2015 - 2022 / SAP Labs India

This section offers a personal look into my journey as a UX Design Specialist at SAP Bengaluru, highlighting how I strive to drive impact and foster innovation every day. Stepping into my shoes means embracing a dynamic role where I contribute to shaping the future of enterprise software.

As an individual contributor embedded within product teams (where the designer-to-developer ratio averages 1:10), my responsibilities are diverse and focused on maximizing user value.

Spearheading Innovation through Harmonized AI Feedback: As a Concept Owner for AI Feedback within the SAP Fiori Design System, I'm at the forefront of integrating cutting-edge AI into our products. My focus is on harmonizing and standardizing the user experience of SAP's AI-powered offerings across all Lines of Business. By meticulously defining reusable feedback patterns for algorithms, APIs, and AI services, and by maintaining the 'User Feedback' article within the Fiori design guidelines, I'm ensuring a consistent and intuitive experience for users interacting with AI-driven features. This standardization not only improves usability but also accelerates the adoption and effectiveness of AI technologies within SAP's ecosystem.

Driving User-Centricity in Industry Cloud Solutions: In my role as an Application Designer for Industry Cloud, I act as a dedicated UX champion for various product teams. I empower them to build solutions that not only meet business requirements but also adhere to the high standards of SAP Fiori consistency and design. By providing proactive UX support, I directly contribute to creating industry-specific applications that are user-friendly, efficient, and ultimately drive greater value for our customers in diverse sectors.

Cultivating a Product-First Mindset: My selection as one of the 50 participants in the inaugural cohort of the Product Management Training organized by the Product Management Forum at SAP Labs India underscores my commitment to understanding the broader product landscape. This experience is invaluable in shaping my design decisions, ensuring they are not only user-centric but also strategically aligned with product vision and business goals.

Championing Design-Led Development for Consistent Excellence: I am a strong advocate and active participant in SAP's Design-led Development process. This methodology is our key to delivering a consistently exceptional UX across all our products. I work closely with development teams across various Lines of Business, embedding design thinking throughout the entire product lifecycle. By ensuring regular consistency checks and a deep understanding of user needs, I directly contribute to the creation of products that are both powerful and a pleasure to use. My involvement in DesignOps further strengthens this impact by optimizing design processes and ensuring scalability of our UX efforts within my areas of expertise.

My impact extends across various Industries, where I've had the opportunity to contribute to design projects in areas such as: Warranty Management (an ongoing project focused on improving efficiency and user experience), Defense Logistics (designing solutions for complex logistical challenges), Supply Based Optimisation (enhancing user workflows for strategic sourcing), Excise Tax - Consumer and Retail (simplifying tax management processes), Blockchain and Analytics - Digital Citizen (exploring innovative solutions for citizen engagement), Higher Education (creating user-friendly tools for educational institutions), and Investigative Case Management (designing intuitive interfaces for complex investigations).

Beyond my core responsibilities, I actively seek opportunities to contribute to UX Activities that foster innovation and user-centricity. This includes engaging in end-to-end UX activities within product development, from user research and stakeholder workshops to ideation, creating high-fidelity mockups, conducting design validation with end-users, and performing usability testing. I also volunteer my time to moderate Design Thinking workshops, serve as a SPOC for various research activities for central design teams, and help organize usability testing events, amplifying the impact of user insights across the organization.

My commitment to user-centered design has also led to involvement in various external engagements, including volunteering at the Usability Testing Lab at ASUG SAPHHIRENOW 2016 in Orlando, Florida, contributing to a Research team at San Francisco State University, California, engaging with Jakob Nielsen at CHI 2016 in San Jose, California, facilitating a DT Workshop with stakeholders at the University of Kentucky, Kentucky, presenting an Idea pitch at the finals of Intrapreneurship 2017 at SAP.io in San Francisco, California, and collaborating with the Copilot and DCC research teams at SAP Palo Alto.

My passion for sharing knowledge and contributing to the field is reflected in my Research Paper, "Design guidelines for exploring relationships in a connected big data environment," published at HCI - INTERACT 2017, within the Industry Case Studies track. This work contributes to the broader understanding of effective UX strategies for complex data environments.

I am proud to have been recognized for my contributions with 4 SAP Catalyst awards (2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020), as a Top 10 Finalist in Idea Jam with Christoph Behrendt in 2018, as a Finalist at the SAP.io Intrapreneurship Accelerator event in 2017, and as a Top 7 Finalist in the P&I Award for Innovate SAP S/4 HANA E2E User Experience in 2015. I was also honored to receive an SAP Patent Award in 2021, recognizing my contribution to innovative design solutions.

Finally, I was an integral part of the team that successfully rolled out the AppANE Contact Tracing Application, a SMARTLABS initiative from SAP Labs India. This impactful project played a crucial role in identifying, assessing, and managing potential COVID-19 exposures for employees visiting office premises, directly contributing to the safety and well-being of our workforce during a critical time.

Through these diverse experiences and ongoing efforts, I am committed to driving impactful and innovative UX solutions at SAP, ultimately enhancing the way people interact with technology and achieve their goals.