the person behind the pixels
the one who finds what others miss
As a kid, I took things apart to see how they worked. Toys, gadgets, anything I could get my hands on. I loved Lego as a game. And when I wasn't building, I was daydreaming. Magical objects, impossible worlds, things that didn't exist yet but felt like they should.
Turns out, that's exactly what design is. You find what's broken, you build it back up, and if you're lucky, you get to add a little magic.
I went to NIFT, New Delhi to make that official. Four years. Graduated 2019. Armed with a degree and a growing suspicion that most products were not nearly as good as they needed to be.
So I got to work. Bigbasket. Moonraft. Airbase. Each one a different problem, a different set of users, a different way of being wrong. I learned from all of it.
At Esper, I had been designing tools for IT teams to manage devices without friction. The question hasn't changed. The answers keep getting better.
In daily life, I find the magic in a perfect cup of matcha, a Van Gogh brushstroke, and an unusually shaped pair of sunglasses that just feels right.
How I Work
My design process, end to end.
01
manage_searchDiscovery & Research
Understanding the problem, learning about the customers, identifying gaps in the current state.
02
lightbulbPrinciples
Crafting design principles to guide directions and maintain team alignment.
03
routeUser Journey
Storyboards, user stories, personas, and decision-making flows.
04
paletteDesign Exploration
Diverging wide, exploring a range of solutions. Testing, iterating, discussing, and working through the problem space.
05
quizUsability Testing
Validating solutions and identifying opportunities for refinement.
06
tuneRefinement
Polishing the chosen direction and documenting rationale for handoff.
07
handshakeHandoff
Working closely with engineering and QA'ing the implementation.
08
monitoringMonitoring
The work is never really done. Monitoring product performance to uncover the next thing worth fixing.
Books I Recommend
A shelf worth browsing.
What People Say
From colleagues and collaborators.
"Any team would be fortunate to have Puja's ability to bring both craft excellence and user advocacy that makes technical teams think differently."
Nikhil Punathil
Sr. Engineering Manager, SalesEng · Esper
"She's someone who cares about getting things right and makes the whole process smoother."
Shrivara K
Engineering Manager · Esper
"She has this incredible ability to take complex problems and turn them into simple, intuitive designs that just make sense for the user."
Kiran Anto
Principal Architect · NeoSapients
Let's Connect
I'm always interested in hearing about new opportunities, creative collaborations, or just chatting about design over coffee.









