At the intersection of product design, AI, commerce, human psychology, and visual storytelling, Arpit is helping shape a new approach to digital experiences. Alongside leading design at POP, he is actively exploring AI-powered systems spanning catalogue automation, visual merchandising, UI-to-Code workflows, Prompt-to-UI systems, and other initiatives that seek to accelerate product development while maintaining design quality and consistency.
His latest work can be seen in the rebranding of the POP app, where he led and launched a complete redesign built around a new visual identity called “Future Retro Noir”. More than a visual refresh, the initiative reflects a broader philosophy about how products should feel, how users build affinity with brands, and how design can remain a competitive advantage in an AI-driven world.
At a time when AI can generate interfaces, content, images, and even code at unprecedented speed, Bhatia believes creation itself is no longer the competitive advantage. The real differentiator is discernment - the ability to decide what should be built, how it should feel, and why users should care. In his view, the brands that win will not simply be the most functional. They will be the ones that build trust, affinity, and brand equity.
This belief sits at the centre of his work at POP, a UPI-based payments and rewards platform for Gen Z consumers, where he recently led a complete redesign of the app. The initiative introduced a new visual language called “Future Retroistic Noir”, a deliberate inversion of retro-futurism.
“Retro-futurism is the past imagining the future. Future Retroism is the future imagining the past.”
The design language combines modern interpretations of retro technology, cinematic lighting techniques such as film grain and lens bloom, and patterns inspired by nineteenth-century powder rooms, where self-care and presentation were treated as rituals rather than indulgences. The goal was not simply to make the app look different, but to make it memorable.
Bhatia’s perspective has been shaped by a decade-long career spanning film production, consumer technology, social commerce, travel-tech, ed-tech, fintech, lending, insure-tech, invest-tech, neobanking, and ecommerce. Across industries, he has explored the intersection of technology, psychology, and design, developing a philosophy built around three core principles: High Taste Visual Aesthetics, First Principles Thinking, and Cinematic UX.
At the heart of his work is a belief that design builds equity, not vanity.
While design is often viewed as an aesthetic layer applied after a product is built, Bhatia argues that it functions as a business lever that influences trust, preference, and long-term brand value. This thinking forms the basis of a framework he calls the Grooming Effect.
The concept is simple: people often perceive well-groomed individuals as more attractive, not because they possess better features, but because grooming signals effort, care, and attention. Products operate in much the same way. A well-designed product communicates that its creators cared enough to refine it, creating trust and affinity before users consciously evaluate its functionality.
The second: First Principles Thinking, focuses on questioning assumptions and solving problems at their source rather than refining inherited solutions. The third: Cinematic UX, draws from the language of cinema, where experiences are shaped through pacing, mood, contrast, and emotional progression. Instead of viewing products as a collection of screens, it treats them as a sequence of moments designed to leave a lasting impression.
Underlying all three principles is Bhatia’s long-standing interest in Human Emotional Dynamics (HED). Having spent over 15,000 hours learning and teaching the subject, he believes understanding human behaviour remains one of the most underutilised advantages in product design. By understanding how people form trust, perceive value, and build loyalty, products can move beyond utility and create meaningful emotional connections.
More recently, his work has focused on the intersection of AI and design through a framework he calls the Thinking Budget.
Historically, designers spent most of their time executing ideas, leaving limited room for strategy and creative judgment. AI has dramatically reduced execution time. The Thinking Budget argues that the value of AI lies not in helping teams ship faster, but in creating more space for deeper thinking and better decision-making.
At POP, this philosophy is reflected through several initiatives, including AI-powered catalogue photoshoots that create more cohesive visual merchandising, Iara Sharma - a fully disclosed Instagram AI influencer built around storytelling principles - and proprietary UI-to-Code and Concept-to-UI workflows that have fundamentally transformed the company's product design process. These systems enable design teams to raise pull requests directly, significantly reducing execution overhead while preserving human judgment, creative intent, and strategic oversight.
Rather than replacing creativity, Bhatia sees AI as a tool that allows teams to focus on what matters most: taste, strategy, and emotional resonance.
Through his work at POP and his AI-first design practice, Forty Eight, Bhatia continues to advocate for a future where design is viewed not as decoration, but as a strategic driver of business value.
As AI makes creation increasingly accessible, he believes the most valuable skill will not be making things - it will be knowing what is worth making.
Or, as he often puts it: “Form is mere strategy. Taste is the moat.”
