Software People Stories Architecting solutions for the social sector with Vijayashree Urs
Apr 18, 2024
46:40
In this conversation with Ms. Vijayashree CTO - Shikshalokam | Director- Onlineengineer Inc. she talks about her career trajectory and how she approaches technical challenges. Here are the key points:
- Vijayashree accidentally ended up in computer science after wanting to study electronics engineering.
- She has a passion for system software design and coding.
- She transitioned from a services role to a product role to focus more on the technical aspects.
- She believes in balancing the technical aspects with user needs and understanding the business domain.
- She uses a collaborative approach to design, involving the team and getting their buy-in on ideas.
- She acknowledges the need for analysis and design but also emphasizes the importance of getting things into production quickly using Agile methodologies.
- When making decisions about new technologies, she weighs the risks and benefits, using proven patterns for critical areas but also taking calculated risks to experiment with new ideas.
- She communicates the importance of non-functional requirements to her team and integrates them into the design process to ensure scalability, reliability, and maintainability.
Vijayashree talks about the challenges and the transition from working in the commercial sector to the social sector.
Key takeaways for designing for the social sector:
- Users might not have the technical expertise and may have limited internet connectivity.
- The solutions should be designed for a wider range of devices including low-end smartphones.
- Multiple languages and possibly voice interfaces should be considered.
- There might be a need to focus on offline functionality as well.
Metrics for success in the social sector:
- Adoption rate of the software by other organizations.
- User feedback and the resulting improvements made to the software.
- The impact of the software on the beneficiaries.
There are also a few interesting career advices by her