Who I Am

Sonali Illustration - BW.png

I'm a designer based in Portland, Oregon specializing in digital products, experiences and interfaces. Currently, I’m an Associate UX Designer at Zapproved, designing features and collaborating with product managers, owners, developers, and the two other designers at the company. I moved back to the Pacific Northwest in 2018 after an eventful year in New York City during which I earned a Masters in Communication Design from Parsons the New School of Design. Before my NYC adventure, I earned a bachelor's in Journalism: Advertising from The University of Oregon School of Journalism & Communication.

Whether I'm working on a passion project or with a client, I use design thinking to solve problems for people. I believe that absolutely any work can be exciting and worthwhile if the team trusts each other, respects diverse opinions and perspectives, and is willing to take some risks (if the research supports it)! 

I love to learn and value any opportunity to do so, and I am currently dipping my toes into animation and illustration. I’ve been learning French and refreshing my German skills on Duolingo, and as of the beginning of Summer 2019, I’ve managed to maintain a 160-day streak.

 

What I Do

DIGITAL PRODUCT DESIGN

Digital product design is the ideation, design, and development of new products. I do this in 4-5 phases, depending on the project. This process involves strategic thinking, research, collaboration, testing, and designing. During this process I conduct user and stakeholder interviews, sketch different flows and UI options, develop an identity for a product based on a brand's goals and persona, create and test paper and digital prototypes, design to elicit a reaction from user testers, and work with developers to bring designs into the hands of users.

UX/UI Design

User experience design is a critical aspect of digital product design. A few of the techniques that I use to evaluate and enhance a user’s experience include interviewing users, developing and/or dissecting user journeys, determining the order of importance of the content, and designing custom visual identities that are more aligned with a brand’s voice and goals.

I typically start by finding the weakest points during a user’s interaction with a product or service. If a user stops interacting with a product or service, I try to find out why by writing various hypotheses about why this is happening and then interviewing users to test my hypotheses. After discovering the root cause of the problem, I may suggest or design solutions to make the user’s journey more efficient or enjoyable. 

When I begin creating digital wireframes or designs, I begin building and organizing a Sketch UI library, which helps keep projects easy to update and iterate upon. 

 

Skills

Digital Product Design

User Experience Design

User Interface Design

Identity Design

Graphic & Layout Design

Interaction Design

Project Management

Client & Partner Relations

Sketching, Wireframing, & Prototyping

User Research & Testing

HTML / CSS / Javascript

 

Tools & Resources

Awards

2018 One Club Young Ones

ADC: Design for Good / Experiential Design - Single or Campaign

 

2015 Columbia Scholastic Press Association

College Digital Publication Gold Crowns