Driven by Design, fueled by Technology: I am a UX Designer

I am currently a second year Masters student in the department of HCDE (Human Centered Design & Engineering), majoring in User Centered Design from the University of Washington. The passion that I have been following is tuning up into a certified profession :P. I am currently working as an Interaction Designer (Graduate Student Assistant) with the Clinical Informatics and Research Group (CIRG) at the University of Washington. I am working under the supervision of Mark Stewart. I thoroughly enjoy my work that currently involves writing and learning a lot of javascript code. And I must admit I am loving it. Every moment of learning brings a new smile on my face! Woohoo!

When I joined HCDE, I worked as a Research Assistant (RA) in my first year with the Computer Science Department to design and develop an android mobile application in partnership with Path, a non profit organization based at Seattle. The application aims to assist low literate women workers in clinics of developing regions to calculate specified concentration of solution required for the treatment of Eclempsia disease, a fatal disease prevalent with pregnant women. I am excited to see it moving a step forward in taking them to the fields for its pilot studies (conducted by Path).

Prior to joining HCDE, I worked for two years at Microsoft research Labs, India (MSRI) and Digital Green (DG). I worked as a Research Intern (Design) with the Technology for Emerging Markets team at MSRI. I was involved in various projects ranging from Entertainment to Education to Socio Economic development. The projects shaped my unerstanding of design and enforned the significance of research and iterative design. As part of my internship, I worked on designing games, participating in ethnographic studies and assisting in web development. Projects at MSRI include NCERT Chemistry Game, Project Pragati and Pilot testing of DISHA.

After working for about ten months with MSRI, I found an excellent opportunity to hone my design skills in web based applications. I was selected to work as a secondment to MSRI with the Systems team at DG to design and help build their Analytics software. I later joined Digital Green as a User Experience Designer. Being with a small team of committed people at DG, I explored various avenues and worked with the Chief Exective Officer of the company to define its brand identity. I also had the golden opportunity to work on one of my entrepreneurial projects with three other team members to develop a social game called, Wonder Village.

I am always interested in innovative ideas and would love to connect with people who are equally passionate for design and innovation. If you are interested in speaking with me, about my works and my crazy future plans, drop me an email or connect with me !!

Skills

UI / UX DESIGN, VISUAL DESIGN, INTERACTION DESIGN
Adobe Phoshoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Flash

PROTOTYPING / WIREFRAMING
Paper Sketch, Balsamiq, FlairBuilder, Adobe Fireworks, Adobe Photoshop, Axure

UI DEVELOPMENT
Html, Css, Javascript, Jquery

Skill Meter

Academics

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
CGPA: 3.71 / 4
September 2011 - June 2013
Masters in Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE)

DA-IICT
CGPA: 3.40 / 4
August 2005 - June 2009
Bachelors in Information and Communication technology (ICT)

Awards

UXPA HERO STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS
June 2013
Users Experience Professionals Association

WINNERS: IEEE IPCC STUDENT POSTER DESIGN COMPETITION
June 2013
IEEE International Professional Communication Conference

ICTD SCHOLARSHIPS
March 2012
International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Development

WINNERS: MULTIPOINT EDUCATION AWARD
May 2009
Imagine Cup World Wide Finals

SECOND RUNNERS UP: SOFTWARE DESIGN
May 2009
Imagine Cup India Finals

PRIDE OF THE SCHOOL AWARD
March 2004
I.L. Senior Secondary School, India

Achievements

FIRST PRIZE: 100 METERS SPRINT, 4*400 RELAY RACE
January 2008

SECOND PRIZE: FACE PAINTING
April 2008

FIRST PRIZE: ENGLISH ESSAY WRITING
April 2008

MEMBER OF DESIGN TEAM, SYNAPSE (A TECHNO-CULTURAL FEST) DA-IICT
2005 - 2006, 2006 - 2007

Hobbies

Sketching, Drawing, Painting, Athletics, Sports (Soccer, Cricket, Badminton)