Aurobindo Nayak

Influenced product development by defining and executing the UX strategy for cloud enterprise software, ensuring that design priorities align with user needs and business goals. This leadership role implements research-driven methodologies throughout product development, resulting in data-driven decisions and intuitive solutions.

Key contributions include building strong cross-functional partnerships with business, engineering, and product management teams to develop comprehensive service blueprints and customer journey maps, promoting a holistic approach to product experience. As a senior manager have streamlined design operations through the creation of reusable design components and pattern libraries significantly improving consistency and scalability. 

Additionally, through talent development and mentoring elevated the skill set of the design team and fostered a culture of research driven design, Human centered approach to design directly impacting the quality and adoption of VMware’s products.

Created UX blueprints / frameworks for various platform groups & Business stakeholders. These artifacts enabled Tech, Sales and Marketing teams to explore further with Business conversations. Some of the Frameworks included platforms for Smart Buildings, Smart Factories, Smart Parking, Smart Café's and Showcasing Digital Security Capabilities. These frameworks were built with a combination of various research and co-create sessions with multiple subject matter experts and technologists. 

The Secondary role involved leading the design team to support exploration of design ideas around these frameworks and deliver designs to Engineering teams for creation of MVP’s and end user products.​

Contributed to building a Next Gen product, which enables the CEO, CIO’s and Sr. Execs in Organizations to view the big picture(health and Vision aligned to Business) in a dynamic manner. The product will be able to adapt to the dynamic nature of the Organization enabling Sr Execs to plan their strategies around the Vision and Goals of the Organizations. 

The product helps in business planning and provides solutions to monitor the associated projects and handle the risks around capabilities and Operations. While the product brings in huge design thinking challenges at the same time it needs to adapt itself to the changing tech environment.

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Lead strategic initiatives in defining unified digital imaging experiences for healthcare enterprise software, decoupling software from hardware across critical product lines (MRI, CT, DXR), and creating cohesive end-to-end user journeys that align with B2B SaaS metrics and product development cycles.

Drove cross-functional innovation to improve business ROI for customers, spearhead the development and implementation of consistent design standards, and ensure that high-impact user-centered design principles are embedded across products. These initiatives contribute directly to operational efficiency, product performance, and measurable customer outcomes.

Woodpeckers was the start of enterprenueral journey for myself. The absence of comfortable, high quality and affordable furniture led to the founding of Woodpeckers. It handles a variety of work as of today, it has emerged as an self sustaining business employing around 15 skilled workers delivering high quality tailored furniture and other lifestyle products to its end users. 

Leading and expanding the design consulting practice for retail banking and personal finance management solutions across Southeast Asia and Africa. This involved spearheading user experience engagements with major financial institutions such as Standard Bank, HNB, ICICI, AXIS, and PNB, and delivering impactful, sector-focused design solutions.

Additional key achievements:

Cultivating strong relationships with global clients, ensuring client needs and business context informed all solutions.

Managing multi-disciplinary teams to execute end-to-end UX projects, from strategy development through final delivery.

Driving innovation by adapting global design best practices to diverse markets and bank transformation challenges.

Responsibilities included delivering end-to-end interaction design strategies through deep engagement with clients and leading all phases of design projects from user research and discovery to high-fidelity prototyping and final delivery.

This role involved:

Leading diverse client engagements across industries such as banking, healthcare, and industrial automation, ensuring that solutions were tailored to sector-specific challenges.

Planning, executing, and managing comprehensive user research activities and translating insights into innovative, actionable interaction concepts.

Overseeing the entire design process, maintaining close client communication, and ensuring quality from ideation through to delivery of robust design solutions.

Driving the adoption of best practices in interaction design, influencing both the design team and client stakeholders for optimal project outcomes.

Highlights of a lead role at Tata Elxsi include establishing and significantly maturing the UX business and foundational team; developing robust UX capabilities across sales, business development, and design through mentoring and coaching; and creating scalable UX consulting models applicable across diverse industries.

My leadership contributed directly to business growth and included building a niche in Automotive Human-Machine Interface (HMI) design, which led to the establishment of Offshore Development Centers (ODCs) with major OEM clients. The role involved end-to-end mentoring, strategic design delivery, and growing UX consulting practices for sustained impact and innovation across client engagements.

As a Center of Excellence (CoE) lead at Human Factors International was responsible for setting the strategic direction and best practices for user experience (UX) for projects and our clients. Responsibilities typically include standardizing UX processes, methodologies, and tools, ensuring delivery excellence, and mentoring teams on advanced research, usability engineering, and design practices.

A CoE lead drove institutionalization of UX by guiding organizations to make user-centered design systematic and strategic, directly contributing to digital transformation and business success. Served as a senior consultant or thought leader to building UX capability for Design teams, and staying at the forefront of industry trends to embed innovation and influence organization-wide.

Key contributor to GM's Global Vehicle Development program as part of the Automotive Styling team in Bangalore, supporting global platforms through advanced surfacing and design execution. Designed and sculpted high-fidelity models for infotainment panels, instrument clusters, and exterior body components across Opel, Buick, and Cadillac vehicles, translating sketches and engineering sections into production-ready visualizations. Applied Class A surfacing expertise to ensure precision and alignment with global design standards, enhancing vehicle aesthetics and functionality within the Bangalore Technical Center's collaborative ecosystem.

Conceptualized and led the manufacturing of a sophisticated series of simulators for the LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) Programme. This involved leveraging proprietary software to enable a suite of Interactive Synthetic Display Type Training Simulators and Devices, directly leading to the design and implementation of:

• Cockpit Procedure Trainer: Designed to enable Airforce Pilots to practice interactive cockpit drills with high fidelity.

• I-manual Browser: A touch-sensitive electronic manual featuring hyperlinking and dynamic simulation, empowering shop floor personnel with real-time troubleshooting capabilities for pre- and post-flight fightercraft maintenance.

• Classroom Tutoring Simulator: A self-paced tutoring product with a dual-display interface, providing dynamic projected content for trainees and tailored tutoring assistance for instructors.

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*Aeronautical Development Agency 

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Was responsible for the facelift design of top-loading semi-automatic washing machines, aiming to introduce new variants within the existing segment with minimal tooling changes. Led a succinct discovery phase followed by concept ideation aligned with contemporary product language trends to enhance Whirlpool's market appeal and enable penetration into new user segments. Delivered detailed CAD models for technical analysis and tooling preparation, ensuring efficient transition from concept to production.