Design Leadership, Building Brands, & more
Design Leadership, Building Brands, & more
Nivedita : Director, Design at Smallcase
Nivedita : Director, Design at Smallcase
How she hires designers
Values Design Thinking Over Tools
She values awesome problem-solvers. Technical skills can be learned, but she looks for designers who can think creatively and make complex things simple.
Portfolio
Assessment
She cares more about the ‘variety of ideas’ than perfect polish in a portfolio. For that, She digs deep into the past projects to understand how the designer thinks.
Values autonomous style of working
She seeks designers who can work independently and make decisions without constant supervision. Prefers Team members who are self-driven and take ownership of their work
Style of Interviewing
She believes genuine conversations reveal more about how a designer thinks. Instead of giving homework or whiteboard challenges, she conducts in-depth conversations about past projects.
Values
Adaptability
She prefers working with people who are comfortable with fast-paced environments. and embrace new challenges
Learning via ‘Osmosis’ was her strategy at Smallcase
When I first joined Smallcase, I had very little idea about how personal finances work. To learn more about it, I would sit quietly during the meetings (literally like the quietest person in the room) and just absorb all the information. Afterwards, I would present various a lot of ideas based on all the things I have absorbed during these meeting hours. Later I did branding for ‘Zerodha Fundhouse’ which won me the award at NSE.
Some of her notable work
Some of her notable work
Swiggy Valentine's Day Campaign
Created viral emailer that personalised user data into storytelling which generated 22K tweets in 6 days & executed within 24 hours
Zerodha Fundhouse Branding
Led complete brand identity development. Created simple, transparent design system.Work displayed at NSE building during fund launch
SmallCase sponsor ad for SharkTankIndia
For Shark Tank India, Nivedita created a Mario-inspired ad for Smallcase where a pixelated character collected coins, representing investments. The nostalgic gaming concept drove a 54% increase in app logins.
Her take on “Storytelling”
Her take on “Storytelling”
“ Everything can be put across as a story - you can sell soap using stories, you can sell software using stories. In marketing, storytelling is everything ”
Study Story Structure
Learn how stories have a beginning, middle, and end, but also understand how to create interesting exceptions to this format.
Read More Stories
The fundamental way to improve storytelling is to read extensively and understand how stories work.
Keep It
Simple
Everything can be put across as a story. You can sell soap using stories, you can sell software using stories. In marketing, storytelling is everything ”
Make It
Intuitive
Design should feel intuitive rather than artistic - when storytelling becomes too layered, it becomes more art than design.
Real-World Application
At Swiggy, she turned user data into fun Valentine’s stories and engaging appraisal themed emails.
Study Story Structure
Learn how stories have a beginning, middle, and end, but also understand how to create interesting exceptions to this format.
Read More Stories
The fundamental way to improve storytelling is to read extensively and understand how stories work.
Keep It
Simple
Everything can be put across as a story. You can sell soap using stories, you can sell software using stories. In marketing, storytelling is everything ”
Make It
Intuitive
Design should feel intuitive rather than artistic - when storytelling becomes too layered, it becomes more art than design.
Real-World Application
At Swiggy, she turned user data into fun Valentine’s stories and engaging appraisal themed emails.
Connect with
Design Opportunities
Connect with
Design Opportunities
Showcase your expertise and shape the future of design. We are continuously building a directory of designers who are great at product thinking. Come, join the club.
Join the Club
Join the Club
Join the Club
Join the Club
How she hires designers
Values Design Thinking Over Tools
She values awesome problem-solvers. Technical skills can be learned, but she looks for designers who can think creatively and make complex things simple.
Portfolio
Assessment
She cares more about the ‘variety of ideas’ than perfect polish in a portfolio. For that, She digs deep into the past projects to understand how the designer thinks.
Values autonomous style of working
She seeks designers who can work independently and make decisions without constant supervision. Prefers Team members who are self-driven and take ownership of their work
Style of Interviewing
She believes genuine conversations reveal more about how a designer thinks. Instead of giving homework or whiteboard challenges, she conducts in-depth conversations about past projects.
Values
Adaptability
She prefers working with people who are comfortable with fast-paced environments. and embrace new challenges
Learning via ‘Osmosis’ was her strategy at Smallcase
When I first joined Smallcase, I had very little idea about how personal finances work. To learn more about it, I would sit quietly during the meetings (literally like the quietest person in the room) and just absorb all the information. Afterwards, I would present various a lot of ideas based on all the things I have absorbed during these meeting hours. Later I did branding for ‘Zerodha Fundhouse’ which won me the award at NSE.
Design Leadership, Building Brands, & more
Nivedita : Director, Design at Smallcase
Learning via ‘Osmosis’ was her strategy at Smallcase
When I first joined Smallcase, I had very little idea about how personal finances work. To learn more about it, I would sit quietly during the meetings (literally like the quietest person in the room) and just absorb all the information. Afterwards, I would present various a lot of ideas based on all the things I have absorbed during these meeting hours. Later I did branding for ‘Zerodha Fundhouse’ which won me the award at NSE.
Learning via ‘Osmosis’ was her strategy at Smallcase
When I first joined Smallcase, I had very little idea about how personal finances work. To learn more about it, I would sit quietly during the meetings (literally like the quietest person in the room) and just absorb all the information. Afterwards, I would present various a lot of ideas based on all the things I have absorbed during these meeting hours. Later I did branding for ‘Zerodha Fundhouse’ which won me the award at NSE.
Some of her notable work
Swiggy Valentine's Day Campaign
Created viral emailer that personalised user data into storytelling which generated 22K tweets in 6 days & executed within 24 hours
Zerodha Fundhouse Branding
Led complete brand identity development. Created simple, transparent design system.Work displayed at NSE building during fund launch
SmallCase sponsor ad for
SharkTank India
For Shark Tank India, Nivedita created a Mario-inspired ad for Smallcase where a pixelated character collected coins, representing investments. The nostalgic gaming concept drove a 54% increase in app logins.
Her take on “Storytelling”
“ Everything can be put across as a story - you can sell soap using stories, you can sell software using stories. In marketing, storytelling is everything ”
Study Story Structure
Learn how stories have a beginning, middle, and end, but also understand how to create interesting exceptions to this format.
Read More Stories
The fundamental way to improve storytelling is to read extensively and understand how stories work.
Keep It Simple
Everything can be put across as a story. You can sell soap using stories, you can sell software using stories. In marketing, storytelling is everything ”
Make It Intuitive
Design should feel intuitive rather than artistic - when storytelling becomes too layered, it becomes more art than design.
Real-World Application
At Swiggy, she turned user data into fun Valentine’s stories and engaging appraisal themed emails.
Connect with
DesignOpportunities
Showcase your expertise and shape the future of design. We are continuously building a directory of designers who are great at product thinking. Come, join the club.
Join the Club
Join the Club
How she hires designers
Values Design Thinking Over Tools
She values awesome problem-solvers. Technical skills can be learned, but she looks for designers who can think creatively and make complex things simple.
Portfolio Assessment
She cares more about the ‘variety of ideas’ than perfect polish in a portfolio. For that, She digs deep into the past projects to understand how the designer thinks.
Values autonomous style of working
She seeks designers who can work independently and make decisions without constant supervision. Prefers Team members who are self-driven and take ownership of their work
Style of Inverviewing
She believes genuine conversations reveal more about how a designer thinks. Instead of giving homework or whiteboard challenges, she conducts in-depth conversations about past projects.
Values Adaptability
She prefers working with people who are comfortable with fast-paced environments. and embrace new challenges
Design Leadership, Building Brands, & more
Nivedita : Director, Design at Smallcase