Shiva Associate Experience Design Manager

Design leader · Teacher · Chennai

Shape the chaos. Keep the heart.

Big on people, serious about craft, curious about AI — building calm products and confident teams.

Red patterned shards that scatter as chaos and reassemble into a geometric heart
Move through it · click to release the chaos

Who I am

Part team alchemist. Part UX Yoda. Part experience designer. Part product whisperer. And always a teacher — mentoring and teaching are in my DNA.

Associate Experience Design Manager, EPAM Systems

20+years in UX, Product and Design Leadership, empowered by AI
200+projects across enterprise, consumer and AI
1000+mentorships, from trainees to leads
80+designers led in large-scale teams across organisations
Countlesshours, and still curious

AI in the loop

Five ways AI works for the team.

AI drafts, a named human decides. Every output lands as a reviewable draft inside the workflow.

  1. 01

    Generative AI

    Designing with AI as a native material: generative AI inside the Figma workflow, from prompt to concept on the canvas.

    • Figma Make
    • Prompt engineering
    • Concepts
    Concepts generated from prompts inside the Figma workflow
  2. 02

    UX design pipeline orchestration

    The UX process as a chain of reusable skills that synthesise research into journey maps, personas and user stories.

    • Claude Code
    • Custom skills
    • Journey mapper
    A Claude Code workspace with custom design skills such as a journey mapper and persona generator
  3. 03

    PDLC pipeline orchestration

    Agents working across the product lifecycle: complete or partial product information in, a working HTML prototype and developer handoff out.

    • Multi-agent
    • Agentic AI
    • Handoff
    A multi-agent design process scaffold producing an HTML prototype and handoff
  4. 04

    Creative design intelligence

    A visual intelligence engine that turns rough wireframes and existing screens into art-directed interfaces.

    • Visual intelligence
    • Art direction
    Interfaces generated by a visual design intelligence engine, from dashboards to editorial landing pages
  5. 05

    AI design studio hub

    The studio's skills, agents, pipelines and prompts in one place, so every team starts from a proven workflow with a human review step built in.

    • Enablement
    • Governance
    • Adoption

Teaching & mentoring

Growing designers, then products.

Two decades of turning trainees into leads: Pan-India UX/UI trainings at Cognizant, UX training programmes at EPAM, and today the education stream that shapes how designers level up.

Mentoring and teaching are in my DNA.

  1. Now
    Education stream, EPAM

    Responsible for the education stream: UX training programmes, design-thinking workshops for engineers, and the way designers level up.

  2. 2023 —
    UX training programmes, EPAM

    Led UX training programmes and regular UX crit sessions, and grew the team's AI-for-design practice together.

  3. 2017 — 23
    Founded an academy, RVM

    Built an academy for "true learning" and industry-ready talent, incubating designers from colleges and institutions.

  4. 2008 — 17
    Pan-India UX/UI trainings, Cognizant

    Ran UX and UI design trainings across India and mentored a team of 80+ designers. Best Trainer Award, Pan India, 2014.

  • Weekly 1:1s
  • Weekly team meetings
  • Skill-gap identification
  • UX crit sessions
  • Regular talks
  • Quarterly portfolio reviews
  • Presentation & storytelling
Shiva has also been a great mentor and a go to person in conducting training programs for our PAN india design teams and hybrid teams.
Praveen CharlesDesign Director, India Studio Head · LinkedIn

Studio contributions

Beyond the project: new capabilities.

Work I've led for the India studio — immersive experiences, AR, meta-humans and workshops. Drag, swipe or use the arrows.

  1. Future-of-garage experienceInnovation lab

    01

    A one-stop experience that lifts client visits, with India success stories and capabilities in a single, consistent platform built on immersive technology.

    • Ideation
    • Co-concept
    • Design
    • Delivery
  2. AR client-engagement experiencePhase 1

    02

    An engaging, immersive experience for clients visiting the offices, using AR to show a company that leads with technology.

    • Ideation
    • Concept
    • Design
    • Delivery
  3. AR client-engagement experiencePhase 2

    03

    A second round of ideation, shaped by feedback from studio leadership.

    • Ideation
    • Concept
    • Design
    • Delivery
  4. Designing for immersive experiencesNew capability building

    04

    Spatial design for VR devices and AR environments: best practices, a delivery process and up-skilling resources for the studio.

    • Desk research
    • Benchmarking
    • Best practices
    • POCs
  5. Innovation lab & delivery-centre designSpace & brand

    05

    Visualising a made-real innovation lab to match marketing and brand goals, and reimagining a client delivery centre as the ideal place to work.

    • Ideation
    • Concept
    • Design
    • Delivery
  6. Meta-human character designPhase 1 · New capability

    06

    A 3D character with facial-capture sync, built with MetaHuman and Unity.

    • Ideation
    • Concept
    • Design
    • Delivery
  7. Meta-human × AIPhase 2 · Advancing the capability

    07

    Production-ready tooling, optimised character performance and integration with an AI knowledge base, alongside the developer community.

    • Tooling
    • Performance
    • AI integration
  8. AR virtual try-onPhase 1 · POC for e-commerce

    08

    A proof of concept for a virtual try-on experience across web and app, for a luxury diamond-jewellery brand.

    • Ideation
    • Concept
    • Design
  9. Creative design & animationPOC

    09

    Showcasing advanced Figma capabilities in creative design and motion for a global beverage brand.

    • Figma
    • Animation
    • POC
  10. Design-thinking workshopFacilitator

    10

    Users first, multidisciplinary teams, step by step: ideate, prototype, test with users, learn. Conditioning the mindset to build MVPs — fail quick, scale fast.

    • Facilitation
    • Guidance
10 contributions · India studio
90+key badges earned at EPAM, from people development to client feedback
300+profiles screened for hiring
50+interviews conducted for the India studio, and counting
20+designers hired, including from design schools with the campus team

Recognition

Accolades, gratefully kept.

  • People DeveloperImpact 2025 · EPAM
  • Best ManagerEPAM
  • Mentor AwardEPAM
  • Performance ChampionEPAM
  • AI Adoption ChampionEPAM Design Studio
  • Special KudosCSSDA · 2021
  1. 2024UX DesignOpsLinkedIn Learning
  2. 2021Special Kudos AwardCSS Design Awards
  3. 2014Best Trainer Award, Pan IndiaCognizant
  4. 2014Certified Usability AnalystHuman Factors International · #2014-4978
  5. 2013Project of the YearBig Four audit programme
  6. 2012Project of the YearGlobal mobility programme
  7. 2011Project of the YearGlobal pharmaceutical programme
  8. 2010Oscar of the MonthPerformance recognition

In their words

I've seen him grow from a entry level trainee designer to a engaging creative leader in building the Chennai design team. Shiva has also been a great mentor and a go to person in conducting training programs for our PAN india design teams.
Praveen CharlesDesign Director, India Studio Head · managed Shiva directly · LinkedIn, 2016
Shiva possesses a clear vision and is genuinely committed to helping people grow, learn, and enjoy their work in design. He uniquely understands that design must align with business objectives, which makes him an outstanding design leader.
Teon BeijlManaged Shiva directly · LinkedIn, 2024
He always impressed us as a team with his futuristic designs and concepts. He is open minded and is always up to date with new technologies.
Nabeel BaiqDigital transformation leader · Shiva's client · LinkedIn, 2016
Shiva is a rare species to work with and i believe he is from Kal-El the alien planet Krypton!! … Shiva is highly creative, precise and has a huge talent in visual design.
Arun FranklinUX design leader · senior colleague · LinkedIn, 2016
I've seen him creating a team culture that makes people at ease while creating focus on the deliverables that are expected. He brings a level of experience that others can learn from.
Teon BeijlUX Head, Digital Platforms · client feedback
Shiva is a good listener and he is understanding the requirements really quickly. He is also open to new ideas and has the skill to visualise the UX screens that will bring customer delight.
Product ManagerClient · energy technology
He is responsible, down to earth and has an approachable personality. He is well connected with client stakeholders, because of which the client feels comfortable depending on him and assigning him more responsibilities.
Account ManagerEPAM
His feedback was constructive, clear and to the point. It really helped me to find the right direction in my career. He is very supportive and encouraging during bad times.
Niveditha ParameswaranMentored by Shiva at Cognizant · LinkedIn, 2019

Beyond the brief

An artist at heart. A biker by choice.

Before the job titles, there was a sketchbook. I still paint, letter and draw, and on weekends I'm usually somewhere on two wheels. Art is a part. Sometimes I do miss it :)

Read the rest of me

Shiva leaning on a bronze sports motorcycle on a grassy hill
A digital portrait painting of a woman with blue eyes
Shiva waving beside his touring motorcycle by a paddy field
A painted interior: an old chair in sunlight by a broken window

Contact

Got some chaos
worth shaping?

shiva1518@gmail.com