Rhea Acharya

About

I’m Rhea, a Product Designer with an engineering background, three years of experience crafting digital products, and a master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction. I design thoughtful, user-centered solutions that balance technical feasibility, business goals, and real user needs. I’ve created 0-to-1 MVPs for startups, scaled design systems for large organizations, and tackled complex design challenges across a variety of industries. My work combines strong UX research with seamless collaboration across teams to deliver intuitive, impactful, and scalable designs. I excel at bridging the gap between design and development, streamlining workflows, and driving projects forward with clarity and purpose. I’m passionate about turning complex problems into elegant solutions and thrive in environments prioritizing creativity and collaboration.

Experience

• UX Design and Research Consultant - Program Manager · University of Michigan - School of Information08-01-2024

  - Directed 9 successful user research projects for clients such as the VA Hospital and the City of Detroit. - Recruited and mentored 30+ students in conducting user research to meet client needs. - Planned and facilitated 50+ user testing sessions, leading post-testing debriefs to analyze results and derive actionable design recommendations. - Established a framework to understand requirements, goals, and scope, delivering a streamlined project experience to clients and students.

• Graduate Research Assistant · University of Michigan - School of Information02-01-2023 – 12-01-2024

  - Conducted in-depth research to understand the needs of medical staff and identify key pain points and areas for improvement. - Developed user scenarios and dialogues that addressed user needs and goals and provided a seamless user experience.

• Product Designer, Design Systems · Greenstand07-01-2024

  - Accelerated product development by 23% and reduced design-to-development handoff times by 20% by streamlining workflows, fostering better communication between designers and developers, ensuring faster and higher-quality deliverables. - Scaled and maintained a 500+ component design system, ensuring consistency, accessibility, and usability across GreenStand’s products, while enabling faster iterations for all teams. - Streamlined onboarding for new designers by creating clear documentation, guidelines, and workflows, enabling high-turnover teams to integrate and contribute effectively and quickly. - Fostered a strong design culture by sharing best practices, facilitating discussions on usability and accessibility, and ensuring design stayed central to organizational decisions.

• UX Design Consultant · General Motors01-01-2024 – 04-01-2024

  Spearheaded the design and prototyping of a cross-channel (In-vehicle to Mobile App) experience for General Motors, focusing on the integration of a Track Mode feature for performance cars. Led background research and collaborated with cross-functional teams including engineers, designers, and product managers to inform feature design.

Education

• University of MichiganMaster of Science - MS in Information, User Experience Design, User Experience Research, Human-Computer Interaction
• DesignlabUX Academy, UX Design
• SVKM's Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS)Bachelor of Technology, Computer Engineering
• Institut Mines-Télécom Business SchoolDesign thinking and Sustainable Innovation, Design thinking and Sustainable Innovation
• Harkisan Mehta Institute of Media, Research and AnalysisDiploma in Photography
• DesignlabDesign 101, Visual Design

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