Structure is care
A well-organised Figma file, a clear handoff doc, an IA that doesn't make users think: these are acts of respect for the people you work with and the people who use what you build.
About
Monika Sisodia
Senior Product Designer · Bangalore, India
I'm a product designer who came to software through two unusual doors: architecture and teaching. Six years running a design department taught me to explain every decision out loud. Architecture taught me that structure fails quietly before it fails visibly.
Since 2023 I've applied both to enterprise software: fintech audit platforms, broker portals, banking automation, school management systems, and a phonics app I built for Indian parents because I noticed a gap and couldn't stop thinking about it.
I'm a workaholist who structures everything: my calendar, my kitchen, my Figma files. Outside work I travel when I can, cook seriously, practise yoga, and spend a lot of time thinking about how technology lands differently for a 5-year-old versus a 65-year-old. That question keeps me honest as a designer.
How I got here
- 2009–2015 Architecture & Interior Design
Trained as an architect at UVCE Bangalore. Learned to think in systems, structures, and the gap between what looks good and what holds up.
- 2015–2021 Design Education — JD School of Design
Led a department of 400+ students. Taught digital and physical design practice. Organised industry events, curated annual exhibitions. Six years of explaining design decisions out loud every day made me a better designer.
- 2023–2024 UI/UX Consultant — Next Element
First enterprise product design roles. Shipped a multi-school management redesign serving 7,300+ students and a product-led growth platform for verification services.
- 2024–Present Senior Product Designer — ThoughtFocus
Designing internal tools and enterprise platforms for US fintech clients. Loan audit systems, broker portals, banking automation, VR training interfaces. Solo designer on every engagement.
What I believe
Constraints are the work
The interesting design problem is never the blank canvas. It's the legacy API, the compliance rule, the ops workflow that can't change. I design for the system that exists, not the ideal one.
Technology should cross generations
I built SoundSteps for Indian parents teaching 3-year-olds to read. I design enterprise tools used by people who learned on paper. The best interfaces work across the full range of human experience with technology.
Currently
- Bangalore, India
- ThoughtFocus (full-time)
- Open to senior product design roles
- Available for remote, global teams
- Building: SoundSteps v2
- Practising: Yoga, daily
Experience
- 06/2024 – Present Senior Product Designer ThoughtFocus, Bangalore
- Shipped a 0→1 loan audit and rebuttal platform for a US mortgage lender: end-to-end design of dashboard, rebuttal workflows, account management, and document review, from user research through developer handoff.
- Designed a 0→1 broker loan submission portal for real estate investment lending, consolidating a 4-tool broker workflow into a single web application.
- Designed an email automation system for a Canadian bank's deposit operations team: notification workflows for 10 analysts managing GIC maturity across bilingual (EN/FR) institutional clients.
- 06/2023 – 06/2024 UI/UX Design Consultant Next Element, Bangalore
- Led redesign of a multi-school management platform serving 7,300+ students across 13 institutions: rebuilt visual layer and delivered a full Figma component library.
- Designed a product-led growth platform with interactive demo builder, guided workflow, and demo analytics targeting enterprise buyers.
- Sole designer on both projects: discovery, wireframes, hi-fi prototypes, design system, and developer handoff documentation.
- 08/2015 – 08/2021 Design Faculty / Head of Department JD School of Design, Bangalore
- Led a design department of 400+ students; taught digital and physical design practice across six years.
- Organised industry seminars and co-curated annual design exhibitions.
Skills & Tools
Design
Research
Specialisms
Other