Amit Gaikwad

Product Designer by day.
Dungeon Master by night.
Computer Engineer by day.
Amateur Egyptologist by night.
Accessibility Advocate by day.
Major Cinephile by night.
Product Designer by day.


Hello, I'm an Engineer turned Product Designer with 4+ years in front-end, creative tech and graphic design!

I'll help you: ‍

  • Rapidly improve usability, while thoughtfully designing for emotion.
  • Supercharge solutions through effective co-design facilitation.
  • Spark design discussion and break new ground.
  • Validate innovation with UX research: ensuring creativity without compromising inclusivity.

Currently Tinkering On: Spider-Man Miles Morales: HUD Redesign
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Product Designer @The Verse
Previously, Creative Technologist @Ronin Labs‍

Selected Work

Product Design
4
Games UX
3
Accessiblity
3
Visual Design
2+
Blogs
5
Fun!
The thumbnail depicts a mobile phone with the Illumine logo on screen which animates to show the step-by-step features users can leverage to increase their productivity.

TerpGIS: Geo-Data Collection Platform ↗

0-to-1 product design of geo-data app for volunteers and non-technical users

B2B + B2C
Product Strategy
Co-Design Sprints
Inclusive Design
Design System Handoff
The thumbnail depicts three pages of a web application called Findamentals which animates to show artefacts produced through user research.The thumbnail depicts three pages of a web application called Findamentals which animates to show artefacts produced through user research.The thumbnail depicts three pages of a web application called Findamentals which animates to show artefacts produced through user research.The thumbnail depicts three pages of a web application called Findamentals which animates to show artefacts produced through user research.

Findamentals: UX Research

Distilling hidden emotional requirements into actionable UX recommendations

FinTech
Contextual Inquiry
Affinity Mapping
Sensation Board
Whiteboarding
The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.

Pinterest: Save A Pin

Redesigning the save feature to create deeper emotional impact

ProtoPie
Emotional Design
User Flows
MDA Framework
A/B Testing
The thumbnail depicts a mobile phone with the Illumine logo on screen which animates to show the step-by-step features users can leverage to increase their productivity.The thumbnail depicts a mobile phone with the Illumine logo on screen which animates to show the step-by-step features users can leverage to increase their productivity.

Starfield: Accessibility Review

Accessibility review with tips for advocacy of inclusive design practices

Advocacy Tips
Recommendations
GAG + XAG
Top Voices

Experience Prince George's County Website ↗

Formal usability testing, evaluation and accessibility audit for tourism website

WCAG 2.1
Remote User Testing
Expert Evaluation
Automated Inspection Tools
Prioritization Plan
The thumbnail depicts a mobile phone with the Illumine logo on screen which animates to show the step-by-step features users can leverage to increase their productivity.The thumbnail depicts a mobile phone with the Illumine logo on screen which animates to show the step-by-step features users can leverage to increase their productivity.

Starfield: Accessibility Review

Accessibility review with tips for advocacy of inclusive design practices

Advocacy Tips
Recommendations
GAG + XAG
Top Voices
A photograph of the Dualsense wireless controller.

Good Vibrations: Haptic Feedback ↗

An exploration of haptic feedback and its accessibility implications

A photograph of the Dualsense wireless controller.

Good Vibrations: Haptic Feedback ↗

An exploration of haptic feedback and its accessibility implications

A photograph of the Dualsense wireless controller.

Game Stickiness ↗

Why engagement is the key to it all (and how to get it right)

An illustration of a woman facing holding a giant heart in front of a mobile screen.

Unleashing the Potential of Emotional Design ↗

Discovering a tangible UX framework to integrate into your design process.

A side profile of the protagonist of the The Last of Us Two video game, Ellie, holding a shotgun.

Empathy Machines ↗

How The Last of Us Part II sets out to do the impossible

An illustration of a cat wearing a VR headset.

CatVR ↗

A study in empathy and accessibility in the form of a VR cat simulator

A screen showing a text-based video game overlayed with the Twine logo.

Facebook Playabe Ads ↗

Short interactive game experiences built in phaser.js

A screen showing a text-based video game overlayed with the Twine logo.

Boo! 8-bit Stealth Puzzle Game ↗

Game Design Document outlining design and develpment process of this (not so) spooky game

A screen showing a text-based video game overlayed with the Twine logo.

Nice Day: Narrative Game ↗

A short text-based horror game built using Twine

A screen showing a text-based video game overlayed with the Twine logo.

SurvivorZ: Survival Board Game ↗

Game Design Document outlining design and development process of a survival / resource management game with constantly slimming odds


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Product Design

The thumbnail depicts a mobile phone with the Illumine logo on screen which animates to show the step-by-step features users can leverage to increase their productivity.

TerpGIS: Field Data Collection Platform

0-to-1 product design of GIS app for non-technical users

Product Strategy
Design Sprints
Inclusive Design
Design System
The thumbnail depicts three pages of a web application called Findamentals which animates to show artefacts produced through user research.The thumbnail depicts three pages of a web application called Findamentals which animates to show artefacts produced through user research.The thumbnail depicts three pages of a web application called Findamentals which animates to show artefacts produced through user research.The thumbnail depicts three pages of a web application called Findamentals which animates to show artefacts produced through user research.

Findamentals: UX Research

Finding the main emotional stressors related to student finances

Contextual Inquiry
Affinity Diagram
Persona Development
Sensation Board
Wall Walk
UX Recommendations
The thumbnail depicts a mobile phone with the Illumine logo on screen which animates to show the step-by-step features users can leverage to increase their productivity.

Illumine: Habit Forming Mobile App

Design Thinking x Cognitive Insights = Holistic Solution

User Research
Competitor Analysis
Surveys
UX Psychology
Design Thinking
The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.

Pinterest: Save Feature Redesign

Creating deeper emotional impact using Game Design principles

Emotional Design
User Flows
Microinteractions
MDA Framework
A/B Testing

Games UX

The thumbnail depicts the battlefront 2 game logoThe thumbnail depicts the battlefront 2 game logoThe thumbnail depicts the battlefront 2 game logoThe thumbnail depicts the battlefront 2 game logoThe thumbnail depicts the battlefront 2 game logoThe thumbnail depicts the battlefront 2 game logo

Star Wars Battlefront II: Menu Redesign

Optimizing online multiplayer main menu to align with player trends

Information Architecture
Heuristic Eval
Accessibility Eval
Greyboxing

Reducing Griefing in Online Games

Deriving UX and game design guidelines from data analytics and KPIs

Game Analytics
KPIs
UX Guidelines
Game Design Guidelines

The WalkXR Project: Summer Internship

Creating UX / Game Design guidelines and an immersive UI system

Onboarding Plan
Player Flows
Procedure Lists
XFN Facilitation
Immersive UI Design

Coming Soon: Starfield

Accessibility Overhaul

Visual Design

The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.The thumbnail depicts the Pinterest logo and a mobile phone which animates to show a delightful new way to save pins to boards.

Riot Rig: Visual Design System

A transmedium visual design strategy and system for a gaming platform

Three mobile screen displaying redesigned screens for the Starbucks app. The art style hearkens the tarot aethetic.

Starbucks: Visual Design

A visual exploration of the modern art nouveau and tarot aesthetics

Previous Clients


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Want to work together?

Drop me a message!

Email me