Latika Gulati - UX designer who thinks like an engineer

Hi, I'm Latika!

I design for everyone in the room: the person using it, the team building it, and the business betting on it.

Mission-driven UX designer who thinks like an engineer
Hand-drawn line portrait of Latika smiling

Selected work

The iOTP interactive verification flow on a phone screen
Capital One

Calibrating friction on Capital One's iOTP

Streamlined Capital One's iOTP (interactive one time pin) experience, balancing security requirements with measurable usability gains.

Role UX/UITimeline 6 weeksTools Figma, UserTesting.com
AuthenticationInteraction DesignResearch
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IDcase study visual
Capital One

Designing for alignment with the Identity Platform

Led workshops and influenced cross-functional alignment to lay the foundation for Capital One's Identity Platform.

Role UX DesignerTimeline 3 monthsTools Figma, workshops
Platform StrategyFacilitationSystems Thinking
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my approach to design

Beautiful screens that can't ship aren't good UX

It's so easy to design in a vacuum, but it's just as important to consider the system those designs live in. A user should be able to get through a full experience comfortably, and any individual screen is just one piece of that bigger puzzle.

My background in software development means I understand technical constraints and can collaborate with engineering teams in their language. After a long tenure in tech, I also know how to make user needs and business needs line up so products get shipped and are successful. Our job is to make/save companies money after all!

My job as a designer is to be an advocate for the user, but I can't forget the system my designs live in or the team that's building it.

Off the clock

Take a look →

My creative process overflows well into my personal time. I always have some sort of hobby going and am always creating/making/exploring/tinkering. Check out what I'm up to now!

Currently excited about
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Hi! I'm Latika, an engineer who became a designer to try and solve more human problems. I always joke that I have an excess of empathy so I might as well get paid for it! I enjoy the creativity and collaborative nature of product development and prefer to come at it from a mission-focused human-forward angle.
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Case study

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Hand-drawn line portrait of Latika smiling
About

I started as an engineer. I think that's my whole advantage.

How I got here

I started out as a software engineer, close enough to the build to earn 24 patents, before moving into product design. I left Capital One and came back, so I've seen the same systems from both the engineering side and the design side, and that double vision is what I lead with.

How I work

My whole point of view is calibrating friction: knowing when to smooth a path and when a little resistance is the point, because I know what it costs to build the thing on the other side of the screen. I use AI tools throughout my process, but the judgment is mine, and that's the part that matters.

A little more of me

Away from the screen, I make things with my hands, ceramics, crochet, whatever the current hobby is. It's the same instinct as the day job: care about how a thing is made and how it feels to use. There's more of that over on Off the Clock.

What I'm looking for

A senior product design role on a mission-driven team. I'm in the DC area and open to remote or relocating for the right one.

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Say hi
Off the clock

Bits and bobs of my creativity

Between my curiosity about how the world works and my bad case of "I bet I could figure out how to make that", I always have a project going! Poke around to see if anything inspires you too.

Ceramics

Seconds, the studio I co-run
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A small case study, if you want it

The first market we sold at taught me more about UX than I expected. Pricing, display, the path a stranger takes to picking up a mug. I wrote it up.

Read it →

Currently making

Currently excited about
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