The journey
Toddle
2021 — Present

Toddle

Senior Product Designer

Designed the notification system, email communication layer, calendar architecture, and behaviour management module for a platform used by international IB schools worldwide. Operated simultaneously as designer, product manager, and technical communicator. Introduced AI-augmented workflows that fundamentally changed what one designer can produce alone.

EdTech LMSSystem design4 major platforms28 countries
BetterPlace
2021

BetterPlace

Product Designer

Designed for India's blue-collar workforce — 400 million potential users, many of whom had never used a smartphone. Rebuilt the HRMS platform from a managed service to a self-service product, reducing onboarding from 20 minutes to 3 minutes. Built the design system from scratch across 4 product teams. Designing for zero digital literacy changed how I think about design permanently.

HR TechZero digital literacyDesign systemSelf-service SaaS
Adrosonic
2017 — 2021

Adrosonic

Designer → Design Lead

First job. Walked in as a software engineer, learned design by doing. 14 global clients, 3 Tata Trusts projects, company rebrand, scrum process redesign. Started junior, led client relationships and design direction 3.5 years later.

Design studio14 global clientsTata TrustsSelf-taught
How I think
01

Systems over
screens

A screen is a symptom. The system is the disease or the cure. I start with architecture — permissions, data flow, edge cases — before opening Figma.

02

Design for the
forgotten user

Blue-collar workers who can't read the interface. Parents who can't tell which child the notification is about. The most important user is the one the system wasn't designed for.

03

Honest over
aspirational

A reliable "next morning sync" beats a "real-time" promise that sometimes doesn't land. Over-promise and under-deliver damages trust more than honest constraints.

04

Build things that
outlast you

Documentation, design systems, tooling, handoff artifacts. The best design work doesn't end when I stop touching it.

05

Silent failure is
not acceptable

When a system fails without telling you, it's a trust problem before it's a bug. I design for visible state, honest feedback, and recoverable errors.

06

Own the whole
problem

PM work. Copy. Research. Technical documentation. The title on my badge doesn't limit the scope of the problem I'm trying to solve.

AI-Augmented Design

AI didn't replace my work. It changed what one person can do.

I use Claude daily — not as a shortcut, but as a multiplier. What used to take a team now takes one designer with the right systems thinking and the right prompts.

The difference is real and specific. A 14-section PRD with 9-competitor research that would have been a 3-week project became a structured sprint. A 285-notification catalogue across 24 modules. A retrospective synthesised from 80 pages of source docs.

⚙️
PRD and specification authoringStructured problem statements, edge case enumeration, open question tracking — written systematically, not from scratch every time.
🔬
Research synthesisCompetitive analysis across 9–16 products compressed from weeks to days with consistent schema across every dimension.
🛠️
Tooling and automationReact Email preview app. Design system documentation. Extraction prompts. If repetitive work exists, I automate it.
📋
Handoff and KT documentationDeveloper-ready specs and knowledge transfer docs — so the work lives beyond me.
Skills

Design

  • Figma
  • Interaction design
  • Design systems
  • Information architecture
  • Visual design
  • Prototyping
  • User research
  • Mobile design

Product

  • PRD authorship
  • Problem framing
  • Competitive research
  • Prioritisation
  • Roadmapping
  • Developer handoff
  • KT documentation
  • System audits

Technical

  • React (working)
  • HTML / CSS
  • React Email
  • Git / GitHub
  • Permissions models
  • Notification systems
  • Email systems
  • B2B SaaS

AI & Tools

  • Claude (daily)
  • Prompt engineering
  • Workflow automation
  • FigJam / Miro
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Jira / ClickUp
  • Coda
  • Balsamiq
Education & Recognition

2013 — 2017

B.Tech, Information Technology

Bharati Vidyapeeth University, College of Engineering, Pune

Recognition

Pune Digital Hackathon

Top 5 teams out of 300 selected groups in Maharashtra

College

Design Lead + EDC Founder

Led all design for fests, clubs, college website. Founded the Entrepreneurship Development Cell.

Want to build
something real?

leo.surya.gupta@gmail.com ↗