Currently looking for high-impact roles in a design-driven consumer social product team or challenging opportunities in a 0-1 journey for early-stage teams.
About
Hi, I'm Kokkadan Ashwin, an experience designer and a serial craftsman based in Bengaluru, India.
I graduated from the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bengaluru in 2020 with a Bachelors in Communication Design. Since that I've contributed most of my time building SuperShare, a consumer social product with the goal to make internet a multiplayer experience. I led design across all fronts and helped raise $6M in Series A round. Collaborated on strategies for crucial pivots we took, successfully architected multiple thoughtfully crafted, functional and delightful consumer social products. Delivered growth of up to 10M unique visitors every month. After this we scaled our team where I worked closely with a bunch of talented senior and junior designers, illustrators, animators and interns.
My love for design and craft extends beyond expertise in a singular discipline and I’m a big believer of being a generalist. Throughout my college and even during my time at SuperShare I’ve had a great time challenging my skillset with a repertoire of other contract projects with M&C’s like H&M and Puma, government projects for social awareness, and helping a few other early stage startups in the education and healthcare sectors to kickstart their journey. The nature of work involved multiple different touch points of communication, like film making, social media management, branding, packaging design, etc.
Contact
Work Experience
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Led design initiatives across all aspects, contributing to a successful $6M Series A funding round.
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Collaborated on pivotal strategic decisions and built multiple consumer social products with thoughtful functionality and delightful user experiences.
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Achieved significant growth, attracting up to 10M unique visitors monthly.
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Created polished micro-interactions using After Effects and Lottie, created high-fidelity prototypes using Protopie, and built scalable design systems for an expanding product suite.
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Oversaw the UI/UX stack of QTalk, a social call dialler app, during a six-month internship.
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Conducted usability testing, competitor analysis, stakeholder interviews, and created wireframes and micro-interactions to enhance user experience.
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Improved a basic utility product into a high-frequency product, increasing D20 retention by about 17%.
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Organically accelerated new user onboarding by 82%.
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Improved 5-star Playstore rating by 200%.
In a 2-month college internship, I helped Learnr.ai to develop a product concept of an Ed-tech platform similar to Linkedin, but for students.
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Contributed to rebranding, repositioning, and UX improvements for a fintech product
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Re-designed Packaging for a sustainable brand that was inaugurated by Miss India & Miss Universe in 2019. Contributed primarily on the market analysis, information design and illustrations
Freelance contract project with an educational institute.
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Designed a range of digital and print media products, including promo videos, creative posters, banners, flyers, visiting cards, brochures, letterheads, e-mail invites, and social media posts.
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Worked on all the requirements remotely, ensuring seamless collaboration and timely delivery.
Similar project description as for Crocus Junior
Side Projects
Collaborated with Puma India's marketing team to plan the Mancity event pop-up store using Fusion 360
Worked on a contract project with YogiFi, an award-winning A.I powered Yoga mat, collaborating with Apple to integrate Computer Vision and AI into their ecosystem, leading 3D modelling and animation efforts for marketing materials, and supporting the creation of 3D renders and pitch decks for new product concepts.
As part of a 5-member team, we developed 55 modular tech packs for H&M, allowing interchangeable garment elements for diverse design combinations using a program. Subsequently, in the next year H&M entrusted the entire project to me for my technical expertise and quick turn around time.
Education
In depth learning with core areas like Graphic Design, Space Design, Fashion Media, and Fashion Thinking, integrating both hand and digital techniques.
Beyond the fundamentals we also delved into acquiring digital focused skillsets like Omni-channel (UX), sensory design, AR/VR, 2D/3D Animation, and Motion Graphics, etc.
Science, because I was preparing for IIT before I changed my mind
Shy kid. Loved drawing science diagrams, physics, library sessions and computer classes.
Certifications
Accelerate design processes by employing user interface design patterns, selecting the most suitable patterns to optimize usability, while also ensuring ethical implementation by avoiding manipulative dark patterns.
Conduct user-focused design processes, communicate UX significance to stakeholders, sidestep pitfalls, and enhance user experience on all levels.
Utilize an iterative, user-focused design process to tackle complex, ill-defined problems, integrating practical design thinking methods like interviews, co-creation sessions, and rapid prototyping at every stage.
Execute a user-centered design process emphasizing intuitive designs, applying cognitive principles, crafting engaging experiences, and evaluating efficacy through tests and evaluations.
Design mobile interfaces following usability best practices, informed by personas and task modeling, catering to different platforms (e.g., iOS, Android), and prioritizing engaging user experiences.
Learned about specialty coffee from cultivation to cupping, including sensory analysis, roasting, freshness factors, and brewing, with emphasis on water quality and maintenance
Volunteering
I was one of five candidates chosen from across all the National Institute of Fashion Technology campus across India to document a three-day international meeting, where I handled video editing responsibilities. Our goal was to capture all event proceedings and produce a film summary by the final day, which we achieved through seamless coordination and round-the-clock efforts.
Video link here
This was a government project part of the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan that I worked on along with TTD Educational Institute to spread social awareness about hygiene and cleanliness.