Suvarna Sapkal

About Suvarna Sapkal

A passionate, enthusiastic, and result-driven product design leader with 20+ years of experience shaping product experiences, platforms, and enterprise solutions. I specialize in translating complex user needs, market insights, and business goals into scalable product experiences that deliver measurable impact.Throughout my career, I have partnered closely with product, engineering, and business leaders to design and deliver meaningful digital products. My approach blends user-centered design, systems thinking, and data-driven decision making to create experiences that are intuitive, scalable, and aligned with organizational strategy.My work spans the full spectrum of Product Experience Design and UX, including user research, product discovery, UX architecture, wireframing, prototyping, usability testing, UX transformation, branding, concept design, HCI, Agile UX, Lean UX, UX consulting, and building high-performing design teams.I focus on driving impact through:• User & Market Insight – Studying user demand through market and product research and translating insights into conceptual requirement frameworks that guide product strategy.• Product Experience Strategy – Designing new products, features, and innovation concepts while developing clear design plans that align with business outcomes and AI Enabled technology capabilities.• Prototype to Production Leadership – Leading product design, ensuring ideas translate into practical, scalable solutions.• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Partnering with engineering, product, and stakeholders to ensure design intent is maintained throughout product development.• Data-Driven Optimization – Leveraging product usage data and customer support insights to continuously refine and improve product performance and usability.• Experience-Led Innovation – Continuously evolving products and features centered on user experience, usability, and long-term platform value.I see product designers as guardians of user needs — responsible not only for interfaces but also for the overall experience, functionality, and lifecycle of a product.My philosophy is simple:“The goal of a Product Designer is to listen, observe, understand, empathize, synthesize, and reveal insights that make the invisible visible.”I remain deeply passionate about building meaningful products, empowering teams, and driving design-led innovation that moves organizations forward.

Experience

1. Manager Product Design (Engineering Product Design Partner)

   IBM

   Mar 2026 — Present · Bengaluru, IN

   Leading Product Design in partnership with Engineering, Business for HashiCorp products at IBM, driving scalable, user-centered platform experiences. Driving Platform-Scale Product Design. Focused on building high-impact design solutions that enable developer productivity, platform adoption, and enterprise value.

Education

• IxDF - The Interaction Design Foundation

  Information Visualization: Getting Dashboards Right, Product Experience Design

• IxDF - The Interaction Design Foundation

  Usability Testing, User Experience and Interaction Design

  2005 — 2018

• IxDF - The Interaction Design Foundation

  Professional Education, User Experience and Interaction Design

• IxDF - The Interaction Design Foundation

  Conducting Usability Testing, Product Experience Design

• IxDF - The Interaction Design Foundation

  Exclusive: Design for a Better World, a Discussion with Don Norman, Master Class

• IxDF - The Interaction Design Foundation

  Agile Methods for UX Design, Product Experience Design

• IxDF - The Interaction Design Foundation

  How to Design with and for Artificial Intelligence, Masterclass-Product Experience Design

• MCA

  Master’s Degree, Computer Science

• Savitribai Phule Pune University

  Bachelor’s Degree, Science

  2001 — 2004

• IxDF - The Interaction Design Foundation

  Getting Dashboards Right

• IxDF - The Interaction Design Foundation

  Service Design: How to Design Integrated Service Experiences, Business Experience

• IxDF - The Interaction Design Foundation

  UX-Management Strategy and Tactics, Product Experience Design

Skills

• Information Architecture
• Graphic Design
• Branding & Identity
• Adobe Illustrator
• Usability
• Illustrator
• Wireframes
• Flash
• Adobe Photoshop
• Requirements Analysis
• Usability Testing
• Wireframing
• Concept Design
• User Experience Design
• Agile Methodologies
• User Experience
• User-Centered Design
• Mobile Applications
• Wire Framing
• Web Design
• User Interface Design
• Interaction Design
• Human Computer Interaction
• Mobile Devices
• User Interface
• Photoshop
• Microsoft Office