S1E1 - Pilot
15 min read

Synopsis

Welcome to "The World of Rohan Shah" - yup, that's me! 🙋

Let me take this opportunity to walk you through my journey.👨

💻
I am a 27-year-old self-taught Product Designer and former Front-end Developer who entered this beautiful field at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

🚀
In just over 3 years, I have shipped multiple successful products from concept to finish line.

💼
Currently, I'm part of the mobile app team at CBS Sports, a subsidiary of Paramount. Prior to switching to the app team, I worked on the web team which has over 15 million users that bring over 2 billion views annually.

🏎️
Previously, as a Lead Designer at CarsArrive, a child company of KAR Global, I was responsible for redesigning their entire app ecosystem, which has a user base of over 50,000.

💻
I have also designed staking and governance platforms for Web 3 companies like BollyCoin, and worked at a FinTech startup in New York in 2021.

💼
Alongside my full-time work, I have also completed several projects as a Freelancer. Most recently, I designed and developed Force of Nature, a non-profit organization that mobilizes mindsets for climate action. The website has gained over 30,000 views and a 44% increase in conversions within just a few months.

I'm proud of what I've accomplished so far, and I'm excited for what the future holds. If you want to learn more about my work, don't hesitate to get in touch! 📩

Quick Facts

Current Position
Product Designer at CBS Sports
Skills
SketchFigmainVisionHTMLCSSJavaSciptWebflowsquarespace
Highest level of education
Masters of Science, Computer Science (Dec 2020) Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA
Users impacted
15 Million+
An estimate of number of users that have seen and used my work :)
Resume
Download
Attention

In a hurry?

I know time is very precious and so are you who is reading this :)
You can choose the next step in this journey and I will take you there smoothly!
Take me to episode 2I want to read your story
Scene 1

How many degrees hot am I?

Background

Hi, I'm Rohan. I have been born and brought up in Mumbai, India. I have always been a very organized child right from a very young age. Growing up in a middle-class household, there was very little room to be "aesthetic". At least, that's what I thought until I grew up.

With the advent of smartphones, apps and websites started becoming a major source of doing day to day things. Being a sucker for aesthetics, I was always attracted to the "good-looking" websites & apps. I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be cool if I could do this someday?"

Education

Undergraduate
Bachelor of Technology
Major
Information Technology
Year
2015-2019
University
KJ Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai, India
Experience
I did my Bachelor's in Technology (B.Tech) with a major in Information Technology from KJ Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai. In all my Web Development classes, all I did was make sure that my team's project "looked" the best.

As a part of our capstone project, I led a team of 4 to develop a digital canteen experience for the students and staff of my school and improve the efficiency for the management of the canteen.
Graduate
Master of Science
Major
Computer Science
Year
2019-2020
University
Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA
Experience
Coming into the states, I wanted to continue doing that but at the same time, learn a bit of backend as well. I took my first Web Development class, and guess what I did for the final project? I made the UI look clean.

Then I took a class in Human Computer Interaction, and that piqued my interest in the field of UX Design. I led an amazing team of 5 to develop Uncovered Media - a social media platforms that promotes real content and curbs fake news.
Scene 2

Developer turned Designer

The turning point

My time doing only front-end  made me realize that I care more about making the "experience" of the end-user be seamless, and at the same time, be modern looking. I also had numerous ideas in my head about the apps I want to create and famous app's UIs that I want to change.

One random day, contemplating a mid-life crisis about the decision of choosing development, I came across concepts of Product Design, UI/UX Design, and thought to myself, "THIS. IS. MY. DREAM. JOB.".

Up to speed

With time running out as an international student, I quickly learnt a tool called Sketch. Since I had a plethora of ideas, I started designing them on my newly learnt tool.

Slowly, I accumulated multiple personal projects and set up my Behance account. The idea was to rush and do as many projects as I can to get my first design internship.

What makes me different?

At this point in time, I had developed quite a unique skillset. I had a strong foundation in HTML, CSS and JavaScript, which meant that I knew how easy or difficult it is to implement a design in reality.

In my initial product design days, I was fascinated by what some people on Dribble used to create. But more often than not, my developer mindset kicked in, and I thought, "Man! This is gonna make the developer's life a nightmare".

Therefore, I started designing more realistic designs. My mindset was simple - I should be able to create a design which is easy to use and implement.
Scene 3

Life as a Designer

Experience at ADP

I had secured my summer internship at ADP as an application developer intern. Since this internship was secured pre-design days, I went ahead with it hoping to work with some designers on the way.

Collaborated with senior designer and developer to improve user interface of web data connector. Formulated prototype for an NLP application using Sketch, HTML, CSS. Earned recognition by the Vice President of Product Development.

Next task was to find the perfect "design" internship for fall!

Design Experience

Position
‍Product Designer, September 2022 - Present
Collaborated with
VP of Design, Design Director, Senior Designers, VP of Product, Senior Product Managers, Engineering Teams, Design Systems Team, User Research Team
Skills used
Figma
Company
Roxe Inc
Position
‍Product Designer, January 2022 - September 2022
Collaborated with
Lead Designer, SVP of Product, Product Managers, Developers from China
Skills used
Figma
Company
Bolly Coin
Position
UI/UX Designer (Contract), January 2022 - March 2022
Skills used
Figma
Reflections
- First foray into the NFT and crypto space
- Applauded by the founder, and have been asked to contribute in future projects
- First time working with a set design system
Experience
This was an opportunity of a lifetime. I am a huge Bollywood fan and to work for a project backed by one of India's superstars, Salman Khan was a dream come true.
The main website and branding was already built by Cope Studio, a design agency based in India. The next step in the process was to create pages for Staking and Governance Council (DAO). I was roped in to create these pages for them.
It was my first foray into web3, and I was very excited to add this to my repertoire. To add to this, it was also my first time working with a design system set by someone else. Initially, I found it difficult to create new experiences because I felt restricted, but I was able to overcome that soon and create a unique easy-to-use staking and DAO experience for the users.
‍
See my work at BollyCoin
The case study is under progress, but you can see the page live here

Positions
‍UI/UX Design Intern, Aug 2019 - Dec 2020
UI/UX Designer, March 2021 - January 2022
Collaborated with
CEO, Business units, stakeholders, developers
Skills used
SketchinVisionHTMLCSSJavaScipt
Achievements
- Promoted within 4 months to a full-time position
- Worked as the first ever designer at the company
- Led the design vision of a company that has a user base of 50,000+
- Presented my ideas to CEOs, and stakeholders at a young age
Experience
I landed my first design internship at KAR Global. I worked as a "Design Lead" - YES! My first ever design internship, and that too as a lead, for CarsArrive, a child company of KAR Global. I had been given the task of redesigning their entire app ecosystem - mobile app, landing page for their website, and the client-facing desktop website.

CarsArrive deals in the hauling (transportation) of used cars from manufacturers to dealerships. It is United State's largest hauler of used cars with over 3 Million cars being transported every year. This is a company that has over 50,000 users, that uses their apps.

The biggest learning curve for me has been presenting my designs to stakeholders, CEOs, and of course, the end users. Working as the first ever designer in the company, my leadership and communication skills have improved ten-folds. It makes me really excited that a product that I redesigned is now going to be used by 20,000+ users.  
See my work at CarsArrive
My case studies are under progress. You can watch the first episode here
Position
Product Designer, March 2021 - September 2021
Collaborated with
CEO, Graphic Designers, Content Writers, Community Leads
Skills used
FigmaHTMLCSSJavaSciptsquarespace
Achievements
- 30,000 user visits in just 5 months
- 44% increase in conversions
- 1,700+ form submissions
- Recognition at a world stage
Experience
This was a unique experience. To begin with, I was working for a group of people younger than me. The CEO is 3 years younger than me, but she had achieved worldwide recognition for her fight against climate change at such a young age.

I knew I had to take this project up. I was working with young, energetic, enthusiastic and talented bunch of people. We had divided the work into 4 horizons depending upon priority.

I used Figma to mock some low-fi wireframes and then did some high fidelity prototyping. With multiple rounds of feedback, we finally decided on a design scheme. I executed them on Squarespace, and this process was followed throughout the rest of the project duration.
See my work at Force of Nature
You can directly visit their website, or get a idea of the whole process in episode 3

And more

Other positions
DCanter Wines, UI/UX Designer (Contract), April 2021
HerStyleDiaries, Product Designer (Contract), August 2020
Divvi Media, Wix Developer, July 2020
Pack up

Reflecting back

Final thoughts

For me, if I have got my calculations right, my work had been seen and used by over 80,000 people , within a year of joining this field. At such a young career stage, I am proud of the fact that I have been able to ship multiple products from concept to finish line, in just over a year.

Now, I have transitioned into a company that garners over 2 Billion Views annually to their website. I am equally nervous and excited to be working at a such a big stage.
‍
So this is me, Rohan Shah, and I welcome you to my world. This series contains a progress of all the work that I have done in this short career so far. And hey, this series, will keep improving with every season! Enjoy the journey :) 

Dive into the Director's Picks

Scoreboard Enhancements
Optimizing the scoreboard experience of CBS Sports and integrating video
Web Design
Research
Cross-collaboration
4x Video Revenue | 2x Retention Rate | 12-15 Games at a Glance
Play
Navigation
Redesigning the complex navigation system of CBS Sports website and systematizing it for other CBS Brands
Co-Lead
Strategy
Planning
0 to end delivery
Play