My formal design journey began after I found a book about skyscrapers and became obsessed. I got my degree in architecture, moved through projects on three continents, a multi-building campus in India, modular floating homes in the Netherlands, and eventually landed in New York, the city I dreamed about in that book.

After nearly a decade of multi-year timelines, I was ready for faster cycles and more direct user impact. The transition was natural and the work was familiar: understanding people, and designing solutions that actually get used. Two years in, I've worked on a care-tech platform, AI-powered tools, and design systems that help teams move faster.

I've lived in seven cities and speak five languages. I ask questions that bring clarity, learn fast, love designing solutions that make life easier for both users and the teams I work with.

Richa Kandoi

How I approach design.

I research deeply.

I research deeply.

Whether planning a trip to Iceland or buying ice-skates for the first time, I consider all moving parts. That mindset flows into my UX work. I explore edge cases and connect user needs with business goals to make design decisions.

Design should first serve the human it's made for.

Design should first serve the human it's made for.

Design is about solving problems. I value aesthetics but I find purpose in making things intuitive, clear and useful, where usability guides creativity and function and form coexist.

Good design takes patience and iteration.

Good design takes patience and iteration.

Architecture taught me to value long timelines and continuous refinement. In UX, I apply the same mindset; testing and learning until they truly work for the people using them.