It’s eye-opening to realize that doing even small things can have a big impact on others. Whether you build houses for the homeless or mail flyers for an event, you can experience the real world through hands-on work, coordination with team and time management. Also can explore your major interests at the same time. Either it is guiding people for registrations or to respected rooms for talks and workshops, It is challenging to respond in critical situations. All were assigned their work and no matter how difficult and challenging it was, everyone contributed their best and coordinated well.

Meet Interesting People — “Each one, teach one!”

The people you are helping and your fellow volunteers gave new insights. No matter what groups of people you’re working with, you’ll find that they have information and ways of looking at the situation and severity broaden your horizons.

Knowledge sharing brings seemingly endless benefits to organizations. It increases social interaction in the workplace, leads to a rise in creative problem solving, preserves pre-existing knowledge so it is not lost and passed on to the next generation. You feel good because you’re helping others, and the others feel good because they’re getting help. Its a win-win situation for all.

If you can pull it off, you will find the experience of serving others to be most rewarding. It’s an honor to get awarded by Kaladhar Bapu Sir. Thanks a ton for giving such a wonderful opportunity.

Enjoyed 3 days of Intensive Sessions, Keynotes, and Workshops. It was full of Valuable learnings, new friends, and lots of fun.

Thanks to All the Speakers, Attendees, Sponsors, Organizers and Teammates for Making it Great and Memorable! Cheers!

Volunteering experience at UX India 2018 International Conference was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Telstar 18

The official name of Football used for FIFA 18 WC is “Telstar 18”. It is Designed by Adidas, FIFA Partner and concept is based on the first Adidas’s World Cup match ball. “Telstar” is the combination of two words “ Television” and “Star”. In 1970, Telstar was used for the 1st time which had black and white pattern with 32 Panels. It was designed in that colour scheme so that It is easily visible on a Black and White TV.

“Telstar 18” has six polygons. They are not stitched but glued together flawlessly. The ball has an embedded NFC (Near Field Communication) Chip. It is designed to the track metrics like speed and trajectory and share necessary information.

VAR (Video Assistant Referees)

The objective of VAR is to assist referees. It allows the referee or the video assistant to review decisions where a “clear and obvious” error is spotted.

Scenarios where VAR can be used

1. Review to check the Goal/Fouls
2. Penalties
3. Yellow Card/Red Card Warnings
4. Mistaken Identity

Step 1: Incident Occurs

Some incident happens on the ground and referee needs to review the foul or VAR advices referee to review the decision.

Step 2: Review Taken

The Video footage is reviewed by VAR team.

Step 3: Correct Action

The referee accepts the reviewed information from the VAR and takes the appropriate action.

EPTS (Electronic Performance & Tracking System)

This system is used to track player and team performance. It track player’s activity and ball, which helps monitoring heartbeats, energy levels, stamina, positioning data, passing, pressing, speed and tackles. Each team are given 3 Tablets to monitor the player statistics and video footage in real time. This system include measurement technologies such as a Global (GPS) or Local (LPS) Positioning System which is combined by embedding (gyroscopes and accelerometers) electromechanical devices.

Goal Line Technology

1. FIFA confirmed the use of Goal Control at the 2015 FIFA World Cup. The goal-line technology applies solely to the line of the goal and only to check whether a goal has been scored or not.
2. Ball containing NFC chip enters the Magnetic field around the Goal-post frame.
3. As per rule, if the Ball sets for 60 milliseconds in that magnetic field, then only the goal is counted.
4. The referees are notified immediately if the goal is scored via referee’s Hublot watch, by vibration and visual signal.

4K UHD and Virtual Reality

During every world cup, there is new broadcast technology and this year it’s 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD).

The resolution is (4,096 by 2,160 pixels). This service is available online in U.K via the BBC iPlayer. It streams will be a first-come first-served basis. This means only few thousands of people will be able to watch at any one time. The BBC also has a VR feed, available via the BBC Sport VR application, allowing viewers to feel as they are in a private box at the stadium.

Let the games begin!

Image Credits: sportvideos.tv, dailymail.uk, marca.com, GLTTech

New design has many new features with hassle free navigation. When you visit the site, it lands on to the old site with a red button to explore Beta Version. In new version too, there is an option to return to old site in case user wants to go back.

Landing Page

The landing page of website shows images on the background, giving a professional aspect with options on Navigation Bar. Looks clean and clutter free, Quick search panel to find trains or check PNR status on the left.

Check seats without Login

In new version, user can check trains and availability of seats without logging in, hence saving a lot of time. It shows the list of various trains, its details and PNR status. Earlier user has to fill in the credentials first and then check the availability of seats and appropriate trains.

Filters to plan their journey appropriately

User can explore diverse options to enhance their journey. Some key filters like type of Flexibility with time, Journey class, Train Type, Quota, Arrival-Departure, no of passengers etc. are quite essential. Even on the transactions window, user can access all data of booked tickets with respect to their journey date, booking date, upcoming journey and past journey.

Waiting list prediction new algorithm

There is a new ‘Waiting list prediction’ feature through which users can get the probability of a Waitlisted or RAC ticket getting confirmed. This prediction helps users to know the probability of tickets under waiting list will get confirmed or not. New algorithm is based on past trends of that train from last 13 years which would be accurate enough.

Dashboard Design

The new design shows all the primary data in one screen, It includes Train Name, Train Number, Journey Time, Distance, Arrival and departure time. This will help user to get all the necessary data at one place.

Sorting by Colour scheme

Types of train is categorised using colours (Duronto/Garib-Rath/ Rajdhani) has its impression on users mind, its easy to select the checkbox filters. This will help users to remember the colour scheme in long run.

Apart from train bookings, IRCTC is also providing service to book flights, hotel, cabs, food, holiday packages, tourist trains, charter trains, etc. The whole journey could be planned through the same service point.

Changing in Plans

Users usually change their plans while travelling, there are few key features to help as cancellation of tickets, printing, additional SMS, selecting alternative train by using ‘Vikalp’ option and changing boarding point, etc. This Scheme is only for those tickets which have been booked through IRCTC website. As the chart is prepared, and if your ticket is wait-listed, user will receive an SMS, informing about activation of Vikalp option, and your new train, coach and berth numbers would be shared. This will really help users and get confirmed accommodation to waitlisted passengers which ensures optimal utilisation of available accommodation.

Digital Payments

Introducing IRCTC wallets is hassle free and it secures transactions. It can be manageable and refilled online. Its independent of any specific bank.

Responsive Design

The website has been designed for all the devices It works flawlessly on mobiles, desktops, laptops and tablets.

What’s more in the Pipeline?

Even after changing the website drastically, more refinement are yet to come. Journeys with Indian Railways are going to be more comfortable, as IRCTC is introducing a Train Captain soon for each train, who will look after all the complaints and issues during the journey. This will enrich the travel experience.

Image Credits: www.irctc.co.in/

IRCTC Revamped: Its Fresh and User Centric! was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I and my team are building a Bot design platform that helps one to create Bots and train them. The user can define the conversation flow and streamline the amount of information sharing to the user.

Training a bot with all the guidelines is the challenging task, but this is how your bot will be clever and meet business goals.

I can relate this to the conversation I have with my mom. In spite of all the improper details and queries I ask my mom, she easily understands my need and helps me out.

She understands each and everything very well and tries to fulfil it. Mom is the best example of Natural Intelligence in every house. Natural intelligence (NI) is the opposite of artificial intelligence: it is all the systems of control that are not artefact, but rather are present in biology. Understanding NI requires understanding all of these influences on human emotions, behaviour, and their interactions. Can we design a bot that smarter? Maybe!

A Bot needs to provide information in terms of text, images, videos, locations, codes, etc as user demands.

Understanding a users intention with too many conversational errors is a challenging NLU (Natural Language Understanding) training. Thus developers trying out the best practise to make sure the product tool delivers accurate user expectations.

Many synonyms, typos, conversational pattern and subject matter vocabulary is supposed to be added to the Bot so that it replies correctly and meets the User expectations. It might have the following issues to be addressed.

• Spelling and grammar check
• Finding synonyms, antonyms, homonym, acronyms, etc
• Parsing information from the internet.
• Understanding meanings of words, phrases, sentences, documents, and queries
• Machine Translation (e.g Translate text from English to Hindi)
• Question Answering and doing tasks (e.g scheduling appointments, ordering a laptop, Booking Tickets, etc.)

“A consistent experience is a better experience.” — Mark Eberman

Once you provide a better User Experience, there is no way back!

Making each word related to logic

For e.g.

• The word “Rose”, has two meanings. One is to have gotten up and another is a type of flower.
• The word “Current” has two meanings. One is up to date and another is the flow of water.

The bot should behave smartly to understand which meaning to pick up as an intent and trigger them to its entities with the concerned expression.

Making each sentence relate to the logic

For e.g.

• If you mess with the bull, you get the horns.
• Weeds are easy to grow and hard to kill.

The sentences convey a meaning which a human brain easily understands but for bot its a mess.

These sentences have an independent clause, thought of the phrase can relate to anything. The dependent clause is used to turn a simple thought into a more descriptive, informative one.

Question answering

For e.g.

- What is the capital of India? Ans. Delhi

The bot can easily understand the intent of the question and answers it correctly.

- How could I present myself better?

The bot has too many suggestions for this question and now Bot needs some more clarity to answer it for a specific purpose.

These Bots will become more clever and human-like, hence we would be addicted to their intelligence. Following a proper information study and involving better User Experience Design methodology, your Bot will be more engaging to your audience.

Cheers!

Image Credits http://www.positivemomdiary.com/ https://apparat.cc/world/jobs-for-machines-life-for-people/attachment/robots-army/ https://giphy.com/ https://emilyhagedorn.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/2012-will-be-my-year-to-code/

How should a Bot behave? As smart as your Mom! was originally published in Chatbots Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I pursued Masters in Product Design from MIT Institute of Design, Pune. I worked as User Experience Design Intern at YUJ Designs during my final year graduation project. My key responsibilities mainly include working closely with the Clients and Design team.

Before landing

After years of schooling and sustaining a comfortable academic routine, I itched to explore and understand what jobs were like in the real world. I wanted to challenge and immerse myself within a new culture and environment, was targeting a space where I can deliver a full-fledged product. Being a winner at UXPLORER 2016 also gave me an opportunity to work with YUJ Designs. Before joining I had a chat with my seniors working there, asked about their experience and many silly doubts. It’s a necessary thing to do before you land into a new work space.

Work Work Work!

Cycling down to the office every day, staying in a new house, meeting many new people was something really engaging. Working on the concepts, engaging with co-workers, mentors boosted my confidence. Every day was a new learning experience and I gradually gain confidence in applying my newly acquired design thinking and skills. I worked on designing a Mobile App, excited right from the initial brief, I started understanding every nook and corner of the project, diving deep into the complexity of the content and kept on asking all storming doubts in my mind. Reviews with mentors really helped to know what’s going wrong and what needs to be done.

Take a Break

“Have regular hours for work and play, make each day both useful and pleasant”

Having fun, making friends, getting to know your coworkers, work was more enjoyable that way. It’s always great to see colleagues in a playful mood and excitement.

Smart work is the key

“Every design problem is unique. Intuition can be the illusion of knowing,

Trying to be stupid is a skill.”

Being an intern is not an easy job. After all, it’s not just about the project you are working on, It is more about how you work and less about what you work. There is a lot to learn in a short amount of time. Expectations can sometimes be high. You can’t get upset easily and have to be willing to put in the extra hours and gets things done. My mentors here have also taught me how to mask and even select things using shortcuts so that using a new software is not a constraint to the project.

Every pixel counts

College submissions were fine with all the mistakes and errors. But here, Industry counts each and every pixel, perfect to the core. Designing an Interface has its basics, understanding importance visual aesthetics helped enhancing the look and feel of the design. Iterations on the colour palette, fonts, icons, typography, sizing, alignment, and spacing made me understand the intricate role of Designer.

The Jump

Preparing for my final jury was easy for me as all hard work done was worth having full confidence on the project. After all, All we need is true appreciation both from academics and Industry.

Reflecting back on everything, it’s been quite a memorable Journey, a big thank you to YUJ family for putting up with me all possible support and guidance.

It’s been a great journey with lots more to look forward to.

Cheers!

Image Credits: http://www.progressiveteacher.in/ https://minecraftpixelarttemplates.wordpress.com/ https://giphy.com/

Lessons from my UX design internship was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I am Sagar Kathrani, User Experience Designer from Mumbai.

“Life is like Sailing, you can use any wind to go in any direction!”

“I never intended to be an Engineer. I always believed that I was destined to be someone else. People predicted that I would end up dropping out with back logs, yet I felt like it was worth the risks. I went into engineering with the attitude that I could not fail, and survive till the last”.

Engineering to Design

“I did Mechanical Engineering in my bachelors from Mumbai University and was happy to play around products with isometric drawing, orthographic or multi-view drawings. Regular sketching and painting made me think about Designing as a career. College seniors and professors helped me for design entrance exams”.

Building a Portfolio

“A strong portfolio demonstrating a passion in design really helps to get in a design college. Initially I started with sketches and word documents, later improved the content and added other creative pursuits (paintings, crafts, etc.)”.

Design College

“Design courses have similar pattern, less classes more of self learning & doing methodology. Semester break of two months in which I thought of doing an Internship in a start-up. Learned about how deep User Experience Design is and how huge impact it creates in todays world. In final semester, I worked with a Design Agency. Learning from such experienced professionals was truly an amazing experience”.

Stepping into the Industry

“Without any prior experience, It started out being incredibly difficult. There is a lot to learn and deliver in a short amount of time. Client expectations can sometimes be high. You can’t get upset easily and have to be willing to put in the extra hours and gets things done.

The biggest challenge a designer face is transforming something that’s complicate or unpleasant into a meaningful, usable, and profitable system considering user goals, design goals and business goals which consumes the bubble of user experience. User study makes designer to empathise their requirements and imagine possible task & scenarios along with the product journey. These are the process which I followed for an academic project named “Bookloop”

Crafting a digital experience using usability principles without losing the sight of creativity is always a challenge. Research, user study, requirement analysis, concept generation, wireframe iteration, colour palettes, fonts, icons, typography, sizing, alignment and spacing made me understand the intricate characteristic of a designer.

I strongly believe in my all time inspiration who says,

“ People don’t know what they want.. Until and unless you show them..!!

At every pixel, there is fight of, “Devil is in the details!”.

The Design is only successful, when the user is. Good design to me is by following User Centered Design methodology.

New Winds

Everything up to this point in my life has taught me so many valuable lessons, of who I am, and where I want to be. I’m at the start of my career, and my boat is sailing towards challenging winds for which I am ready!

I hope this brings a unique set of experience!

Cheers!

My design journey! was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.