about / essence
curious researcher, playful designer, silly human.
my first pay cheque was INR 500 ($5.99) in 2018. been obsessed with design ever since.
life's hard. getting a cab in NYC? hard. surviving a pandemic? hard. building products people actually want? even harder. that's exactly why i love this work... design has the power to untangle the messiest problems and make life better for all of us... with our friends, at work, and beyond.
i believe that the best products are made by people who are willing and able to work at whatever level necessary to iterate towards a better solution. good design starts at the research and permeates all the way to code, sales and customer support. in addition to my work, i also value meaningful conversations and good music, that keeps up my creative process.
tldr; i want to build products to help people autonomously and efficiently create as much value for themselves (and others) that feels intuitive, not confusing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
check out what i'm up to in my now page ⇱
what i do.
uncover what's broken
your users are frustrated, but why? i dig deep with ux research & audit to find the pain points worth solving before your competition does.
facilitate like a pro
great ideas die in bad meetings. i run design sprints and ux workshops where teams actually solve problems, not just talk.
build confidence, not features
why guess? test ideas fast with real users. know what works before you spend months building the wrong thing.
design that delivers
user-friendly doesn't mean boring. i design digital experiences that feel effortless and look incredible.
things i like
- smell of sunscreen
- good goods
- wearing black tees
- ilaiyaraaja music
- good foods
- mountains
- architecture
- interior design
things i wanna do
- drive through United States
- go skydiving
- solo backpack across San Francisco
- open a bookcafe
- live in New York City
- do a month+ long hike
- see Northern lights
- climb a large mountain
- roadtrip with strangers
- publish a magazine
- be on a float in Kerala backwaters
what i been doing
jun 2024 - present
doing short-term design projects in contra (< 3 months)/ available full-time for world-changing projects.
may 2023 - may 2024
led a full redesign of the MISO Energy Help Center through intensive user research, iterative prototyping, and testing. the revamped design significantly enhanced search, navigation, and content access, drastically improving user satisfaction metrics.
jan 2023 - may 2023
optimized emergency response times at Naval Base through UX research and Human-Centered Design approach. [Under NDA]
may 2022 - jul 2022
Pursued independent Assistive Tech research, helped dad with building Accessible Magnifying Specs for him, explored other design forms (doodles, genArt), prep for grad school.
jan 2022 - may 2022
developed & conducted usability testing for enhanced Hindi core model for Alexa, increased usability score by 12% and DAU by 18% after incorporating local dialects. [Under NDA]
jun 2020 - jan 2022
first full-time design hire after 6 month internship here. 0→1 design for hCare app. Led Health Journal feature implementation, conducted feasibility study, collaborated on Food Journal design, boosted app engagement and subscriptions.
nov 2019 - mar 2020
redesigned Android Notifications for Android 10, collaborated on layout overhaul, contributed to API enhancements, increased app openings.
sep 2019 - nov 2019
re-designed Pleo Client page 2.0, increased feature usage, new partners, and client referrals.