My Story
A Journey of Empathy,
Art and Design Thinking
UX DesignStorytelling Visual Arts Aanvikshiki Thinking
Beyond the title. Behind the designer.
My journey began with art, storytelling and visual communication before moving into UX and product design.
Today, I combine research, product thinking and design leadership with the perspective I developed through filmmaking, illustration and years of observing people and their environments.
01 · MY STORY
Art and Design Journey
My career has moved from art and filmmaking into UX and product design—but the thread connecting all of it is the same: understanding people, making sense of complexity, and communicating ideas clearly
I grew up in Baramati’s village environment, where I experienced everyday life outside the digital systems I design today. I started drawing early, and visual communication became my first language.
That curiosity eventually took me through applied art in Pune and a Master’s in Electronic Media at the University of Mumbai, where I explored documentary filmmaking, visual storytelling and social issues.
At IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay, I found the bridge between visual creativity and structured problem solving. My UX education helped me turn observation and empathy into research, systems thinking, interaction design and evidence-based product decisions.
“Art taught me to observe. Filmmaking taught me to understand stories and people. UX taught me to turn those insights into products and systems.”
Today, I bring those perspectives into complex digital products—especially where user behaviour, business operations and technology intersect
EDUCATION
The foundation behind my practice.
A progression from visual craft and storytelling to human-centred design and product thinking.
01 · DESIGN
IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay
Certificate in User Experience Design (CEP) ·
2021-2022
02 · STORYTELLING
University of Mumbai
Master of Electronic Media (MAEM) ·
2015–2017
03 · VISUAL ARTS
University of Pune
B.F.A. Applied Art — Illustration, First Class ·
2012–2015
IMPACT
Design that moves beyond the interface.
My work is measured not only by the quality of the experience, but by what changes after the design is implemented.
2.1%-> 5.4%
Session-to-order conversion
7 days-> 24h
Content time-to-live
2M+
Products enriched
95%
Post-rollout user satisfaction
02 CAREER
Leading design at scale.
At Reliance Retail / JioMart, my role has grown from visual design into product design, UX research, cross-functional leadership and team development.
Reliance Retail · JioMart
Mumbai · 2018-Present
Deputy Manager — Team Lead, Design
UX & Product Design · 2023–Present
- Lead a team of 7 UX, UI and graphic designers across product and experience work.
- Lead UX and product design across seller enrichment, catalogue, content and consumer experiences.
- Aligned Brand, Category, Imaging, Content, MDM and Technology teams through research, goal setting and recurring playbacks.
Deputy Manager — Visualizer
UX & Product Design · 2018–2023
- Built deep expertise in e-commerce, product imagery and digital content systems while contributing to JioMart’s visual and product experiences
Better Communications Pvt. Ltd.
Mumbai · 2018
Visualizer — Team Lead
Reliance Smart & R-Grocery app · 2018
- Led 10 designers delivering offer and promotion imagery and UX for Reliance Smart and R-Grocery, standardising production across 1,000+ SKUs per week.
Onjal Arts Productions
Mumbai · 2015-2018
Assistant Director — Film & Storyboarding
BARAYAN Movie · 2016–2018
- Assistant Director on BARAYAN (released 2018) and storyboard.
- Successfully worked from 0 to 1 from Pre to post-production
Visualizer
Branding & Storyboarding · 2015–2016
- Led a team of 7 UX, UI and graphic designers across product and experience work.
Zee Entertainment (&TV)
Mumbai · 2015
Freelance Storyboarding
Storyboarding · 2015
- Storyboarding for promo advertising The Vice Kids Show -&TV
03 HOW I WORK
From inquiry to measurable impact.
Aanvikshiki is the mindset (how you think) behind my approach: curiosity (जिज्ञासा), critical thinking (तर्क), creative synthesis (सृजन) and evidence-based validation (प्रमाण). In practice, I translate that mindset into four stages:
1
Understand
Research users, context and stakeholders to uncover needs, behaviours and constraints.
2
Frame
Question assumptions, connect evidence and identify the underlying problem worth solving.
3
Design
Translate insights into flows, information architecture, prototypes and scalable systems.
4
Validate
Test with users and data, collaborate with teams and measure whether the solution works.
AANVIKSHIKI-DESIGN THINKING PHILOSOPHY
Good design starts with curiosity and ends with evidence.
Aanvikshiki represents deep inquiry, logic and reasoning. It reflects how I approach design: going beyond the visible interface to understand the human behaviour, business system and context behind a problem.
I don't begin with “What should we design?” I begin with “Why does this problem exist, who experiences it, and what evidence would tell us that we solved it?”
04 WHAT I BRING
Why teams bring me into complex problems.
A combination of research depth, product thinking, visual craft and leadership developed across consumer and enterprise environments.
Research-led problem solving
Contextual inquiry, usability testing, stakeholder research and experimentation grounded in real user behaviour.
Complex product thinking
Experience across e-commerce, marketplace, seller, catalogue, content and enterprise workflows.
Design leadership
Lead and mentor a team of 7 designers while improving systems, collaboration and design-to-development practices.
Business-aware design
Connect user needs to outcomes such as conversion, task success, abandonment, satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Visual storytelling
Use a background in art, illustration and filmmaking to communicate ideas clearly and make complex stories memorable.
Human-centred mindset
Especially interested in designing technology that works for people across different levels of digital familiarity and context.
05 BEYOND PRODUCT DESIGN
Still an artist at heart.
My creative background is not separate from my design practice—it is one of the ways I learned to observe, communicate and tell meaningful stories.
I have worked in filmmaking, storyboarding and illustration, including assistant direction on BARAYAN, visual storytelling through short films and documentaries, and award-winning illustration work.
These experiences continue to influence how I present research, facilitate conversations, structure case studies and communicate product ideas to different audiences.
LET'S CONNECT
Looking for a designer who can go from research to impact?
Hiring managers, recruiters & product leaders:
I'd be happy to discuss product design, UX leadership or a relevant opportunity.