For much of my career, I’ve worked on digital products across media, SaaS and AI-powered software. Product design taught me to start with people’s needs, understand the systems around a problem, prototype ideas and learn from what happens in practice.

Journalism has been a parallel thread. My academic background is in journalism and mass communication, and my interest in misinformation led me to explore how design and technology might help people navigate information more critically.

Today, that intersection is becoming my main area of exploration.

I’m building Jharkhand Watch, an independent publication focused on the public policy, economy and society of Jharkhand. For those who do not know, Jharkhand is an eastern Indian state, dotted with rolling hills, dense forests and a ground rich with minerals, but also trapped in endemic corruption and developmental issues — Classic ‘resource curse,’ as some academics like to put it. So, I wanted to see if I could make even a small dent in these insurmountable problems by adopting the ethos of Solution Journalism.

Besides the editorial work, I’m experimenting with my product knowledge to build a small, sustainable and trustworthy newsroom focused on Jharkhand. Also, like everyone in the industry at the moment, I’m keen to see how AI could help a small publisher research stories, organise sources, check claims and produce work more efficiently—without handing editorial judgement over to a machine.

I’m interested in the practical questions, not just the technology’s promise. Does a workflow save time? Can its sources and decisions be traced? Where does it make mistakes? What still needs human judgement? And can a process developed by one small publication be useful to others?

My background in product design gives me a way to approach these questions: understand the work, prototype a process, test it, document what happens and improve it.

This is not a departure from design so much as an expansion of where I apply it. I remain interested in digital products and selective design or product-strategy collaborations, particularly where they connect with media, public-interest information and emerging technology. But my primary focus is increasingly on building an independent publishing practice and learning what it takes to make it useful and sustainable.

This site is where I’ll document that journey — and write about technology, media, public affairs, travel, and other subjects that keep me curious.

I don’t expect all the answers to be settled in advance. I’d rather make the work visible, share what I learn and invite others into the conversation. So, if anything catches your fancy, please leave a comment below or write to me at romil [at] romil.in.

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