I started as a confused computer science engineering student, freelancing as a website designer. My first project was building a website for a local business. Although it looked good, the results weren’t what the business owner expected. This sparked my curiosity: why wasn’t it working?
Honestly, I was not aware of User Experience as a term. So, to understand why it is not working I took up the role of customer care and talked to these people. It was then I realized I was actually conducting user research and interviews, though I didn’t know it at the time. I started reading online, asking experienced designers on Quora, and quickly realized I needed to go back to the basics. This journey eventually led me to a role at a startup in Pune, where I worked on various projects and learned that design is about understanding users' needs, not just Photoshop or Illustrator. Over the years, I’ve gained a deep understanding of UX and the evolving design landscape. But what remained constant over these years is that, design isn’t just about technology; it’s culturally driven.