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Redd: Design Geeks Who Love Software

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Sharan Grandigae, Founder Businesses in India have started to realise the value of user experience in both online and offline operations. They understand that the customer now has more power than ever to influence the success of a business. And so it was in 2013 that Sharan Grandigae quit his job as Design Manager, India at Adobe Systems and started Redd to address this burgeoning demand. While not that old, it’s likely that you’ve already used something Redd has designed as they’ve worked with a number of well-known companies like Urban Ladder, BlueStone, Infosys, L&T Infotech, CaratLane, Knowlarity, UE Life Sciences, Vivriti Capital, Indifi and others.

What Sets Redd Apart?
Redd stands out for designing “version 1.0” products which are essentially software that don’t have any prior art. “It's one thing to design a better version of something that exists but incredibly harder to create something where there was nothing like it before. Our team has done this successfully time and time again,” says Sharan Grandigae, Founder of Redd.

Redd’s wide-ranging designs extend from an application for breast cancer detection for US-based UE Life Sciences, to the Indian e-commerce furniture portal Urban Ladder, to a mobile-based banking system for a UAE start-up. “What we learn in one vertical inadvertently finds application in a seemingly unrelated field and then it produces a powerful solution that wouldn’t necessarily have come from the normal course of evolution of a product or service,” remarks Sharan.

Focused Approach
Redd believes their core purpose is to “humanise technology”, which is to make bleeding-edge technology simpler, intuitive and more
palatable for humans. Abhilash K. V., Partner at Redd adds, “Technology’s job is to increase scale, speed and spread. There will be a point in time where our limits of perception and understanding will be breached and we simply won’t be able to process the quantum of data that’s generated every second. This is where designers come in, our job is to enable humans to make sense of the complex worlds we step into.”

By rethinking user testing and employing the right measurements within a design implementation, it is working on improving the reliability of design and also measuring the effects of design on the success of the company

The process followed by a company can vastly affect the outcomes of their design. Redd delivers global quality UX design with the “RAPID” method, which allows a client to deliver software over iterations that simultaneously increase the accuracy of the design and reduce the costs involved in software development. RAPID also increases the longevity of design, requiring fewer overhauls in the future, which is another factor that makes Redd extremely business-friendly.

Redd also recognises that clients sometimes need additional aids to launch their products and therefore also provides branding, graphic design, web design, copy writing and motion graphics services so they can get all their needs met in one place.

The Path Ahead
While design in India is still in its growth phase as evidenced by the increased recognition of the impact of design on businesses, it is still in its infancy because many business-owners still think of design as a function of aesthetics rather than as a tool to create growth. Redd stands poised to change this notion even as it focuses on removing the subjectivity of design. By rethinking user testing and employing the right measurements within a design implementation, it is working on improving the reliability of
design and also measuring the effects of design on the success of the company.

“Subjectivity and bias are key problems in UX design. We are working on removing the effects of both by working with ECG scanners and data analysis techniques. ”says Abhijith Dev, Partner at Redd. “We started on this path ever since we worked with Rajiv Srivatsa, (COO of Urban Ladder). His ability to let the data drive decisions was unique and a key learning for a then tiny company like ours and we continue on that trajectory to this day.”

Creating an Impact
Working on improving the effectiveness of clients’ products is great, but the true measure of a company is the way in which it defines its value in society. Redd has focused 10% of its efforts every week towards building products and services of their own that will create lasting impact.

One such development is the creation of Redd Urban Farms (RUF), which uses the studio’s design skills to produce solutions for reducing the impact of commercial farming on the environment. Tower One, their vertical farming solution, which is the result of a year-long effort, is their first product specifically designed for balconies in cities.

“Tower One also uses materials that are locally available across the country and requires little specialised skills to put it together. After creating a successful design, we immediately open-sourced it so it could be copied by any person or business because it’s more important that this idea spreads than us being able to make a profit on them,” adds Sharan.

Key People:
Sharan Grandigae (Founder and CEO), Abhilash K. V. (Partner) and Abhijith Dev (Partner)
The growing demand for effective UX design led Sharan to follow his passion and form Redd with a vision to humanise technology with design.

Office: Bangalore

Offerings: User Experience (UX), Branding, Service Design, Communication Design and Web Development