1THING - Workspace of the Future

1THING is a freelancing website that makes it easier for the world's best businesses and independent professionals to find each other regardless of geographical location or time constraints. With 1THING, freelancers can offer their specialties in Product Design and Management, giving businesses the ability to access the skills they need to move forward with their projects. This platform makes it simple, fast, and cost-effective for clients to find, hire, work with, and pay freelancers. 1THING is perfect for businesses of all shapes and sizes, from single-person startups to major corporations. It makes finding the right people for the job effortless and allows freelancers to set their own rates so they can get the most out of their work.

At 1THING, I was working closely with Shashank Hudkar, who was the Design Head, and we worked together on 1THING’s main product offering - WorkSpace, a collaborative platform for businesses to hire, collaborate, and manage their design team. This platform enabled designers to earn well, deliver quality even when working remotely, and it also gave a major advantage to the companies that were hiring - they would now be able to hire designers from anywhere, save money, and attain guaranteed quality. By 2018, we had successfully delivered over 50+ products through a network of 100+ top designers from India and outside countries, helping companies like PayTM, UAE-Xchange, Tata, RBL Bank, WeddingWire, and more.

In early 2018, I was given the chance to work on our rebranding initiative. This entailed a major brand overhaul, and I worked with Shashank to closely establish the changed ideology behind the company and form a strong brand identity. During this activity, I thoroughly researched the best practices for morphing company culture to a strong visual identity and new trends in the industry. Additionally, I explored 3D realism and after-effecting in order to create the launch video for the new brand.

One of the many exciting parts of being in a startup is the opportunity to contribute to parts of the company that aren’t necessarily defined in your role. I uncovered a hidden gold mine within the community initiatives and I started Monochrome as ‘A Knowledge Brand’ by 1THING’. This platform served as a key to transforming me as a designer, as I got a chance to meet and learn from the best talent in India. It also provided us with the leverage to unlock the latent power of our design network, and it had four branches: Newsletters, School (Blog Series), Live (AMAs with Design Leaders), and Events (Meetups). All of these initiatives were united by a single, collective vision: to empower India with UX-Q.