Veena is chapter lead at Ladies that UX Bangalore and is a Senior Design Lead at frog Design.
And she kicks off our series of interviews with the inspiring women leading Ladies that UX chapters across the world.
An industry veteran, Veena has over 16 years of experience and, as well as frog Design, has led design projects with Human Factors International (HFI), Thoughtworks and Mindtree (where she helped set up design team presence in the US) for various fortune 500 companies such as AIG, Marriott, Exxon, Toyota, MoMA, IKEA, Sabre, AT&T. We’re suitably impressed!
So tell us Veena, how did you get involved with Ladies that UX?
I used to attend Ladies that UX in New York. After moving back to India, I realised the need for a similar group in Bangalore. Starting Ladies that UX Bangalore has really helped me build my leadership skills and, on a community level, has helped designers network and young designers learn new skills.
What do you most enjoy about working in UX?
Understanding complex problems and ensuring the experience is simple for users. I’ve helped businesses be future ready and scale-up profitably through design, as well as conceptualising and developing digital design strategies, service design concepts, defining experiences for consumer facing sites/apps and enterprise IT systems.
“Starting Ladies that UX Bangalore has really helped me build my leadership skills”
Veena – Ladies that UX Bangalore
This year’s Talk UX theme is people and connections. Tell us about the ways in which connecting with people has benefited you.
UX designers are all about connecting with colleagues or users. Designers are not just empathising with users but need to ensure they empathise with their co-workers in creating great experiences.
And why is the support of other women so important?
There is a dearth of women in UX leadership roles and there still exists a glass ceiling for women.