About me

I put the person using it first, in every decision, down to the last detail.

Soumya Sharma

Product · UI/UX · Interaction Designer — California

Soumya Sharma, photographed on a footbridge in a redwood creek

I’m Soumya. I live and breathe design, and every decision I make starts with the person on the other side of the screen.

Getting here took 5+ years and two countries: a bachelor’s in visual communication in India, a master’s in interaction design in California, and the time in between spent shipping — brand work, a learning platform rebuilt from the ground up, a design system started from nothing.

I’m at my best in the fine detail and under pressure. What keeps me here is the part of this work that never settles: there is always a new tool or technology that can move the process forward. Lately that has meant building a design system an AI agent can operate.

Design is less a job I go to than a way of thinking I’m committed to, and I’d like to point it at whatever you’re making.

Life journey

Two countries, one through-line.

School and work on the same axis, in the order each one started, overlaps included, because that is how it actually went.

  1. Jun 2016 — Jun 2020

    Bachelor's Program: Visual Communication

    Unitedworld Institute of Design · India

    Four years learning to make a thing say something before I made it do anything.

  2. Jan 2018 — Nov 2020

    Product Designer

    Freelance · India

    Brand and graphic work — ad films, compositions, storyboards — with a 20–35% lift in engagement and retention across the products I touched.

  3. Aug 2020 — May 2022

    Master's Program: Interaction Design

    California State University, East Bay · Hayward, CA · GPA 3.7/4.00

    Where the craft I already had picked up a method.

  4. Aug 2021 — May 2022

    Product Designer

    Associated Students, Inc. · Hayward, CA

    I shaped the user flows of a travel-recommendation app, then rebuilt a mental-health app around a clearer information architecture.

  5. Aug 2022 — May 2023

    Interaction Designer

    Siteimprove, Inc. · Irvine, CA

    I led the LMS redesign — 2.2x engagement, revenue from six figures to seven — and ran the accessibility work to WCAG 2.1 AA and AAA.

  6. Now — two roles, running at the same time

    Jun 2023 — Present

    Product and UI/UX Designer

    Independent · Remote

    I built an early-stage AI talent platform’s design system and visual language from nothing, cutting its admin workflows by ~37%.

    May 2026 — Present

    UX Designer

    Taco Bell Foundation · Remote

    I turn rough briefs and partial scripts into demo-ready visual narratives for leadership and partners.

What I bring

Six things I bring to the table.

01

I know the craft cold.

Product, UI/UX and interaction design: 5+ years of it, across two countries and five teams.

02

I lead redesigns that move numbers.

The Siteimprove LMS: 2.2x engagement and revenue from six figures to seven.

03

Accessibility is where I start.

I led the inclusivity team to full WCAG 2.1 AA and AAA compliance.

04

I work across the table, not over it.

At the Taco Bell Foundation I stitch program, marketing and creative inputs into one end-to-end story.

05

I build systems that outlive the project.

A design system and visual language established from scratch, then handed over, documented, and still running.

06

I like the problems without a template.

The last one was a design system built so an AI agent could operate it.

Toolkit

The tools I reach for.

Design & prototyping
Figma · FigJam · Adobe XD · Sketch · InVision
Craft & production
Photoshop · Illustrator · InDesign · After Effects · Procreate
Research & delivery
Miro · UserTesting · UsabilityHub · Articulate Rise & Storyline · Asana · Gemini

The practice: user research · product design · accessibility · user testing · information architecture · wireframing · prototyping · design systems · design thinking