About
I'm Nikethana — call me Nike.
Ni-kay-tha-na means Goddess of Victory in Greek. I design and build products end to end, and I ask a lot of "why."
BasedBoston, MA — originally from India
FocusProduct design, 0→1 problems
StatusOpen for new opportunities
What I Love Doing
Building useful things and obsessing over users — not in a stalker way, in a designer way. My goal is simple: make people's lives easier through design.
What I Bring
I get into the weeds with research, collaborate closely with engineers and PMs, and ship. No fluff — just design that works.
01Why Hire Me
Product Thinking, Shipped Fast
What I bring to the table, beyond craft.
Strong product thinking, solutions that work for users and stakeholders, and the ability to deliver results twice as fast under tight deadlines — perks of startup experience.
How I Work
The Why
Every challenge starts with curiosity. I keep asking "Why?" until the problem statement is sharply defined. No vague goals — only real, actionable problems.
The Users
I build context through personas, user calls, and firsthand observation. I want to see the friction users feel — because real insight only comes from empathy.
White-Boarding
Through quick whiteboarding and open collaboration, I map out solutions that balance reducing user pain with meeting business goals. It's a creative but focused space.
Low-Fi Solutions
I sketch low-fidelity ideas and surface the technical needs. This is where I bring in engineering to validate feasibility and avoid surprises later.
Hi-Fi Solutions
With alignment in place, I move to high-fidelity designs built for real use. Every screen has context, and devs get what they need to execute confidently.
02Design Lessons
How I Think About Craft
A few things I hold myself to, every project.
Form Follows Function
I follow this religiously, from product down to individual screens. Nailing the function helps me nail the form.
Design With Intention
After designing a screen, I pause and ask: what's the core action here? If an element doesn't serve that purpose, I cut it — subtraction is a design tool.
The 8-Second Gut Check
I show a design to someone outside the project for eight seconds. Whatever they remember tells me what's working. If it doesn't align with the screen's goal, I refine.
Whiteboard First, Always
Whiteboarding is where ideas breathe — my go-to for unlocking flow, alignment, and fast problem-solving, every time.
03Professionally
The Path Here
From product QA to product design.
Product Designer, Inrupt
2026 – Present
Product Designer, GrowthFactor Inc.
2024 – 2025
UX Graduate Teaching Assistant
Combined my love for teaching and design to mentor 50+ students in UX and research, empowering them to build user-first solutions.
2024
MS in Information Systems (spl. UX Design)
2022 – 2024
Product Designer, Freshworks — India
2021 – 2022
Product QA, Freshworks — India
Worked with Ruby Selenium to automate tests for a year — learned a ton.
2020 – 2021
04Personally
Beyond the Job
A few things that shape how I show up to work.
Based in Boston, originally from India — I love exploring new cities and cultures. Amateur photographer (mostly street and travel). Music is always on, from indie folk to classic Tamil film music. Currently reading about product strategy and behavioral psychology.
Principles I Learned to Live By
If I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about the solution.
— Albert Einstein
You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
— Michael Scott, The Office
A user interface is like a joke. If you have to explain it, it's not that good.
— Martin LeBlanc
If life gives you lemonade, make lemons. Life will be all like "Whaaaaaaat?"
— Phil Dunphy, Modern Family
But first, coffee.
— Me