ABOUT ME | Shuchi UX Portfolio

About

Hi! Thanks for taking the time to be here.

Driven by curiosity of human behaviour, designing products that make people happy, makes me happy. I love nature and beautiful things.

I believe we are shaped by both our surroundings and experiences i.e, nature + nurture. Whether it's convincing a child to eat broccoli, or encouraging the use of digital tools; our interactions - digitally and physically, constantly influence us and the world around us.

I spent the initial years of my career sharpening my fundamentals of user experience design- interaction design, information architecture, UI design, learning about components and patterns, design systems, and developing systems thinking along with a service design mindset. In the last 2 years, I have added influence, negotiations and persuasion to my skill set. Practicing empathy to understand the needs of clients to be able to influence the outcomes of our collective decisions.

Design systems are more than just tools for consistency—they are my passion. Over the course of my career, I’ve dedicated myself to mastering the art and science of building and managing design systems that not only streamline processes but also enhance creativity, collaboration, and user experience. With a strong foundation in architecture and UX design, I bring a deep commitment to crafting systems that scale seamlessly across diverse products, platforms, and brands.

Education

Let me tell you what each of these taught me and how this has direct application to my work as a UX designer today.

Degrees

2009-2011

Master of Architectuire

State University of New York, Buffalo NY

A master's program to study Architecture.

This was a 2-year degree program.

This taught me:

It advanced my critical thinking by making us spend a lot of time on the problem space rather than jumping to solutions right away. Challenging our assumptions of the world.
It boosted my design thinking by challenging us at every stage of the project.
It taught me the power of collaboration and working together on projects that lasted an entire semester.

2004-2009

Bachelors of Architecture

Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India

A bachelor's program to study Architecture.

This was a 5-year degree program. The last semester was my thesis semester.

This program taught me:

It gave me a solid foundation of design thinking approach and how iterative design is. The power of the first principle's thinking.
It helped me detach myself and my ego from the design as we presented our designs to architects only to have it criticized quite severely.
It taught me how to handle complexity and learn to sit with ambiguity. Learn to simplify design. And that it's OK to not know where you're headed at first but knowing just the first step.

Certificates

2017 - 2018

Interaction Design

University of California | Online

This helped me understand the basics of digital design.

This certification course was about a 9-month program including a capstone project in the end.

It taught me:

The basics of the digital world.
How to design in pixels.
Fail fast to succeed sooner design philosophy.

March 2022

Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Sciences

The University of Edinburgh | Online

This helped me understand how evolution plays a role in decision-making.

It's been some time since I have been fascinated with cognitive science: understanding how we think, what aids our decision-making while interacting with our environment and the biases involved.

This course gave me a glimpse into these topics but also helped me understand how evolution plays a role in decision-making, language formation, and the science of consciousness & awareness to which psychologists, neuroscientists and philosophers contribute. And how can all of this be applied to the field of robotics and AI.

April 2023

Digital Behaviour Change

Behaviour Design Academy | Online

This helped me understand how to apply principles of psychology, sociology and neurology to digital screens for behaviour change.

It taught me:

What are some of the principles from the fields of psychology, sociology and neurology that can have direct application to creating behaviour change.
What are the stages of behaviour change.
Understand how decisions are made and how our minds perceive the different catalysts around us.