About – Saaket Unadkat

Background in computer engineering and human-centered design. I've worked with brands such as Facebook, Sony, NFL, lululemon, Walmart, Novartis, Univar and United States Golf Association. I love photography, hiking, swimming, travel, and organizing information.

Some fun facts:

I'm an AVGeek*. I could look at a plane and (mostly) tell you what model it is
My favorite superhero is ThePointsGuy
I love travel and I have one simple rule (pre-COVID) - The next trip should be booked before the current one ends
I love swimming and even competed in national competitions back in the day
My Briggs-Myers Type Indicator is INFJ. While not OCD, I do like to organize everything - my cupboard, my kitchen, my desk, my sketch files etc. Working on Information Architecture gives me the thrills :)
I'm always signing up for the latest apps/websites and trying them out. My phone has a dedicated folder for new apps.

*AvGeek - Anyone who looks up in the sky and feels the urge to label every plane they see. Usually watches airplane videos on YouTube. And stares at airports as they drive by.

Experience

Product Designer
Facebook, Seattle
November 2020 - Present

User Experience Lead
Teaching and Learning Exploratory (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
September 2013 - May 2014

Building the future of community commerce on Facebook Marketplace.

I support the entire buyer and seller funnel to build and launch new features, and drive foundational alignment for Marketplace with the rest of Facebook.

Previously supported the marketplace feed, buy and sell groups, and commerce infrastructure teams.

Led a small design team for a web based teaching and learning tool for middle school math teachers; worked closely with project leaders and developers to ensure usability and design quality

Translated research and usability test findings into design recommendations and building portions of the member-facing systems using front-end code

Associate Creative Director
Deloitte Digital, Seattle
June 2020 - November 2020

National UX Discipline Lead
June 2019 - July 2020

Sr. User Experience Designer
June 2017 - June 2020

UX Discipline Lead, Seattle
June 2017 - June 2019

User Experience Designer
June 2014 - June 2017

Associate Creative Director
Deloitte Digital, Seattle
June 2020 - Present

National UX Discipline Lead
Deloitte Digital, Seattle
June 2019 - Present

Sr. User Experience Designer
June 2017 - June 2020

UX Discipline Lead, Seattle
June 2017 - June 2019

Staff User Experience Designer
June 2014 - June 2017

Associate Creative Director
Deloitte Digital, Seattle
June 2020 - Present

National UX Discipline Lead
Deloitte Digital, Seattle
June 2019 - Present

Sr. User Experience Designer
June 2017 - June 2020

UX Discipline Lead, Seattle
June 2017 - June 2019

Staff User Experience Designer
June 2014 - June 2017

Led multi-disciplinary teams on projects for clients across industries; worked closely with product managers, engineers and business development teams to develop research and design processes for product ideation and development

Guided the development of junior practitioners, developed and promoted delivery standards, and created an inclusive design culture as the discipline lead for the UX practice in the United States

Select Work and Impact:

Led a large design team to create a first-of-its-kind smart city and venue mobile application that will serve as a single touchpoint for approximately 5M+ visitors each year
Drove the design and strategy for a large athleisure wear company increase their conversion rate by over 50%, increase revenue by over 40%
Helped a B2B manufacturing company automate a large portion of their ordering and customer service platform that hit 80% user adoption in the first year
Helped create a new sales channel by designing a gamer centric direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform for a leading gaming technology corporation

Select Clients: United States Golf Association, Pfizer, Novartis, The Children's Place, Lululemon, Univar, NFL, Hollywood Park, NHL Seattle, Walmart, Costco, Sony, Ann Sacks, Waste Management

Led multi-disciplinary teams on projects for clients across industries; worked closely with product managers, engineers and business development teams to develop research and design processes for product ideation and development

Guided the development of junior practitioners, developed and promoted delivery standards, and created an inclusive design culture as the discipline lead for the UX practice in the United States

Select Work and Impact:

Led a large design team to create a first-of-its-kind smart city and venue mobile application that will serve as a single touchpoint for approximately 5M+ visitors each year
Drove the design and strategy for a large athleisure wear company increase their conversion rate by over 50%, increase revenue by over 40%
Helped a B2B manufacturing company automate a large portion of their ordering and customer service platform that hit 80% user adoption in the first year
Helped create a new sales channel by designing a gamer centric direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform for a leading gaming technology corporation

Select Clients: United States Golf Association, Pfizer, Novartis, The Children's Place, Lululemon, Univar, NFL, Hollywood Park, NHL Seattle, Walmart, Costco, Sony, Ann Sacks, Waste Management

Led multi-disciplinary teams on projects for clients across industries; worked closely with product managers, engineers and business development teams to develop research and design processes for product ideation and development

Guided the development of junior practitioners, developed and promoted delivery standards, and created an inclusive design culture as the discipline lead for the UX practice in the United States

Select Work and Impact:

Led a large design team to create a first-of-its-kind smart city and venue mobile application that will serve as a single touchpoint for approximately 5M+ visitors each year
Drove the design and strategy for a large athleisure wear company increase their conversion rate by over 50%, increase revenue by over 40%
Helped a B2B manufacturing company automate a large portion of their ordering and customer service platform that hit 80% user adoption in the first year
Helped create a new sales channel by designing a gamer centric direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform for a leading gaming technology corporation

Select Clients: United States Golf Association, Pfizer, Novartis, The Children's Place, Lululemon, Univar, NFL, Hollywood Park, NHL Seattle, Walmart, Costco, Sony, Ann Sacks, Waste Management

User Experience Lead
Teaching and Learning Exploratory (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
September 2013 - May 2014

Led a small design team for a web based teaching and learning tool for middle school math teachers; worked closely with project leaders and developers to ensure usability and design quality

Translated research and usability test findings into design recommendations and building portions of the member-facing systems using front-end code

Instructional Aide
SI 658 - Information Architecture, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
September 2013 - December 2013

Instructional Aide for Dan Klyn's course: "SI 658 - Information Architecture"

Duties include assisting lecturer with tasks ranging from participation measurement in large group discussion sessions, remote participant set-up and grading assignments and presentations for a class of 40 students

User Experience Design Intern
Communispace, Boston
June 2013 - August 2013

Conducted user research using surveys and interviews for over 250 live user engagement communities that span more than 120,000 users as part of the UX and Product Technology team

Created goal based, data-driven personas that would help in making better design decisions; analyzed the behavioral data to create mockups and workflows for several member and employee facing systems and an iPhone application

Web Developer and Photographer
Division of Student Affairs, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
October 2012 - May 2013

As a web developer and content manager for the Division of Student Affairs, I helped create and maintain more than 15 university websites using the Drupal CMS

The work spanned desktop and mobile platforms, with a consistent user interface for every website

I also worked as a photographer for several university organizations and helped design banners and logos

As a web developer and content manager for the Division of Student Affairs, I helped create and maintain more than 15 university websites using the Drupal CMS

The work spanned desktop and mobile platforms, with a consistent user interface for every website

I also worked as a photographer for several university organizations and helped design banners and logos

As a web developer and content manager for the Division of Student Affairs, I helped create and maintain more than 15 university websites using the Drupal CMS

The work spanned desktop and mobile platforms, with a consistent user interface for every website

I also worked as a photographer for several university organizations and helped design banners and logos

UX/UI Designer and Developer Intern
Blink Digital, Mumbai
March 2011 - July 2012

Helped create an augmented reality shopping experience for a leading e-commerce brand using Augmented reality; customers scanned a newspaper ad to reveal the sale products in a virtual closet

Designed and developed a gesture recognition game using 2D and 3D cameras to engage customers of a tobacco company engage with the brand in a legally compliant setting leadership as the discipline lead for the UX practice in the United States

Education

My background is in computer science and front-end engineering. Followed that up with a masters degree in information specializing in human-computer interaction. Acquired knowledge and experience in visual design, branding, augmented reality, voice interfaces, and motion design through client and side projects.

2012 - 2014

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
MSI, Human-computer Interaction

2008 - 2012

University of Mumbai, Mumbai
BE, Computer Engineering