Writing
Essays
Why we banned "fortnite" but not "fortnight"
Why a district moderation tool matches keywords by exact string instead of meaning — legible beat clever
The ratings we didn't show
An experiment said hide bad restaurant ratings to lift clicks — why that click-optimal move was the wrong one
Why the moderation toggle is deliberately annoying
When one person's careless click harms everyone downstream, adding friction is the user-centered move
Copy-paste beats CSV
Cutting the obvious CSV upload and making admins type by hand — friction as a governor on search-wrecking volume
Very smooth, very powerful
An ad internship, a test drive I couldn't legally conduct, and how I figured out I was in the wrong room
Articles & Blogs
Vibe Designing
2 case studies of how designers use AI to create better prototypes
Apple's walled garden and the battle to break it
Book review of 'iWar' by Tim Higgins — Hindu Businessline
An ironical warning against fragmentation
Book review of 'How to Save the Internet' by Nick Clegg — Hindu Businessline
The Thinking Machine
Book review of 'The Thinking Machine' by Stephen DeWitt — Hindu Businessline
Author Interview with S.B Divya
Interview with S.B Divya, author of the science fiction novel 'Machinehood' — Hindu Businessline
How A Job Ad's Language Influences Diversity
Case study on gendered language in job postings and its impact on applicant diversity — Gojek Blog
The exciting aftermath of crossing The Wall
Book review of the fantasy novel 'The Horizon' by Gautam Bhatia — Hindu Businessline
A fantastical, philosophical novel that looks at man vs machines in a new light
Book review of the science fiction novel 'Machinehood' by SB Divya — Hindu Businessline
Auroville: An utopian search for a better world
Book review of 'Better to Have Gone' by Akash Kapur — Hindu Businessline
Cultural Probes to create new imaginaries of masculinity
Presented research on HCI and participatory design at the PDC 20 conference — Proceedings of the 16th Participatory Design Conference 2020, Vol 3
What I did and learnt from my ten-day sprinternship at Uncommon
Internship blog at Uncommon, working on a client project for Storyweaver by Pratham Books — Medium
Do the benefits of artificial intelligence outweigh the risks?
Blog article on benefits and risks of AI — Medium
Talks
Design Automation for Large-Scale Experiments
Case study of running a large-scale multivariate experiment at Gojek — Gojek Design All Hands
Sewing With Code
Exploring generative art through code-based textile patterns — Processing Community Day 2021
How to Build Side Projects inside Your Organisation
Strategies for nurturing innovation within organizational constraints
Platform Workers Design Toolkit
Designing for platform workers in the gig economy — India HCI Conference
Workshops & Webinars
Design QA
Best practices for designer-led QA — Internal workshop at Wayground
Sketching for the User Experience
Techniques for rapid ideation and visual communication in UX — In collaboration with Smolcoach
Storyboarding for Product and Service Design
Using narrative techniques to design better products and services — In collaboration with Smolcoach
A Brief Introduction to Design Fiction
Workshop exploring speculative design methods — Numa Bengaluru
Podcasts & Interviews
Breaking Boundaries in Design: From Copywriting to Product Design
Discussion on my design journey, building Pause at Obvious, and advice for new designers — Product Stories Podcast
Interview on #BeyondTheObvious Newsletter
Insights on design thinking and creative problem-solving
Podcast on Design Fiction
Exploring speculative design and future-oriented thinking