Digital Design Studio
Designed for Honeywell, Bayer, Eurofins, Lifestyle, DHL and more. I learned to move fast and keep quality high, and loved pitching proposals to win the work.
Portfolio · Product design leader
Design leadership for complex, high-stakes B2B products
Twelve years designing complex B2B products, from observability and AI alerting at Cisco AppDynamics to identity, access and device security at JumpCloud. Alongside the product work: the hiring, rituals and operating systems I build so design teams do their best work.
Writing & talks
Notes from leading design teams, published on Medium as the "Learning as a design leader" series, and a talk at Cisco's design conference.
Earlier work
Before leading teams, I designed retail CRM tools at Capillary, ran client work at ITC's Digital Design Studio, and trained in interaction design at IIT Guwahati.
Capillary Technologies · UX Designer · 2014 – 2017
My Capillary work, in four minutes
A narrated walkthrough of three projects: Retro Transactions, letting store associates attach loyalty customers to past bills; StoreCare, a monitoring dashboard and command center for store support teams; and Online to Offline, turning stores into pick-up points for online orders.
IIT Guwahati, M.Des
Master's in Interaction Design at the Department of Design, after a B.Tech in Electronics & Electrical from Mody University.
Product design leader
I build design teams that earn trust
Senior Design Manager at JumpCloud, heading design for APAC and EMEA. Previously India Site Lead for design at Opendoor and at AppDynamics, Cisco, where I helped design Cisco's flagship Full-Stack Observability offering.
I'm a designer who is also passionate about building design teams. At JumpCloud, Opendoor and Cisco I've shaped a culture of mutual trust, ownership and curiosity as the foundation of each team.
Along with designing competitive, user-centred enterprise products, I've played a key role in design operations, data-informed design, growing the research practice, and making sure design partners well with its cross-functional counterparts.
What I look for
A design team with a clear vision and a culture of trust, respect, partnership and resilience, working on a complex product where coaching, user insight, collaboration and adaptability matter.
How I add value to design teams
Four strengths I bring to every team, from a new team at Opendoor to a distributed one at JumpCloud.
Cross-domain product design
Observability and AIOps, identity and device security, real-estate operations and retail CRM.
Collaborating across global teams
The bridge between design and product teams on three continents, with executives kept aligned.
Hiring expertise across levels
Built teams from scratch, set up design hiring practices and levelled up the career ladder.
Building a high-trust, motivated team
Design Pairs, Design Talks and honest feedback, so designers grow and stay.
My design & leadership philosophy
The principles I design by, and the ones I lead by.
Design philosophy
Don't make me think
Design should be simple and intuitive to use, like a smooth ride on a clear road.
Remember the users
Users belong in the design process. They will use the product, not you or me. Sharing early prototypes, gathering feedback and putting it on the roadmap brings them closer.
Measure the impact
"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." Peter Drucker
Data-informed design aligns design and business by showing design's impact. It reduces opinion-based decisions, shows where more qualitative research is needed, and makes room for experimentation and user advocacy.
Leadership philosophy
Servant leadership
I'm here to serve my team, and to carve a path for each person's success and growth, which drives the company's success too. I also serve my "A team" of peer leaders and my leadership team, to keep us aligned on the product.
Situational leadership
Knowing my team and peers well tells me when, why and how to adapt. It lets me coach from each person's strengths.
Non-negotiables
- Trust and radical kindness, for immediate peers and beyond.
- Respect for the team and for oneself.
- User-centricity, and a shameless commitment to it.
Experience
Education
- Masters in Design, Interaction DesignIIT Guwahati · 2012 – 2014
- B.Tech, Electronics & ElectricalMody University, Jaipur · 2008 – 2012
Certifications
- d.MBA: Business Education for Designers2024
- Product StrategyKellogg School of Management · 2022
- Leading Complex ProjectsIDEO U · 2022
- UX CertificateNielsen Norman Group · 2021
- AI: Implications for Business StrategyMIT Sloan · 2019
- Market Research & Consumer BehaviorIE Business School · 2018
Skills
- LeadershipCoaching · stakeholder management · strategic planning · alignment · conflict resolution · emotional intelligence
- Product designB2B products · design strategy · discovery workshops · information architecture · rapid prototyping · UX analytics
- ResearchContextual inquiry · unmoderated testing · AI-moderated research
- Beyond product designCertified art therapist · pottery · mindful parenting · reading and writing
What people say
From a researcher, a designer I mentored, and a design leader I worked alongside.
Every interaction with Moupiya is a rewarding experience. She constantly pushes me to level up 360°. One of the reasons why I decided to join AppDynamics was to work with an amazing mentor like her. Moupiya has always acknowledged the good work and never hesitated in telling where I needed to improve. Her feedback is articulated very well and they give me the room to bring something new to the table every time. She is wonderful team player, leader, and inspiring personality for the whole team.
Moupiya is a vibrant design leader who is dedicated to delivering user-centered design and experience. She is a strong advocate of instilling users' voice in product development, and she tirelessly seeks alignment across Product, Engineering, and UX. As a leader, she allows room for much creativity and offers a great balance of support, encouragement, and guidance. On top of it all, it is inspiring to see how she continues to find opportunities to learn and grow to become an even better design leader.
Moupiya is an earnest design practitioner, skilled in navigating the demands of design for enterprise solutions. She's passionate and purposeful about bringing out the best in her team, particularly nurturing and guiding young designers. She balances her role as a product expert with her enthusiasm for passion projects both at work and outside of it. Moupiya's keen interest in all things product design and her involvement in helping build a thriving design team were the highlights of our work together.
Contact
Building a complex enterprise product that needs design leadership?
I'm always happy to talk about design teams, AI-first design practice, or how to make security and observability products easier to use.
moupiyaukil@gmail.com
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