Meet The Runners-up Of RuPay ON-THE-GO Designathon 2022

RuPay is a global card payment network in India, with wide acceptance at ATMs, POS devices, and e-commerce websites across India. It has a secure network that protects against phishing and aims to fulfill RBI's vision of initiating a ‘less cash' economy. To encourage young talent to be a part of its initiatives, RuPay launched its first-ever designathon this year. 

The competition was titled RuPay ON-THE-GO Designathon 2022 and was open to college students across the nation. The 16,913 participants had a shot at winning an amazing opportunity to collaborate with RuPay along with exciting goodies. All the submissions were beyond great and the jury panel selected three amongst those as winners. Sreehari S. from IIT Roorkee won the national winner title, Shreyas Ranveerker from IIT Kharagpur and Nayan Jain from LNCT Bhopal won the national runner-up titles. In this article, we’ll get a peek into the runners-ups' journeys. So let’s get started.

Fun Fact: The organization derived its name from the words 'Rupee and 'Payment', emphasizing its card payment initiative.

RuPay ON-THE-GO Designathon 2022 Competition Structure

Nayan got to know about RuPay On-the-Go Designathon through an Unstop post on Instagram and the mention of the word “Design” was enough to pique his interest. Shreyas felt that the framing of the competition was one of the best he has ever come across. The briefing & guidance session conducted by the RuPay team was also very helpful. The competition structure was as follows:

• Form Factor & Design Submission
• National Finale

The participants were extremely impressed by the level of support and guidance provided by the organizers of RuPay and Unstop, throughout the competition. From the initial briefing to the final presentation, every step of the process was well planned and executed. The final judgment quality was fair and square.

Check this out: Challenge Yourself With These B-school Competitions

How To Win RuPay ON-THE-GO Designathon?

The competition presented participants with a unique problem and the results presented were outstanding. Are you wondering how should one proceed with building a good solution when participating in such challenges? Well, here are some suggestions from the runners-up:

• If you have too many solutions and can’t seem to shortlist a few, combine them into a single holistic solution that consists of all the positives someone might be looking for. 
• Always keep the target audience in mind and think like a person who would use the service solution you are working on. 
• Ensure that your individual biases do not cloud your judgment and think from the point of view of all the stakeholders.

RuPay ON-THE-GO Designathon: The Enlightening Experience

The designathon was more than just competition, it helped every participant enhance their skill set and learn new things. Here is what the runners-up learned through this journey:

• Shreyas learned how to make a well-organized beautiful deck along with addressing all the required objectives for that solution. 
• While working on finding the perfect solution, he also figured out a proper method to research the submission objectives, something he thinks will help him in his future endeavors.
• Nayan is a UX/UI designer but had never worked on product/ industrial design. This competition made him realize that the basics for all design fields are similar, and the only difference is the applications or software. 
• The competition also taught him an important lesson, that is, if your basics are strong, no matter where you learned them from, you can handle anything thrown your way.

The participants got the opportunity to present their ideas in front of the stalwarts of multiple domains including FinTech, Marketing, and Technology. It was a brilliant experience that left them enlightened and they look forward to exploring more such unknown territories and gaining practical experience.

Also read: Boosting Career Opportunities For Engineers Through E-School Competitions

Some Important Tips

Such competitions are riddled with problems and challenges that participants must overcome. Both Shreyas and Nayan faced hurdles but it was with their determination and persistence to grow that they overcame the challenges. Here are some key things to keep in mind to win the competition:

• If you are stuck someplace and don’t know which way to proceed, it is a good idea to seek help from a friend or anyone in your support system. For example, Shreyas got a friend to review his presentation and the suggestions he got were extremely helpful in refining the final presentation. 
• Preparing a good presentation is as important as reaching a holistic solution which can be challenging. For example, Nayan faced difficulty in creating a story around the solution and conveying it clearly to the judges. The best way to tackle this problem is to work on your presentation and storytelling skills beforehand. 
• Confidence is key and it is important to have faith in your skills and move forward unwaveringly, no matter the issues you are facing. In this designathon, Shreyas initially felt at a disadvantage on not being from a product design background. But his confidence in his fundamental understanding of design, helped him overcome this apprehension.

A Few Final Words

The designathon was a huge success and it has surely left an imprint on the minds of everyone who was a part of the journey in whichever capacity. Here is what the runner-ups said about the competition:

The RuPay ON-THE-GO Designathon 2022 journey was a truly enriching and rewarding experience. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in design and innovation. Thank you for creating such a valuable and meaningful event.

- Shreyas Ranveerkar

I got a chance to interact with the judging panel during the final presentation and it was evident that their judgment was complete fair. The competition was very well organized, with limited rounds and enough time and guidance sessions to polish our product and presentation.

- Nayan Jain

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