Hi, I'm Kaustubh!

Design Storyteller

User Whisperer

Insight Hunter

Simplicity Ninja

Figma Savvy

View My Work!

Projects

Writings

UX Storytelling | 4 min read

Filmmakers as Product Designers

User Experience | 6 min read

Influence of Apply Ecology on Non-Apple Users

User Experience | 5 min read

Exploring Shared Artifact Ecology through "Rupee"

User Experience | 3 min read

Finding UX Flaws 24*7: From the Lens of Newbie!

Prototype IEEE | 4 min read

Piku Prototype: Designing for Community Cats

Assistive Design IEEE | 5 min read

Undergraduate Capstone: Robotic Book Reader

About Me

The Spark

My childhood was a playground of creativity, where every object had a story, and every story had a form. I spent countless hours transforming everyday materials into fantastical creations. This early love for crafting and imagination laid the foundation for my journey into design, where creativity knows no bounds.

The Magic of Clay and Stories

Growing up, I was captivated by the art of storytelling. I loved molding clay into shapes that told their own stories and watching plays and movies that brought characters to life. This dual passion for narrative and form taught me how design can convey deep meanings and emotions, paving the way for my interest in user experience design.

Cooking-up Experiences

Cooking is another passion of mine, and much like UX design, it is about understanding your diners and crafting an experience that delights them. The process of selecting ingredients, balancing flavors, and presenting a dish beautifully mirrors the way I approach design—thoughtful, user-centric, and aiming to please. Also, orange apron is my favorite and suits me better. Isn't it? (ifykyk)

The Journey of Creation

Over the years, I have crafted my own design process, one that mirrors the iterative nature of both crafting and cooking and stays at the center of my design philosophy. It’s a cycle of thinking, making, breaking, and repeating. This method allows me to explore ideas thoroughly, test their limits, and refine them until they achieve their full potential.

Read My Resume

My Design Process

The first step in my design process is Think. Here, I dive into understanding the problem, defining project goals, and empathizing with users. Through thorough research and brainstorming, I build a solid foundation for the design. This phase ensures every decision is user-centered and strategically aligned, setting the stage for a successful design journey.

Think

Next, I move on to Make, where ideas and concepts come to life. Utilizing tools like Figma, I create wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity designs that visualize the user experience. This phase is all about translating insights and ideas into tangible designs, focusing on usability, aesthetics, and functionality.

Make

Once the designs are created, it's time to Break them. This critical step involves rigorous testing and evaluation to identify any weaknesses or areas for improvement. I conduct user testing, gather feedback, and perform usability testing to challenge the design's robustness. This phase emphasizes continuous improvement, ensuring the design can withstand real-world usage and deliver a seamless experience.

Break

The final step in my process is to Repeat. Design is an iterative journey, and continuous improvement is key to achieving excellence. After analyzing feedback and test results, I loop back to refine and enhance the design further. By embracing iteration, I ensure that the design evolves with user needs and technological advancements, ultimately creating a product that is user-friendly.

Repeat

My Stack

Framer is my go-to tool for interactive website creation. It allows me to build high-fidelity, responsive designs with smooth animations, bringing my ideas to life and enabling real-time collaboration with developers and stakeholders.

Framer

Figma is my bread and butter. Its cloud-based platform allows me to work seamlessly with team members, share design files instantly, and receive feedback in real-time, ensuring a smooth and efficient design workflow.

Figma

Notion is my organizational hub. From project management to personal to-do lists, it helps me keep everything in one place. Its flexibility allows me to create custom templates and databases tailored to my design process.

Notion

Miro is my virtual whiteboard for brainstorming and planning. It facilitates collaborative sessions with remote teams, enabling me and my team to visualize ideas, map out user journeys, and create plans together in real time.

Miro

MidJourney enhances my creative process by generating AI-driven design inspirations. This tool helps me explore new visual styles and concepts, pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation in my projects.

Midjourney

Slack is my communication lifeline. It keeps me connected with my team, allowing for instant messaging, file sharing, and integration with other tools, ensuring that collaboration is efficient and streamlined.

Slack

Adobe Creative Cloud is my suite of essential tools like any designer. From Photoshop to Illustrator, it provides the powerful capabilities I need to create, edit, and enhance visuals, ensuring high-quality design outputs.

Creative Cloud

ChatGPT is my AI assistant for generating content. Whether I'm writing microcopy, or brainstorming, it provides valuable insights and suggestions to enhance my work.

Chat GPT

Otter.ai is my go-to-place for transcribing meetings and interviews. It ensures that I capture every detail of user research sessions and team discussions, making it easier to reference and analyze conversations later.

Otter.ai

Jira is my project management powerhouse. It helps me track tasks, manage sprints, and collaborate with development teams, ensuring that design and implementation processes are aligned and progress smoothly.

Jira

Dovetail is my one-stop solution for user research analysis. It allows me to organize, tag, and synthesize qualitative data, transforming user feedback into actionable insights that inform and improve my design decisions.

Dovetail

Microsoft Office provides essential tools for documentation and presentations. Whether I'm drafting reports in Word, analyzing data in Excel, or creating presentations in PowerPoint, it supports my design workflow with full functionality.

Microsoft Office

Kind words...

Jenny El-Shamy
Senior Lecturer, Indiana University Bloomington
"Kaustubh is always ready to collaborate and support his colleagues. His ability to communicate effectively and build strong working relationships enhanced our team dynamics and fostered a positive learning environment. He has consistently demonstrated exceptional problem-solving skills, tackling complex challenges with creativity and tenacity."
Jatin Singhal
Marketing Founder, Arogyakara
"Working with Kaustubh was a dream. He took the time to understand our business and target audience, and the visual artifacts he designed perfectly reflected our brand identity. His ability to work seamlessly with cross-functional teams, including marketing, development, and product management, ensured that our design initiatives were successfully integrated into our overall marketing strategy."
Dr. Sumitra P
Assistant Professor, uGDX, Atlas SkillTech
"Kaustubh's keen eye for detail and creative flair brought a fresh perspective to our content creation process. Kaustubh's knowledge content design, coupled with his understanding of UX principles, significantly contributed to the effectiveness of our communication strategies."
Amogh N
Co-Founder, JaarX
"From day one, Kaustubh demonstrated remarkable problem-solving skills, tackling complex design challenges with innovative solutions. His keen eye for detail and commitment to understanding our users' needs led to the creation of intuitive and visually appealing interfaces. His designs not only met but often exceeded our expectations, making our product more accessible and enjoyable for our users."
Shunying Blevis
Lecturer, Indiana University Bloomington
"Kaustubh excels in mentoring students effectively. He provides clear, constructive feedback and encourages them to explore their potential in design and user research. His patient and supportive approach helps students build confidence and develop their skills. Kaustubh’s empathetic nature and mentoring abilities have made a profound impact on our students’ academic growth and success."
Jenny El-Shamy
Senior Lecturer, Indiana University Bloomington
"Kaustubh is always ready to collaborate and support his colleagues. His ability to communicate effectively and build strong working relationships enhanced our team dynamics and fostered a positive learning environment. He has consistently demonstrated exceptional problem-solving skills, tackling complex challenges with creativity and tenacity."
Jatin Singhal
Marketing Founder, Arogyakara
"Working with Kaustubh was a dream. He took the time to understand our business and target audience, and the visual artifacts he designed perfectly reflected our brand identity. His ability to work seamlessly with cross-functional teams, including marketing, development, and product management, ensured that our design initiatives were successfully integrated into our overall marketing strategy."
Dr. Sumitra P
Assistant Professor, uGDX, Atlas SkillTech
"Kaustubh's keen eye for detail and creative flair brought a fresh perspective to our content creation process. Kaustubh's knowledge content design, coupled with his understanding of UX principles, significantly contributed to the effectiveness of our communication strategies."
Amogh N
Co-Founder, JaarX
"From day one, Kaustubh demonstrated remarkable problem-solving skills, tackling complex design challenges with innovative solutions. His keen eye for detail and commitment to understanding our users' needs led to the creation of intuitive and visually appealing interfaces. His designs not only met but often exceeded our expectations, making our product more accessible and enjoyable for our users."
Shunying Blevis
Lecturer, Indiana University Bloomington
"Kaustubh excels in mentoring students effectively. He provides clear, constructive feedback and encourages them to explore their potential in design and user research. His patient and supportive approach helps students build confidence and develop their skills. Kaustubh’s empathetic nature and mentoring abilities have made a profound impact on our students’ academic growth and success."
Jenny El-Shamy
Senior Lecturer, Indiana University Bloomington
"Kaustubh is always ready to collaborate and support his colleagues. His ability to communicate effectively and build strong working relationships enhanced our team dynamics and fostered a positive learning environment. He has consistently demonstrated exceptional problem-solving skills, tackling complex challenges with creativity and tenacity."
Jatin Singhal
Marketing Founder, Arogyakara
"Working with Kaustubh was a dream. He took the time to understand our business and target audience, and the visual artifacts he designed perfectly reflected our brand identity. His ability to work seamlessly with cross-functional teams, including marketing, development, and product management, ensured that our design initiatives were successfully integrated into our overall marketing strategy."
Dr. Sumitra P
Assistant Professor, uGDX, Atlas SkillTech
"Kaustubh's keen eye for detail and creative flair brought a fresh perspective to our content creation process. Kaustubh's knowledge content design, coupled with his understanding of UX principles, significantly contributed to the effectiveness of our communication strategies."
Amogh N
Co-Founder, JaarX
"From day one, Kaustubh demonstrated remarkable problem-solving skills, tackling complex design challenges with innovative solutions. His keen eye for detail and commitment to understanding our users' needs led to the creation of intuitive and visually appealing interfaces. His designs not only met but often exceeded our expectations, making our product more accessible and enjoyable for our users."
Shunying Blevis
Lecturer, Indiana University Bloomington
"Kaustubh excels in mentoring students effectively. He provides clear, constructive feedback and encourages them to explore their potential in design and user research. His patient and supportive approach helps students build confidence and develop their skills. Kaustubh’s empathetic nature and mentoring abilities have made a profound impact on our students’ academic growth and success."
Jenny El-Shamy
Senior Lecturer, Indiana University Bloomington
"Kaustubh is always ready to collaborate and support his colleagues. His ability to communicate effectively and build strong working relationships enhanced our team dynamics and fostered a positive learning environment. He has consistently demonstrated exceptional problem-solving skills, tackling complex challenges with creativity and tenacity."
Jatin Singhal
Marketing Founder, Arogyakara
"Working with Kaustubh was a dream. He took the time to understand our business and target audience, and the visual artifacts he designed perfectly reflected our brand identity. His ability to work seamlessly with cross-functional teams, including marketing, development, and product management, ensured that our design initiatives were successfully integrated into our overall marketing strategy."
Dr. Sumitra P
Assistant Professor, uGDX, Atlas SkillTech
"Kaustubh's keen eye for detail and creative flair brought a fresh perspective to our content creation process. Kaustubh's knowledge content design, coupled with his understanding of UX principles, significantly contributed to the effectiveness of our communication strategies."
Amogh N
Co-Founder, JaarX
"From day one, Kaustubh demonstrated remarkable problem-solving skills, tackling complex design challenges with innovative solutions. His keen eye for detail and commitment to understanding our users' needs led to the creation of intuitive and visually appealing interfaces. His designs not only met but often exceeded our expectations, making our product more accessible and enjoyable for our users."
Shunying Blevis
Lecturer, Indiana University Bloomington
"Kaustubh excels in mentoring students effectively. He provides clear, constructive feedback and encourages them to explore their potential in design and user research. His patient and supportive approach helps students build confidence and develop their skills. Kaustubh’s empathetic nature and mentoring abilities have made a profound impact on our students’ academic growth and success."