In a world where sleek design meets smart functionality, Nuuk is rewriting the rulebook for Indian appliances, and at the helm of this quiet revolution is Gazal Kalra. As Co-Founder of Nuuk, she’s not just building machines; she’s crafting experiences that speak directly to Gen Z and millennial sensibilities. In this conversation, Gazal walks us through how Nuuk is challenging legacy design, treating service as a brand asset, and using empathy (and AI) to create products that don’t just perform, they belong.
1. How is Nuuk designing appliances that match Gen Z’s aesthetic and space needs?
Gazal: We now deeply understand how Gen Z and millennials relate to their homes. This generation does not want to hide their appliances; they want to showcase them. They do not see their home as a mere living space, but as an extension of their identity. That is a fundamental shift from the utilitarian mindset of earlier decades. We design with this new context in mind where aesthetics, and compact form factors are a baseline.
Our design-first philosophy starts with understanding context – emerging cultural trends, lifestyle behaviours, and spatial realities, from space-conscious homes to hybrid work routines, and building our products around those real-world needs. We also believe functionality and aesthetics do not have to be at odds. Our aim is to create products that are quietly intelligent, those that are intentionally built to bring delight to everyday routines while complementing the aesthetics of modern Indian homes.
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2. How is Nuuk challenging legacy formats in Indian kitchens and homes?
Gazal: Indian homes, and especially Indian kitchens have long been underserved by global design formats that do not reflect our cultural habits, and aesthetic sensibilities. At Nuuk, we are reimagining appliances as lifestyle essentials, designed for the aspirations of New India, and not just as bulky machines. The brand is also focused on redesigning the emotional experience around appliances. Traditional formats often ignore how younger users, especially first-time renters or homeowners engage with appliances.
We ask: Can this product bring some sort of delight? Can they be space saving and intuitive to operate, without unnecessary features and attachments?, etc. And that is how we arrive at high-performance-space-efficient, designed with intent appliances that feel native to Indian life today.
3. Millennials are aging into homeowners. Gen Z is building their first rented nests. How does Nuuk cater to both emotional and functional needs of these two powerful cohorts?
Gazal: The brand recognizes that while Millennials and Gen Zs are at different life stages, they are united by a desire for intentional living where every product they bring into their home reflects their values, tastes, and pace of life. For Millennials, that often means investing in long-term functionality, reliability, and energy efficiency. For Gen Z, it is about flexibility, plug-and-play convenience, and visual appeal. Our appliances are designed with modularity, compactness, and intuitive interfaces that resonate with both.
From an emotional standpoint, both cohorts are design-aware and crave a sense of ownership over their space, whether it is a forever home or a temporary one. This is where our design-first, and clutter-free aesthetic plays a strong role. We lean into design that brings joy. When people bring Nuuk into their homes, we want them to feel that it is a part of their lifestyle and self-expression.
4. Can design compete with price in India’s value-conscious market?
Gazal: In today’s India, value is no longer defined by price alone. It is a composite of empathy-led design, functional ease, and the overall experience a product delivers. For a generation that is discerning and design-aware, form and function must go hand-in-hand. Design should be a fundamental part of how a product solves everyday pain points. Our focus is on creating design-first, high performance products that earn their place in a home by being intuitive, space-savvy, and built for the way people actually live.
We also believe that design has a quiet power to influence purchase decisions, especially among younger consumers. Hence, we take a human-first approach, embedding design into every layer of the product, from form factor to UX to colour palette. Price sensitivity is real, but if a product makes your everyday life easier, feels good to use, and looks like it belongs in your space, that is value in its truest sense.
5. How do you turn service into a brand asset, not a pain point?
Gazal: As a brand, we treat after-sales service as an extension of our product experience. For a generation that has grown up expecting instant support and seamless interactions, a fragmented service journey can undo the time spent in brand-building. More importantly, we see every service touchpoint as a moment to deepen brand trust. We ensure that support feels human and proactive. Through creating a reliable experience post-purchase, we aim to make service a competitive advantage.
6. How does local production help Nuuk stay nimble and relevant?
Gazal: Local production is a strategic enabler. We are able to compress product development timelines, respond faster to evolving consumer preferences, and retain tighter control over quality by ‘making in India’. It gives us the agility to iterate quickly, launch seasonally relevant innovations, and bring design updates to market without long lead times or import dependencies.
It also allows us to stay meaningfully Indian, in terms of both design sensibility and function. And beyond speed and relevance, it contributes to a more sustainable footprint and nurtures the kind of ecosystem that makes innovation amplifiable and scalable.
7. Is AI driving real consumer insight – or are you still relying on gut and market research?
Gazal: One of the business principles we hold dear is “AI as a habit” – we apply this to all aspects of our company, including consumer insights. This means using AI tools to glean insights from publicly available data, applying AI to large customer survey datasets, social listening and global trends. At the same time, we believe deep conversations with customers and home visits provide the kind of empathy-led insights that complement AI-enhanced research. It helps us as a team build the “lived experience” of a product through hearing and experiencing customer journeys and is an invaluable part of what makes our product development sharper.
8. Tell us about the roadmap for the next 2 years. Can we expect Nuuk to get into new product categories?
Gazal: We are determined on building for the new India, and that means constantly listening, iterating, and staying responsive to how lifestyles are shifting. Over the next two years, we will double down on our core philosophy: using empathy-led design and agile innovation to elevate everyday experiences. Our product roadmap is intentionally fluid because we want to stay flexible enough to meet evolving consumer needs without being tied to legacy timelines or formats.
Expansion is definitely on the horizon, both in terms of category depth and breadth. We will continue to prioritize relevance over range, and user-centricity over aggressive portfolio expansion. The focus will remain on simplicity, performance, and form factor innovation, with everything we do staying rooted in real human behaviour.
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