Building A People-Platform

A while ago, we (ShikshaLokam) organised Innovation Revolution II – an initiative to nurture diversity, encourage innovation and brush up the problem-solving skills of the team. The challenge huddled members from cross-functional teams to brainstorm, ideate, plan and innovate a feasible solution that can ensure self-sustaining interactions on SolvED India’s first marketplace for social innovation in education leadership).

Since the core idea of SolvED is based on building a community of different actors in the education ecosystem, it compelled teams to think of platform-based solutions.

On the finale day, we had the pleasure of hosting Praveen Srivatsa, Director of Asthrasoft Consulting and Kuldeep Dantewadia, Co-founder of Reap Benefit on the jury. They not only chose the winning team (Team Solvators, which luckily I was part of) of this innovation marathon but also brushed up our knowledge of ‘platforms’. Here, I, with a limited understanding of it, have tried to put the puzzle of creating an ‘ideal platform’ together.

Let’s roll back to the year 2020. Yes! Our not-so-favourite year when COVID-19 was at its peak. The technology’s ‘reach and teach’ which earlier remained confined to specific professionals and students, seeped into the deepest cores of the population helping them to survive the vicious trap of isolation along with the deadly virus. Consequently, a new mutant of tech-dependent individuals emerged, transforming how they shopped, travelled, and dined.

Amidst this technological revolution, it is worth contemplating what factors contributed to these platforms becoming indispensable in our lives. Or what made entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg, Deepinder Goyal, Travis Kalanick, and others succeed in designing applications that stood out from the competition?- the secret sauce that captivated the masses.

The insightful interaction with the jury of Innovation Revolution II projected some invaluable lessons in building a ‘people’s platform’ –

Long story short- “Power of the platform lies in its SIMPLICITY”- Anybody and everybody on this planet (of course, with appropriate age restrictions at times) should be able to use the platform. People are mostly attracted to a platform not because of some extraordinary features that are complicated but because of the easy-to-navigate user journey and the availability in their own local language.

Leverage what is inherent- At ShikshaLokam we have been impressed numerous times on using what exists rather than starting from scratch. A platform too, ideally, should feed upon the existing human behaviour, making them feel enabled to do things. Instead of giving them a hurdle to learn in order to be able to consume what you have to offer, building on core habits works wonders.

Build noise & filter it – You HAVE to build the noise. Meaning, your platform should be available to all. And everyone should find meaning/value in your service. In a quest to build a ‘people platform’, the biases of gender, geography, knowledge bank and also literacy levels, to some extent should wane away. To ensure maximum noise, providing the platform to people where they are, is the best way to go. And once you have done that, your platform should unfailingly be able to filter that noise too. In simple words, people should be able to find what they are looking for, easily on your platform, from among millions.

Create a plethora of stories- Stories have a way of sticking for longer and travelling faster than one can expect or imagine. While you build the ‘noise’ by opening up your platform to millions of users, you are inviting them to create their stories around it. These stories have a way of travelling and will carry (market) your platform to places, without your intervention. Once these stories are built, feed the platform with a summary of what people want more of.

Learning beyond language- Communication without language is the way to go. As our jury said, ‘the core of learning is inherent’, it goes beyond language barriers. When you design independent of language, anyone from anywhere, speaking any language, will be willing to interact with the platform. The value a platform adds to one’s experience, irrespective of the language they speak will keep the audience hooked. And effortlessly, catalyse stories to add to that plethora you seek.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve and widen further, the future prospects of a platform boil down to the survival of the most acceptable and adaptable- a ‘people platform’ rather than a superior one. A platform that prioritises the user experience, where everyone feels welcomed, valued, and empowered to foster connections, and drive innovations.

Glimpses from Innovation Revolution 2

Sonal Bhasin

A hopeful dreamer who prefers to breathe in a fictional world of a good book than in the real one, a designer who wishes to make the world more aesthetic, colorful and beautiful than she found it to be, and the communication lead for ShikshaLokam in pursuit of becoming a storyteller. Sonal is an education enthusiast, who has herself been teaching for over 12 years and strongly believes in the power of education, opportunity and hard work.