Meet the one-man army who won the Hero CoLabs, the Global App Challenge -By Monish Gadiya from SCMHRD Pune

The alluring name and reputation of the brand Hero got me! The chance of participating in a global competition made me feel that it would complete my journey of a B-School. Here is a brief of my experience at Hero CoLabs, the Global App Challenge, filled with a multitude of learnings.

The competition was superbly organized, in my opinion. Right from the amazing Hero CoLabs website, to the swift replies from the team to resolve our queries, to the announcement video, everything was special and impeccable. 

I vividly remember the moment when I realized I won the Hero CoLabs. The first thing that came to my mind was how all the hard work has paid off. I wasn't expecting this at all! In fact, I had even forgotten about the result announcement. We were in the middle of a quiz for another competition on Unstop (formerly Dare2Compete)when a friend reminded me about the results. I was nervous. I opened Hero's official Instagram account. And to my utter astonishment and surprise, there was my name in the caption amongst the winners. I then saw my photograph and the UI I'd designed in the video. It was a very special moment to be announced as the winner of the Hero CoLabs. Just to be sure that this was indeed real, I even checked the Hero CoLabs website and cross-checked the results. It was for real!

Falling and getting back up

Upon reading the problem statement, I could instantly connect with what was expected from the participants. Preparation is the most exciting phase for me because it allows me to research tonnes of data that I would not have checked otherwise. So I researched as much as I can about Hero's legacy, their evolving design language, and the current trends in UI/UX amongst other things.

The entire phase of the submission for the finals of Hero CoLabs was slightly challenging since there were a lot of things going on in my life at that point. From my uncle passing away to the commencement of my end semester exams wherein I had an exam every single day. But I seized every possible moment and utilized it for working on the submission.

How did things work out for me?

I had a brief exposure to the world of UI/UX design and that turned out to be immensely helpful. This fact itself gave me a huge amount of confidence that it was “meant to be for me”. Adaptability and an innovative outlook are my forte which gave me an additional push. 

I think not being on the campus proved to be a blessing in disguise for me from a time management standpoint. It saved me a lot of time that I would have otherwise wasted in socializing or traveling around had I been on campus. I could efficiently meet and coordinate with various people right from the luxury of my bedroom. 

Minor roadblocks

There were a total of 45 teams in the finale. So, the competition was good. However since we couldn't check each other's submissions, so I am not sure about the toughest competitor. But in the winner’s announcement video, I got to see Snehal Shetye's submission and I really liked it.

Here I would like to mention an incident that occurred during the final submissions. I had a 400 MB video that needed to be uploaded and I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it before the deadline. But to my sheer astonishment (and relief), I was able to upload it within a few minutes, just before the deadline!

Unforgettable experience of a lifetime 

The moment when my mom got the news of me winning the Hero CoLabs, she instantly went inside to share the news with my dad. The gleam in their eyes and the happiness on their face was priceless! You get only a few opportunities to give something in return for their immense, life-long hard work. This was one of the most special moments, not only of the journey at Hero CoLabs but of my life as well.

Last but not the least, I also learned a lot of things about researching for a design project, the intricacies of designing an app, creating complex user flow, and the current practices in the space of UI/UX. In terms of values, I also garnered knowledge of several new time management techniques. I also learned that hard work does pay off at some point or the other.

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