THE DESIGN:
Zomato’s ‘About us’ page has a picture of each if its employees that shows them in their element. A brief, interesting description about them is visible when the mouse is placed over the picture.
WHY?
We believe that a company is a net sum of its people. Putting faces to a company helps build outsider trust in the brand and the company (from both a business and consumer point of view). Also, we have a very fun and vibrant bunch of people working and we wanted to showcase this. Our aim was to tell people that it is about the team behind Zomato. It’s fun to read through them and stands out from the mostly serious ‘About us’ sections seen on the web. It also helps build high ownership levels within the organisation and acts as a great recruitment tool. Overall, this page has indeed helped us quite a lot. Our attrition rates are very low, and a lot of good people apply to us after reading through the section. It also reflects the company’s work culture, which is informal and a flat organisation structure.
– Deepinder goyal, founder, zomato.Com, online food and lifestyle portal
THE DESIGN:
My First Cheque is a seed investment firm that invests in startup companies. Its website is informal, fun and completely differentiated from any other seed investment firm in the country. The entrepreneurs at My First Cheque have also created a character called Chequemate and the website lists a line that goes: Hi! I am Chequemate, and I love giving wings to entrepreneurs.
WHY?
The mandate I gave my design person was very clear. I told him to look at the designs of all other financial services/seed fund websites and come up with something drastically different. In terms of content, I wanted something that’d inspire people to become entrepreneurs, irrespective of whether I was going to fund them or not.
The name Chequemate is something we use for our Facebook page as well. The page is again focused on inspiring people. We gather quotes from several entrepreneurs, highlight the common mistakes made and overall, focus on starting a conversation with various people. When someone first approaches us to raise money, we don’t ask for full blown business plans. We ask him/her to answer four simple questions and start a conversation.
– Gautam Sinha, founder, My First Cheque, a seed investment firm
THE DESIGN:
Hey good looking, thanks for hitting on us! Well, that’s the opening line of the corporate website of Happily Unmarried, a company that makes fun products. Just like its products, its website content is fun too and grabs your attention.
WHY?
Anyone coming to our site should get a flavour of what we are. Our company stands for fun and nothing else. We wish to communicate that in everything that we do. Our site has a very relaxed and easy flowing manner. When you go through the site, you’d realise that we’re a cool company that makes really nice products. Our earlier website did not achieve this. The pages also reflect our work culture, which is about being easy going, loving what you do and keeping it real. The Interns page is a huge success. The number of people who have wanted to work for us has shot up drastically. The write up on our head office on HUHQ page and the address videos are a hit as well.
It also has features to enable easy shopping. We have tried to keep all the information on the page simple and that may be of interest to the user. No one believes in pompous vision statements of top management. With Internet and social media, it is best to keep everything as honest and informal as possible. We are happy with the response that we are getting, our sales have increased. So, the short term objectives have been met but we are looking to do a lot more. It is only now that we are looking at the online a bit more seriously.
– Rajat Tuli, co-founder and director, Happily Unmarried, a company that makes fun products
THE DESIGN:
When you enter Hippocampus’ website, you first come across a puzzle (based on various difficulty levels) that one needs to solve to enter the website. The website then opens onto a torchlight feature that one can guide through its various sections. The site also displays interesting facts while the page loads.
WHY?
Keeping in mind that we cater to children, the key was to incorporate an element of fun, especially since children love puzzles. A library is a place to learn so the torchlight signifies the search for knowledge and then finding it. Also, children are curious by nature and like to discover things on their own. We’ve received a lot of good feedback about our website’s design. The website shows that the company is a fun place for both children and employees. It also reflects what we believe in and love doing – interacting with children every day.
– Umesh Malhotra, founder and CEO, Hippocampus, a children’s library
