Harsha Pillai

About

Harsha Pillai is an Indo-Swiss-German Product Designer & Design Strategist working across digital products, smart objects, and services. With a background in architecture and computer science, she balances systems thinking with storytelling to design thoughtful experiences. Outside of design, she's a casual kickboxer, a polylinguist and self-proclaimed sudoku champ. Ultimately she's trying to live as many lives as possible within this one. https://www.harshapillai.com/ https://medium.com/@harshapillai

Experience

• Gallery Curator · School of Visual Arts08-01-2023

  Led the curation and creative direction of student exhibitions within the Products of Design department, transforming early-stage concepts into compelling visual narratives. Collaborated with leadership, graphic designers, and social media coordinators to launch 5+ successful gallery openings, each drawing 80+ attendees from the broader NYC design community. Created systems for organizing and displaying work that balanced clarity, aesthetic impact, and user experience.

• Architectural Designer · OKW Architects06-01-2022 – 04-01-2023

  Developed 15+ high-fi delity 3D models and renderings for private and public sector projects, iterating on multiple design options to align with client needs. Designed custom branding and signage for a public school, ensuring cohesive visual communication. Renderings and graphics were featured in 5+ community events and presentations, contributing to project approvals and funding success.

• Computer Science Student Instruction Leader · Rochester Institute of Technology2018-01-01 – 2018-05-01

  Supporting Computer Science II (CSCI-142) as a Student Instruction Leader. I attend classes, and labs as a regular student but also organize and facilitate two study sessions each week. Write notes from the lecture, make example problems, find practice test questions, lead discussions with students.

• Technical Assistant for Website Migration Team (Intern) · United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)07-01-2017 – 08-01-2017

  Optimized website information architecture by creating site maps, user fl ows, and image databases, improving content organization for 1,000+ assets. Researched and proposed new user fl ow strategies, leading to a 20% improvement in navigation effi ciency and a more intuitive site structure.

Education

• School of Visual ArtsMaster of Fine Arts - MFA, Product Design
• Illinois Institute of TechnologyBachelor of Architecture - BArch, Architecture

Similar talent on Pangea

Anshika S.Product Designer | Health-tech | B2B SaaSNew York, NYNivedita Rani N.Design Professional with Master's in DesignHalifax Regional Municipality, NSDhairya V.Product Designer | Design Systems ExpertIndianapolis, INRRadhika T.Product Designer | HCI & Interior Architecture (UX-AI + Design-to-Code)Cupertino, CA 95014