When a young life is lost because of a flaw in the system, we need to look beyond the immediate headline and question the infrastructure that dictates the future of millions. The recent tragedy involving Shruti Laya, who died by suicide after finding her name missing from the first list, highlights the extreme emotional toll of the NEET counselling process on Indian students. As marketing professionals, we often talk about consumer journeys and touchpoints, but this is a user experience design failure of the highest order, where the ‘user’ is a teenager facing a life-altering outcome.
The NEET counselling process is not just a backend administrative task; it is the most critical digital portal for the medical aspirant demographic in India. For these students, the platform represents the gateway to their professional identity. When a student logs in to check their status, they aren’t just looking at data; they are looking at their potential livelihood, their family’s hopes, and years of grueling study. From a communication standpoint, the interface, the notification system, and the speed of information delivery are not just technical features—they are pillars of psychological stability for the audience.
We see brands obsessing over reducing friction in purchase journeys. We study how a three-second delay in page loading can lead to cart abandonment. Yet, when it comes to state-run digital infrastructure, there is a recurring pattern of opaque communication and poor feedback loops. In the case of the NEET counselling process, the anxiety is compounded by a lack of real-time, transparent support. When a candidate’s name is missing or the list is delayed, the system provides little by way of human empathy. It is a cold, binary experience that fails to account for the immense human stakes involved in each interaction.
For those of us working in the Indian market, this tragedy should force a conversation about the responsibilities of platform owners. Whether it is an e-commerce giant or a government portal, the ethics of the user journey matter. If your communication strategy leaves the most vulnerable members of your audience in a state of ‘information starvation’ or false hope, you have failed as a provider. In this specific incident, the failure of the counselling list to reflect the student’s expectations triggered a breakdown that no amount of post-event PR can rectify.
Marketing is often about shaping perception, but at its core, it is about serving the customer’s needs through clear and reliable information. In the high-pressure environment of competitive exams, the platform itself becomes the product. If that product is poorly designed—if it hides data, confuses the user, or creates unnecessary barriers—the consequences are far more severe than lost revenue. We are talking about the mental health of an entire generation that is conditioned to define their self-worth through these digital outputs.
Beyond the tragic headlines, we must interrogate the lack of robust communication channels in these systems. Why is there no immediate, proactive support for those who don’t see their names? Why is the information hierarchy so complex that it creates panic? A better designed system would involve clear, jargon-free explanations, reachable support desks, and a sensitive notification flow that anticipates user anxiety rather than ignoring it. When the system operates in a vacuum, it breeds fear.
The professional world often prides itself on efficiency, but we have forgotten the value of human-centric design. We treat users as data points and drop-off percentages. But as this heart-wrenching event in Tirunelveli shows, when the stakes are high, every single interaction carries the weight of a person’s future. If we don’t demand better systems, we are essentially complicit in the stress and anxiety that our current digital landscape produces. It is time for a radical shift in how we build and maintain these critical interfaces, ensuring that empathy and clarity are baked into the code from day one. We owe it to the Shrutis of this world to make the path forward something that builds people up, rather than breaking them down.
