# Mugdha Mhatre > Product Design Leader | User‑Centered Design, Strategy & Execution | 8+ yrs | Partnering with Eng, PM, Data to outcomes Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/mugdhamhatre With +8 years of experience creating user-friendly products for companies like Apple, Gap, international small startups, and NGOs, I turn complex problems into intuitive and revenue-generating solutions. My work includes AI/LLM interfaces for Apple and Product/User experience design for visual merchandising systems for over 1,300 stores for Gap, while also balancing user empathy with scalable execution. I’m excited about the opportunity to bring my skills and experiences to your team and contribute to the success of your projects. ✅ AI/LLM Product Strategy: Led design for Apple’s AI initiatives, translating complex technical capabilities into user-centric interfaces that boosted engagement.
 ✅ Enterprise Impact at Scale: Delivered Gap’s in-store visual design systems, harmonizing brand consistency and usability across 1,300+ locations.
 ✅ Full-Cycle Design Expertise: From prototyping (Figma, Axure) to front-end code (HTML/CSS/JS), I bridge design and engineering to ship functional, pixel-perfect solutions. ✅ Data-Driven Storytelling: Advocate for user needs while aligning stakeholders on metrics that matter—NPS, retention, and revenue growth. Recent Wins: * Drove AI product vision at Apple through cross-functional collaboration with engineering and PMs. * Reduced design-to-dev handoff time by 30% at Gap via modular design systems. * Launched 5+ freelance mobile/eCommerce apps with 4.8+ avg. User ratings. Let’s connect if you need A strategic designer who thrives in ambiguity, speaks both “user” and “business,” and obsesses over modern design systems. "For me, Good design is asking the right question to find definite solutions with clear thinking for visual satisfaction." ## Work Experience ### Design Director | Lead Product Designer @ Pufftales, LLC. Jan 2024 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area Brought in to lead product and design strategy for an early-stage children’s storytelling startup, spanning product vision, positioning, and go-to-market. • Led end-to-end product and UX strategy across discovery, MVP, and launch, positioning the product within an underserved niche through personalized storytelling. • Defined product positioning and go-to-market strategy, establishing a differentiated brand voice that resonated with parents. • Led customer research and validation (20+ interviews, 50+ surveys, 3 focus groups), driving a strategic pivot toward a scalable MVP and improved content quality. • Partnered with engineering, design, and child development advisors to shape core product features and user experience. • Drove early traction through pre-launch growth experiments, building a 1,200+ parent waitlist. • Owned go-to-market execution from concept and design through launch and post-launch iteration. ### Product / UX Designer @ Apple Jan 2022 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area • Collaborated with Apple team leaders to simplify user experience in managing Ai Assistant technology projects. • Utilized UX design skills to create intuitive interfaces for LLM technology, enhancing user interaction. • Implemented design strategies to streamline user workflows and improve overall user satisfaction. ### Visual UX Designer Coordinator @ Gap Jan 2018 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco Bay Area • Develop a virtual store environment and product database to qualify for standardization of digital merchandising • Train and mentor a team of 20+ on enterprise technology tools and digital resources • Enhance outcome & improve the design process, photography, and merchandising efficiency by evaluating team tools and resources • Execute print and digital visual merchandising communications to over 1300+ stores • Optimize production schedule for photo, design, and visual merchandising team • Facilitate production meetings, project kickoffs, and cross-functional meetings ### UX / UI Designer @ Sarafu Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 | United States • A digital b2b commerce app that allows retail shop owners in Tanzania to procure supplies and manage payments. • Led the end-to-end UX design process in a global, multi-disciplinary team to deliver a creative tool for Sarafu. Interviewed users, including stakeholders, to identify pain points and validate key features of this tool. Produced personas, user flows, wireframes, mockups, and prototypes. ### UX / UI Designer @ Azam TV Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area • Collaborated with the product team to re-design an OTT cross-platform experience. • Enhanced the visual design and user experience of the app by reviewing the existing apps, Interviewing 80+ users, ideating a new concept, and designing wireframes & interactive prototypes. ### UX / UI Designer @ AzamPesa Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area • Designed and delivered the high fidelity wireframes for the first version of the company's cross-platform iOS & Android mobile application. • Conducted secondary research, wireframing to high fidelity mock-ups, and creating a design system. ### UX Designer & Visualizer @ Social & new media/online consulting (self-employed) Jan 2014 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area • Pursuing a freelance career serving forward-thinking clients with the shared passion for clean design and the latest visual trends. • Deliver end-to-end solutions for brand identity and UX design Website for various clients to help represent a design vision. (Sunnyvale Town Center, CyberSecurist) • I created information architecture diagrams, wireframes, prototypes, and screen flow bases of user research. (Learning spear, The Lens Affair, Sunnyvale Town Center) • To reiterate passion for UX design and to brainstorm from commercial projects, I time to time develop my own concept. (eg. Mobile app FOODLE, Stop motion animation, 92.3FM mobile app, etc.) ### Executive Creative Visualizer @ Inox Leisure Ltd Jan 2012 – Jan 2014 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India • I was working with a range of media, including digital, print and keeping up to date with emerging technologies; • Demonstrating illustrative skills with rough sketches and working on layouts ready for print; • Commissioning illustrators and photographers; working as part of a team with printers, copywriters, photographers, stylists, illustrators, other designers, account executives, web developers and marketing specialists. • I have also managed costs and establishing strategic, mutually beneficial for partnerships and relationships with users, vendors and service providers. ### Graphics Designer & Visualizer @ Sakshi Gallery, Synergy Art Foundation Ltd. Jan 2010 – Jan 2012 | Colaba, Mumbai • Thinking creatively to produce new ideas and concepts and developing interactive design; using innovation to redefine a design brief within the constraints of cost and time; presenting finalized ideas and concepts to clients or account managers. • Create digital and Print Media and visual treatments that adapt and flow with responsive design systems ### Graphic Designer and Creative Visualizer. @ Stan Art Pvt. Ltd Jan 2006 – Jan 2007 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India • Estimating the time required completing the work and providing quotes for clients, developing design briefs that suit the client's purpose and business goal. • Worked on graphic elements, assets, and visual treatments that adapt and flow with responsive design systems ### Graphic Designer and Creative Visualizer. @ Gayatri Microsystems Jan 2006 – Jan 2006 • Worked on graphic elements, assets, and visual treatments that adapt and flow with responsive design systems • Responsible for creating visually engaging and innovative web-based and mobile products. ## Education ### User Experience and Web Design in UI/UX design University of California, Santa Cruz ### Certification 3D Animation in 3D & 2D Classical Animation Frameboxx Animation & Visual Effects Pvt Ltd ### Commercial Art in Commercial Art College of Home Science Nirmala Niketan 38 New Marine Lines Mumbai - 400 020 ### Foundation in Applied Arts L S Raheja College of Arts and Commerce ### Utkarsha Mandir, Malad West ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mugdha-mhatre-12947b45 - Portfolio: http://mugdhamhatre.com/portfolio/index_copy.html --- Source: https://flows.cv/mugdhamhatre JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/mugdhamhatre/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13