At Think Design, our teams don’t just design for people- we design with people.
Through a recent cultural immersion and co-creation workshop in Tokyo, we deepened our local understanding and brought global experience design closer to real-life needs; keeping us inspired to create relevant, human-centred experiences.
Recently, our team, led by Venky Hariharan, Karthik Gandham and Akshay Yerramilli, partnered with our client in Japan developing an immersive language learning app that combines language learning, interactive gameplay, and cultural insights. As their expert UX and game design partner, we brought Indian design rigor combined with local cultural context to the table.
Our approach was straightforward and purposeful: before designing solutions, we lived the user experience. Through cultural immersion activities including calligraphy and origami workshops, we connected with Japanese traditions. Language learning sessions helped us understand communication challenges our personas face. Our “day in the life” exercise allowed us to step into the shoes of Tokyo tourists, one of the app’s key personas. Following these immersive experiences, we conducted focused brainstorming activities specifically designed to enhance the app’s functionality and user experience. The exercises revealed barriers, and pain points our key personas face, which informed the design of key features for the app.
The workshop focused on mapping customer journeys and prioritizing features that solve genuine user problems. By integrating these insights into the language learning game, we ensured the product delivers practical, relevant, and user-centered solutions that make learning accessible and enjoyable.
This engagement highlights that we don’t just apply frameworks; we adapt them through cultural insight and rigorous research.
At Think Design, we design with integrity, empathy, and impact – turning local understanding into global CX excellence.