Simplifly
Simplifly
What It Was
Simplifly was a product project built around an unconventional eSIM idea for pilots and travelers. My role in it was on the design side, but the reason it stayed with me has less to do with screens alone and more to do with the kind of collaboration it created. It felt product-focused from the beginning. There was a real thing to shape, not just a concept to talk around.
How It Started
It started through my connection with Shaurya. By then I already knew he had a natural tendency toward building, and we had the kind of exchange where conversations moved quickly from ideas into specifics. Simplifly became one of the projects where that exchange stopped being abstract and took form.
What I Was Trying to Do
What I was trying to do was help give the product a stronger shape through interface, structure, and visual direction. I wanted it to feel clear without becoming generic. I wanted the branding and UI to support the idea instead of sitting on top of it.
At the same time, I was trying to get better at thinking like a product person rather than only reacting like a designer. A product like that asks different questions. It makes me think more carefully about flow, friction, trust, and how a person understands what they are looking at.
What Actually Happened
What actually happened is that Simplifly became a good working example of what collaboration can do when each person brings a different strength. Shaurya pushed the technical and product side forward. I pushed on feel, coherence, and the side of things that people experience directly. The project gave both of us something more precise to respond to.
It also reminded me that good collaboration is rarely dramatic. Most of it is just back-and-forth pressure, better questions, small refinements, and the willingness to make the work clearer.
What It Taught Me
Simplifly taught me that I enjoy product thinking most when it happens close to real constraints. It also taught me that my design instincts become more useful when they are attached to an actual problem, not just a visual surface. That is part of why the project sits naturally beside Design Philosophy, Skills, and Build and Ship in my head.
It also deepened my respect for people who can move quickly from concept to working structure. Working with Shaurya sharpened that.
Status
I think of Simplifly as a meaningful collaborative product chapter. It matters less to me as a label and more as a record of how I worked, what I contributed, and what the project clarified.