Portfolio of Arvind Sagar

This is my story

Before we start, I would like to thank you for visiting my online portfolio.
I’m Arvind Sagar, and I’ve been in the design industry for more than nineteen years. Currently, I’m working for Cognizant Technologies as a Product Design Lead.
In my professional career, I’ve had the opportunity to deliver unique program initiatives, mentor the best creative minds, be a productive team player, provide best-in-class design solutions, manage program escalations, and acquire new portfolios.
Nineteen years of design experience sounds like a well-oiled machine, but I’m still a learner. As the new day arrives, I encounter innovative ideas, solve practical challenges, simplify complex business needs, embrace digital trends, and adapt process enhancements. To date, I have been delivering one of the finest design solutions for my customers. Let’s look at the timeline of events between 2002 till today.

2002-2006:

The emergence of UI standardization:

It was 2002 when I kickstarted my career as User Interface Designer. I was contracted to work for Cisco Systems, helping the engineering team standardize in-house intranet web portals and enterprise applications. The company mandated the design initiative in bringing designers together to build a cohesive and unified web experience. My role within the standardization program was to restructure the entire Cisco Systems intranet portal framework using the new brand guidelines. I partnered with the Singapore design team to unify navigation patterns and page templates within the portal system. It was a great experience working with some great minds from around the world.

The boom of desktop enterprise applications:

As digital transformations kept up the ante, I looked forward to working for a financial service institution, guiding them to solve complex functional requirements by creating meaningful and straightforward interfaces. It was incredibly fast-paced, time-bound, and a technology-infested environment. My role was to work with the business owners and functional analysts to break the complex financial-centric requirements into use cases and conclude the exercise by building simple and intuitive web interfaces. I was very active in scheduling requirement sessions, demonstrating concepts, and building presentation layers. My business role was to partner with Deutsche Bank and Citi Bank stakeholders to provide design consultations for their day-to-day needs. In 2006, Oracle Services started a knowledge initiative program, encouraging designers to be certified in HFI. It was the same year when my certification was completed.

2006-2009:

Digital transformation was still on the rise:

My experience in desktop enterprise design stood out in the market. It was 2006 when I ventured into the healthcare domain, working for Capgemini Consulting. I was deputed to help Johnson & Johnson build and manage their B2B portals and B2C microsites. While the portals served as a bridge for sales professionals who investigate consumer data and analytics, Microsites were developed on a periodical basis promoting pharmacy products and drug manuals. The core transformation was to build the entire B2B experience under the Salesforce platform and the microsites in Java. It was challenging to create a design direction for two different underlying architectures. In 2008, the program allocated funds to expand the digital design team. We hired front-end developers and additional designers into the group, elevating me as a UX Design Lead for the healthcare engagement.

2009-2010:

A different perspective in digital design:

My next design venture was to experience the core product environment helping PayPal’s premium customers to settle their end-of-day transactions using multiple bank accounts. This is a new feature where merchants can use local checking accounts to transfer funds daily. Extensive user journeys were mapped to unearth the significant possibilities of using multiple bank accounts. We invited designers from other verticals to talk about the page flows and the interaction behaviors before concluding the design. Within six months, we completed three design possibilities and shipped the design for usability test findings.

Being User-centric:

Key stakeholders from the innovation center of excellence wanted to test the sentiments of the Indian audience while they transact money online. The core team of a Senior Product Designer, UX Researcher, and Technology Architect was formed to test online payment methods for Indian markets. My role was to understand the preliminary research findings extracted from the market studies and build end-to-end user journeys using different payment routes. We created and tested a variety of design concepts with a sampled user base of twenty. The entire research program was conducted at Human Factors International, Mumbai - India.

2010 -2013:

Exploring the outer wilds:

In my next engagement, I worked as a UX Architect to handle UX opportunities for Europe and US markets. I managed many strategic customer portfolios cutting across various domains. One of my key responsibilities is observing, comprehending, and proposing tactical design solutions, from building enticing user interfaces, conducting research sessions, and helping organizations create an efficient design process. I had the opportunity to help many financial institutions ensure a smooth design transition of complex legacy systems. KeyBank, American Express, Royal Bank of Scotland, TD Bank are a few of my customers to be mentioned. I consulted for a Switzerland-based flavoring company to build data visualizations that will be used as a shared flavor sensory repository for tasters, panelists, and flavor researchers. I worked with cardiology professors from oxford university to conceptualize and test a health controller app. I collaborated with a leading health care provider to build a commuter app that helps patients find parking spots, physician’s rooms, and in-house pharmacies using google indoors. I was a part of a strategic business development team to acquire and maintain new and existing acquisitions, including response to RFP, UX Point of Views, and in-person design consulting. Engaged in a digital transformation program to help first-time home buyers initiate reservations, manage funds, and withdraw requests.

2013 - 2014:

Being a responsible leader:

I was responsible for being a Regional Design Leader, specifically targeted to control the attrition rate that spiked beyond the average threshold. As a design leader, I chalked out a strategy to improvise the reporting hierarchy, build a knowledge base, rework the promotion eligibility, and bring in the sense of place to work. Below are a few of my critical leadership enhancements:

I fixed the one-man-reporting structure and built a hierarchy where associates can scale up and be more independent.
Introduced a mandate that the team must contribute 30% of their innovative thinking once a week.
I created a framework to identify my associate’s strengths and pursue their interests.
I broke the rule of compulsive working hours at office premises. Work from home was more flexible, thus increasing productivity.
I have always supported my team during escalation. Sometimes, I do take head-strong decisions to drive the design direction forward.
I have been one of the key decision-makers in identifying competency profiles, assessing knowledge capability, and onboarding great UX talents.
I was accredited by the leadership in controlling employee attrition rates during my tenure as a UX design lead.
I always emphasized the use of design methodologies for all customer-related deliverables.
Played an influential role in grooming potential talents for design consulting.
I was responsible for promotions and appraisal grades for my UX team.
I built a competency framework segregated into Delivery, Consulting, Acquisition, and Administration, enabling team members to pursue their interests.
I’m actively building an elite team of UX design members for large organizations to date.

2014 -Till Date:

Maturity is driven by experience:

As an Experience Director, I am positioned in a strategic role with the following key responsibilities:

I’m the spokesperson and a mediator who defends a usable design to the internal stakeholders and the outside world.
Define tactical design methodologies within the agile framework.
Identify gap analysis to bring a UX design exercise to closure.
Deliver inclusive design artifacts that are measured and in the context of use.
Negotiate a plan of action that conforms to time, investment, and feasibility.
Hire talents from the market to ensure an encouraging work experience.
Provide design directions to other design vendors ensuring seamless collaboration of design delivery.
Handle design escalations at ease by revising the design process, altering design resources, and delivering user-centric design solutions.
Hands-on in design techniques, right from unearthing requirements to building rapid prototypes.

Let's Talk

I will be more than happy to have a conversation about my experience, design approach, and the model of my work ethic.

+1 202.758.6146 alpino.sagar@gmail.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/luckyavi/