As a design educator, I look forward to share knowledge and mentor design students to nurture them to face the real design world. I always fuel students with creativity and confidence / boldness to make mistakes and learn from them. Conveying the process of creating a meaningful product / service which fulfils the user’s requirement, can be accomplished with the help of different design methodologies. Some of the topics which I cover for students to achieve this are: Design methods - to keep track of the processDesign brief - to find the design problemUser research - to collect from both quantitative and qualitative analysisErgonomic aspects - physical and cognitive ergonomics Human factors – factors that affect human psyche to improve user experienceDesign philosophy – theory behind form, color and the aesthetic side of designCreativity skills – which help the process of designingBrainstorming - to explore the power of free thinkingIdeation process – the main tool here is sketching on both analog and digital mediumsCMF – to develop strong visual design capabilities / sensibilitiesDFMA – to meet the industry requirements to develop scalable products3D model / Surface modelling – to emphasize on form elements using AliasMockups and Prototype – quick paper mockups, rapid prototyping and look like prototype to test and validateProduct visualization – to create sellable product images using Keyhsot and PhotoshopResponsible for a number of courses in Industrial Design program and also collaborating with other programs such as User experience design, Assistive technology. Team member for creating new academic structure for an integrated Product design course in collaboration with Material Engineering program.

Developed ‘Handle concept for String trimmer’ to improve the overall user experience. The concept development started by gathering VOC (Voice of Customers) and then synthesizing the CCR (Critical Customer Requirements) based on the received data. This alternative solution enables a better experience achieved through rigorous testing and validating different concepts on aspects of physical and cognitive ergonomics. The redesigned Human Machine Interface gives easy and intuitive usage experience. The overall form of the handle and details are crafted in such a way that it follows the design language and aesthetics of the existing parts. This meaningful solution also covers areas such as DFMA to consider the cost perspective of the product.

Managed the team of 8 to develop a product in a new sector for IKEA by keeping Democratic Design, IKEA’s design philosophy, in mind. The main focus of this project was to conduct research, brand analysis, market analysis, considering standards, rules, regulations and forecast trend. My main responsibilities were coordinating and guiding different design related activities, reporting progress, planning strategies for presentations, mockups and prototype making, to name a few. We developed a POC (Proof of Concept) to test and validate the final design, about which IKEA was super excited about the outcome and took forward for building engineering prototype. This project gave me great confidence in my project management skills and my leadership qualities.

Involved in the process of developing Visual Brand Language (VBL) and design guidelines for the brand. Active participation on brainstorming, design evaluation and discussion sessions with the inhouse design team and also in collaboration with other departments. Learned product development process by developing a ‘Battery powered Garden tool' for an urban resident user in 3 weeks by considering the DFMA, color, form, material, and aesthetic perspective and validating the concept by the use of a prototype.

Developed 8 ready-to-produce concrete outdoor furniture having elegant design elements with easily scalable parts to reduce the production cost. During that period, I gained hands on experience in working with concrete and generated feasible mold solutions from the knowledge gained from local mold makers and producers.

Co-founded and defined the brand identity and strategy from scratch to place the brand in the fast-growing interior market in Kerala. The main activities revolved around understanding the market, competition, trends, communicating vision through design, setting guidelines, vendor development, customer interaction, designing the interior and furniture, making, working with wood and metal, learning spray painting and making 3D visualization images for marketing, to name a few.

Involved in activities in a production shop floor (Precision and CNC department).