# Aadhya K. > Founder & Executive Director, A.A.D.S | Design Director at SHNORH Design Strategy Leader • AI & Human-Centered Design • Leadership • Digital Transformation MBA, Cornell University | Award-Winning Designer Location: United States, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/aadhya I’m Aadhya, a design strategist, design director, and educator working at the intersection of design, leadership, psychology and AI. I work with leaders and organizations on decision-making, leadership judgment and capability in complex environments I am the Design Director at SHNORH, a global strategic design and innovation studio where I work closely with startups, enterprises, and institutions to design products, systems, and experiences that scale. My work there focuses on design strategy, AI-native thinking, digital transformation and translating complex problems into clear, usable solutions. I am also the Co-founder and Executive Director of AADS, the Academy of Art, Design & Strategy, where I focus on education and capability building. Through AADS, I work with designers, founders and creative professionals to help them move beyond tools and visuals into clearer thinking, stronger decision-making and leadership-ready practice. My work spans hands-on customer engagements, education programs, workshops and institutional training. Across both practice and teaching, my focus remains the same: helping people think better so they can build better. I believe good design is not just about how things look. It is about how people think, decide and act at scale. This space is where I share ideas, frameworks and reflections drawn from real work and real teaching, for those building careers in design, strategy and emerging technology. For consulting, education, or speaking opportunities, feel free to reach out via DM or email. ## Work Experience ### Design Director @ Shnorh Jan 2023 – Present | San Francisco, California, United States My responsibilities as a Design Director includes: - Develop design strategies that align with business goals and objectives for web3 and new media. - Lead design projects from concept to completion, working with cross-functional teams and liaison with customers. - Manage a team of designers, providing guidance, mentoring, and resources. - Conduct user research to understand user needs and preferences, and analyze results to inform design decisions. - Ensure design consistency across all Web3 projects by developing guidelines and establishing design systems. - Collaborate with stakeholders, such as product managers and developers, to align design decisions with business objectives. - Stay up-to-date with industry trends and developments in Web3 design and UX ### Experience Design Architect @ Shnorh Jan 2021 – Jan 2023 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Product and UX Designer @ Shnorh Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco, California, United States ### Founder & Executive Director @ Academy of Art Design & Strategy (A.A.D.S) Jan 2020 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area • Spearheaded the design and development of the Academy of Art Design and Strategy's EdTech platform, creating upskilling educational programs and detailed journey mapping for improved user engagement. • Integrated curriculum's page architecture to ensure consistency in user experience and learning outcomes. • Taught on the platform to provide hands-on guidance and support to students. ### Co-founder & Executive Director, AADS @ Academy of Art Design & Strategy (A.A.D.S) Jan 2020 – Present ### Product Lead @ Data Mynt Jan 2021 – Jan 2021 Designed, defined and created a blockchain based defi product and interface as well as admin B2B/B2C for a crypto payment processing system. Developed branding and marketing collaterals and websites. Designed Crypto Wallet, BYOB (Be Your Own Bank) Token, and branding assets. • DataMynt Crypto Wallet – Responsible for the front-end design and development of a blockchain-based payment system using Python and other technologies. ### Senior Product Manager and lead Designer @ Human Factors Research & Design (HFR&D) Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area Designed and led strategic ideation workshops, creating or redefining products and services with measurable business value for our SaaS and enterprise customers. • Hired, led and directed a team of designers, ensuring high-quality deliverables in terms of deeply researched products and solutions, design systems, hands-on asset libraries for repeatable design use , custom GPT design for documentation. • Managed multiple design projects, including UX, product design, facilitation of design sprints and branding exercises. ### Product Designer (Consultant) @ Cultural Daily Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 | Los Angeles, California, United States ### Vice President of CCA India (Student Group) @ California College of the Arts Jan 2017 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area ### ID Prototyping Studio Assistant @ California College of the Arts Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco, CA, United States ### ESO Ambassador (Enrollment Services Office) @ California College of the Arts Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Industrial Design Intern @ Philips Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Eindhoven, North Brabant, Netherlands This was an Industrial Design/ UX researcher internship working directly with the Global Innovation lab Director ### iXDC - Workshop Co-Facilitator @ International eXperience Design Committee（IXDC） Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Beijing City, China Assisted Design + AI workshop with the Keynote speaker/facilitator . At the same event played the role of associate Design Sprint Facilitator. ### Design Sprint Facilitation (Assisted Jake Knapp) @ IDEO Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area Assisted "Sprint" Author Jake Knapp for a Design Sprint at IDEO. ### Concept Design Assistant (Internship) @ Furlenco Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | Bengaluru Area, India Assisted the company's In-house Architects and Interior Design team leads with defining of color palettes, themes and material finishes for the consumer home line of products ### Research Analyst @ Think. Make. Research. Create. (T.M.R.C.) Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 | Bangalore, India Worked as assistant to the research analyst at TMRC Bangalore, India o Assisted in the ethnography studies pertaining to home users and their usage of consumer products o Supported the Online survey for understanding the photo sharing apps usage in the low end feature phone ### Product Design Intern @ Human Factors Research & Design (HFR&D) Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 | Bangalore Worked as Design Intern at Human Factors Research & Design Pvt.Ltd – Bangalore India Designed concept sketches and visuals for a tablet application for Bollywood movie industry ## Education ### Master of Business Administration - MBA in Business Administration and Management, General Cornell University ### Graduate in Industrial and Product Design California College of the Arts ### GCE A & AS Level in ICSE Board Vidya shilp academy ### ICSE in ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) Vidya Niketan ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/aadhya-k - Website: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wnUxN5JNr43F7U_ge8SVNCXgCNUzVpNX?usp=sharing --- Source: https://flows.cv/aadhya JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/aadhya/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-08