Kasturi in the System*: Why Reinventing Isn’t Always the Answer
A few months ago, I partnered with a Noida-based startup that had an ambitious idea: build a B2B platform that connects Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) with vendors and service providers for housing societies.
The goal was clear. The path? Not so much.
They had no defined product, no documented requirements, and no user journeys. Just a strong hunch that there had to be a better way than the current system, which relied heavily on Excel sheets and WhatsApp messages.
They brought me in to define that way.
Listening Before Building
Before jumping into wireframes or features, I spent time understanding the landscape. RWAs, as it turns out, had developed their own systems over time — deeply informal, yet surprisingly efficient. Maintenance teams would log issues over WhatsApp. AOAs (Apartment Owner Associations) would update vendors using spreadsheets. Everyone knew how the dance worked.
And that was the challenge.
We weren’t competing with another product.
We were competing with muscle memory.
The Insight That Changed Everything
Through conversations and field research, one insight became clear: we wouldn’t win by replacing WhatsApp — we had to work with it.
Instead of asking users to change their behaviour, we decided to integrate WhatsApp into the product flow. Maintenance teams could use the app, while the AOA could continue working within the comfort zone of WhatsApp.
Underneath, the system would unify both — offering transparency, traceability, and a better record of communication without forcing anyone to “learn a new tool.”
From Figma to Funding
To keep things lean and move fast, I built out the entire product journey in Figma — not just for the app screens, but also for the integrated WhatsApp experience. This made it easy for the founders to demonstrate the idea without writing a single line of code.
The result?
- A functional, fundable MVP — without the high burn
- Faster stakeholder buy-in
- A simpler, more elegant solution
- And most importantly, a product that respected how people actually worked
A Quiet Lesson in Innovation
We often think innovation means big leaps and brand-new systems. But in this case, it meant getting out of the way.
Sometimes, designing a great product isn’t about disrupting everything.
It’s about making what already works… work even better.
*This is a reference to a doha(couplet) by Indan poet Kabir
“Kasturi kundal base, mrig dhundhat ban mahi
Aise ghati-ghati Ram hain, duniya dekhe naahi.”
English translation —
The musk lies in the deer’s own navel, yet it searches the forest for the fragrance.
In the same way, the Divine resides within every being, yet people search for it everywhere else.