Exceptional Women Out Wes: Nandini Nayak, Managing Director, Design Strategy, Fjord - a podcast by TheDrum

Fjord’s managing director, design strategy, Nandini Nayak knows a lot about the human condition, especially as it relates to computers. The Bangalore native has a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology and her first job out of school was R&D Lab at Hewlett Packard as a Human Factors Engineer.

Human-computer interaction is a strength for Nayak, and she even points out that she has two “digital native sons” and a “90 year-old digitally savvy mother.” She has used her vast knowledge to build and lead large UI tems and worked alongside design teams with multiple agencies during her time at HP. She moved to Accenture in 2010 because she loved their focus on analytical decision-making and business outcomes.

Even though she is linked heavily to the digital world, she sees her role as a people person and a student of human behavior. As part of Fjord’s innovation leadership team, she drives a program called Data and Design, which is tasked to “try to bring analytical minds of mathematicians closer to designers or artists and create new solutions working that together.”

Nayak believes women need to nurture their careers just as they nurture their children, and that women need to embrace success, not fear it. She thinks public speaking is a must for success, and that dealing with failure and accepting it gracefully can lead to greater success in the long run. She touts her passion project at work, the “Love Index,” which will combine love and business, human and digital into a cohesive study. For Nayak, her core focus on human interactions with the digital realm has led her to her success.

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