Currently reading, among half a dozen other books, Kishore Biyani‘s new book, “It happened in India“. As one would guess, it’s all about the Pantaloon group’s meteoric rise and how Kishore Biyani has contributed to this growth. More when I complete reading this book. But, here’s couple of quick highlights…
a) There’s almost a whole chapter on Idiom, the design consulting company that Kishore Biyani has funded. And there’s considerable focus on design management and his conviction in the ‘rapid prototyping + testing + iterate & then rollout’ approach. Good stuff.
b) His daughter’s written the foreword and later, I got to hear that she’s a design school graduate. Design thinking begins at home, it seems!
I was just about to read this one..
Thanks..
Noticed that Bangalore Central is/was Idiom’s client – > http://www.idiom.co.in/pdf/central.pdf
Not sure what their involvement with Bangalore Central is/was, but here’s my experience shopping at Bangalore Central – >
http://muthuonline.com/archives/2007/01/27/user-experience-in-shopping-malls-in-bangalore/
IMHO, Retail Customer Experience in India has gotta looong way to go and faces many challenges, ‘Scalability’ being one of them.
But it heartening to know that a lot more focus on design is being attempted and pursued.
Most, if not all, the “Central” properties (owned by the Future Group) and the rest of their retail properties (Pantaloon stores, Big Bazaar, Jealous 21, Food Bazaar, etc.) are done by Idiom. Nothing surprising considering Kishore Biyani’s been instrumental in setting up Idiom.
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