Structure is care
A well-organized 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 UX Designer · Enterprise SaaS · Fintech · Bangalore, India
I'm a senior UX designer who came to software through two unusual doors: architecture and teaching. A decade in the design industry. Now I design for expert users: compliance analysts, brokers, ops teams: people who know their domain better than I ever will, and need software that keeps up.
Design practice since 2015. Enterprise product design since 2023: 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 structure everything: my calendar, my kitchen, my Figma files. Outside work I travel when I can, cook seriously, practice 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.
I use AI-assisted tools like Cursor and Claude Code as part of my design and prototyping process.
How I got here
- 2009 to 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 to 2021 · 4 years teaching interior design (with a 2-year break for my Master's) Design Education · JD School of Design
Led a department of 400+ students. Taught digital and physical interior design practice. Organized industry events, curated annual exhibitions.
- 2021 to 2023 Freelance Design Practice
Independent work across interiors, brand identity, and my first digital product projects. This is where I moved from designing spaces to designing software, and found out the underlying problem was the same one.
- 2023 to 2024 UI/UX Consultant · Next Element
Enterprise product design roles. Shipped a multi-school management redesign serving 7,300+ students and a product-led growth platform.
- 2024 to Present Senior UX Designer · ThoughtFocus
Designing internal tools and enterprise platforms for US fintech clients. Loan audit systems, broker portals, banking automation, VR training interfaces. Embedded designer on cross-functional teams with product managers, engineers, QA, and business analysts.
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 UX Designer roles
- Building: SoundSteps v2
- Practising: Yoga, occasionally
Experience
- 06/2024 to Present Senior UX 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, guiding brokers from application through pricing, documents, and e-signature in a single workflow.
- Designed an email automation system for a Canadian bank's deposit operations team: bilingual (EN/FR) notification workflows for 10 analysts handling institutional deposit accounts.
- Designed AR/VR training interfaces for industrial safety simulations, working directly with the engineering team on spatial UX, interaction design, and immersive environment layout.
- 06/2023 to 06/2024 UI/UX Design Consultant Next Element, Bangalore
- Led the redesign of a multi-school management platform serving 7,300+ students across 13 institutions: rebuilt the visual layer, created a new overview landing page, and delivered a full Figma component library (typography scale, color tokens, reusable components).
- Designed a product-led growth platform with an interactive demo builder, guided workflow, and demo analytics, targeting enterprise buyers.
- Owned end-to-end design on both engagements: discovery, wireframes, hi-fi prototypes, design system, and developer handoff documentation, partnering with product owners and engineering throughout.
- 08/2015 to 08/2018 · 08/2020 to 08/2021 Design Faculty / Head of Department JD School of Design, Bangalore
- Led a design department of 400+ students; taught digital and physical interior design practice.
- Organized industry seminars and co-curated annual design exhibitions.
Skills & Tools
Design
Research
Specialisms
Other