Hi, I am a Staff Product Designer specialised in AI-Native SaaS platforms.

Millions of people have used the India Mark II and III hand pumps for decades. They are incredibly robust, economical to manufacture, and built to withstand harsh public use. But there is another question: how well are they designed for the people who actually use them? This question became the foundation of my Master's thesis at IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay in 2019. Working with Prof. B.K. Chakravarthy and Prof. Anil Gupta, I explored the hand pump not simply as an engineering product, but through the lens of users, communities, culture, environment and design. One of the most fascinating pieces of evidence came from the communities themselves. Across remote parts of India and Africa, people have created their own frugal modifications to the hand pump—revealing needs that the standard product does not always address. The research asks an important design question: When does a highly optimised product become a design that has stopped evolving? In Summer 2023, Prof. B.K. Chakravarthy and I launched a book at IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay documenting this journey and demonstrating how Design Thinking principles and methodologies can be applied to complex, real-world—or “wicked”—problems. This talk walks through that journey: from observing users and understanding context to questioning assumptions and identifying directions for a more human-centred solution. Particularly relevant for design students, UX/product designers, researchers and educators interested in Design Thinking, Human-Centred Design and Social Innovation. Credits: IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay · GIAN Foundation, Ahmedabad