Hi, I’m Mani.
I design what has to hold up.
I didn’t choose design.
It chose me.
Five moments. One detour that became the only path that ever made sense.
A bio major who walked into the wrong room, mentioned sketching, and left with a UX role. Six years later, the path still doesn’t look obvious from the outside.
From the inside, it’s the only one that does.
Chemistry geek at SASTRA
Biotech major. A chemistry geek who didn’t think to question why.
The expected offer
Pharma research. On track. It didn’t feel right.
The wrong room
I went to the IT interview anyway. A bio student in a CS room.
What gave me away
The interviewer asked about my hobbies. I mentioned sketching. Portraits, mostly.
Recognition
The vocabulary I had, and the way I noticed things, turned out to be design instincts. That was the moment.
Four stages, one continuous loop.
Each one earns the next.
Each project moves through these four stages. Strategy aims, system structures, execution lands, scale earns the next loop. The work compounds; every iteration sharpens the one after it.
Five words I check the work against.
Not slogans. The five things I keep coming back to when the design has to make a call.
Integrity
Ethics
Respect
Collaboration
Purpose
What shaped me, honestly.
Design is not something I arrived at by chance. It’s a craft, one I’ve been deeply invested in learning continuously and reflecting on often.
Small design choices shape confidence and trust.
I’m naturally curious about how systems behave under real-world conditions, how people make decisions under pressure, and how the smallest details land.
Working across diverse domains gave me a balanced perspective, one that holds both business realities and human impact. I’ve learned to navigate complexity, advocate for users, and design the systems people rely on when it matters the most.
In some other universe, we’re already friends. Why not this one?
Happiest in the rooms where product decisions touch real money and real people. If that’s the room you’re building, say hi.