About
Malavika is an MDes. candidate at Carnegie Mellon University. She's a multi-disciplinary designer with ~2 years of experience working as a UX designer. Her design roots are in communication design, and she places her design practice at the intersection of interaction and communication design.
Projects
Designed a gamified learning experience to teach undergraduate students about cognitive distortions and CBT principles, leveraging learning models and game design principles; conducted extensive research, developed rapid prototypes and the visual system and conducted tests with 20 users across 2 phases, achieving 100% user satisfaction, and a 50% improvement in learning outcomes based on pre- and post-assessment tests.
Designed an AI-powered conversational agent that personalizes the entire North Face product purchase and use cycle. Conducted user research and synthesis for problem identification and developed the visual style, mobile wireframes, and prototypes using Figma and After Effects. Our concept won the Indigo and NY Product Silver Awards.
An immersive mixed reality experience for the Andy Warhol Museum to help visitors understand the art and the artist better. The project won an Indigo Gold Award 2024 in the VR design category
Work Experience
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Assisted Prof. Kelsey Dusenka for the class "Communication & Digital Design Fundamentals" at the undergraduate level (Fall 2023) Guiding students through their class projects, facilitating conversations that help them communicate and refine their developing design processes, and offering constructive feedback.
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Assisting Prof. Stacie Rohrbach in ‘Designing Experiences for Learning’ - Spring 2024. Conducting research on class engagement, alignment of the learning objectives with the readings, notes, activities.
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Led the UX design for the MVP of an order management system for a supply chain and logistics firm. Developed prototypes for user flows using Sketch and Marvel, and conducted phase-wise user acceptance testing (UAT). Collaborated closely with front-end developers, product managers, and QA professionals. Improved the hand-off process between design and development teams by establishing a system using Abstract, initiating regular meetings, and logging UX versions, resulting in a 25% reduction in hand-off errors, a 20% increase in resolution speed, and enhanced collaboration, tracked via project management tools, and enhanced collaboration, assessed through team feedback and project milestone tracking
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Conceptualized and designed an AI-powered dashboard for a retail logistics pitch, resulting in client acquisition. Identified key requirements through expert interviews, developed prototypes in Figma and presented the concept using storytelling. Streamlined user flows to provide seamless interactions and actionable insights from data.
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Designed a framework for an ocean freight contract aggregator platform by conducting multi-method research (desk research, expert interviews, user testing), defining functionalities and user flows, and iteratively refining the prototype through user testing, resulting in a user-friendly and efficient platform.
- Collaborated on designing and launching an online fitness trainer marketplace. Conducted desk research to inform UX decisions, developed low-fidelity wireframes to map key user flows, and crafted a visual design direction, ensuring a professional and engaging brand identity. Created high-fidelity prototypes based on the established design direction. Demonstrated graphic design versatility by designing social media banners for 2+ clients, creating 3D mockups for product concepts on the studio website, executing a design direction for a packaging label, and crafting a typographic label for an energy bar packaging that went live.
- Handled the social media and communication material strategy for ACT Fibernet, TATA Tanishq, and Central. Executed social media campaigns for ACT that increased customer engagement by 39%
As the only designer on board, I worked with the marketing team to implement the branding across stationery, social media, physical spaces. Here are some highlights:
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Designed a Brand kit with guidelines for the company.
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Designed coffee table books and property brochures.
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Worked on environmental graphics for the office space.
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Established a social media strategy with a kit that can be shared across the marketing team.
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Photographed the property for brochures.
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Created Welcome kits for new employees with merchandise.
Volunteering
- As a contributor, I'm working on redesigning the onboarding experience for new members of the community.
Education
At CMU, I'm actively involved in exploring emerging technologies such as AI agents and conversation design, along with creating designs for mixed reality experiences. I'm in the process of defining my understanding of interaction design at the crossroads of experience and communication design. My coursework encompasses designing experiences for learning and delving into the social web to comprehend the nuances of designing for human psychology and the associated technological implications. Through various projects, I've developed skills in user research, problem-solving, conceptual development, wireframing, and designing for mixed reality and conversation scenarios. As I look at my progress, I'm pleased with my maturing ability to pinpoint the right metrics for validating proposed solutions.
I pursued a comprehensive four-year undergraduate course that centered around communication design in its various facets. This encompassed a broad spectrum, ranging from brand creation and marketing to graphic design, editorial design, package design, animation, photography, film studies, VFX, and illustration. My academic journey culminated in a thesis that delved into the pivotal realm of mobilizing conversations around sex education in India. This topic, while inherently sensitive, held immense importance as a necessary dialogue. Through my studies and thesis work, I honed my skills across diverse design disciplines, ultimately gaining a well-rounded understanding of effective communication in a variety of visual and creative formats.