Design Thinking in Practice - Notes from an eChai Design Meetup in Ahmedabad

“Design thinking isn’t a buzzword anymore. It’s becoming a core leadership skill.” 💡

Last month, I had the joy of speaking at the eChai Ventures Ahmedabad Design Meetup at the beautiful iHub premises in Ahmedabad. I must say this campus has a personality of itself. The aura of the space itself invites creativity and innovation. The audience had settled down and the speakers were just starting the introductions.

On stage with me were fellow women founders and designers, Kushboo Shah (Principal Designer, Studio Juxta), Drashti Vora (Partner at Studuo - Branding & UI/UX), Sheel Damani (Founder and Principal Strategist, Fruitfly Design), Isha Nadkarni Talsania (Co-founder Future Learning Circles), Rujuta Shah (Founder - Studio Oblique) who are quietly (and boldly) shaping the next wave of digital products.

Big credit to Jatin Chaudhary for putting together such a well-structured and purposeful meetup. Events like this only happen when there’s real intent and strong execution behind them.

We shared stories from nuances of real‑world projects: launches that created impact, projects that gave freedom to experiment, and moments where a single user interview or a question or the persistence to keep going changed the entire roadmap.

What stayed with me was the curiosity in the room.
“Where do you draw the line between business asks and user needs?”
“How do I find a way to express my creative way in my work which comes with constraints of its own?”
“What are the practical ways in which AI has helped you in your process?”
These weren’t theoretical questions; they came from product owners, founders, and designers wrestling with live products and real constraints.

The takeaways were crisp and actionable. It was inspiring to see design thinking applied across such a wide spectrum—healthcare, fintech, SaaS, education—and to feel how powerful it becomes when teams truly put humans at the center of every decision. 🧠✨

If you’re designing products today, design thinking isn’t a “nice to have” anymore—it’s your competitive edge.

Were you at the meetup, or have a story where design thinking changed your product’s direction?

👇 Share your experience in the comments, and if you’d like to swap notes or collaborate on human‑centered product journeys, let’s connect. 💬✨