Hello!

I am Aarti.

I am a service designer, interested in Inclusive Design and Strategic thinking, a brain-stormer and question asker.

My Design Values

Empathy & kindness

Differences shouldn’t be just accepted but celebrated.

Self-reflective design

Being self-reflective encourages a mindset of continuous learning and adaptation.

Creative problem solving

Design innovation enables using creativity to bridge gaps, connecting with users and communities on a more human level.

Education

Glasgow School of Art, UK · Sept ’23 – Sept ’24

MDes Design Innovation & Service Design

Led co-creative workshops and user-centered projects, designing services for autistic adults and third-sector employees. Engaged 10+ stakeholders using research-driven insights, journey mapping, and prototyping. Delivered mobile app prototypes for an automobile company and led the Soft Power of Scotland project.

Learn more →

Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India · Aug ’15 – Aug ’20

Bachelors in Architecture

My architectural training developed skills in user-centered design, systems thinking, sustainability, research, budgeting, and stakeholder collaboration, enabling me to craft impactful, user-focused solutions in service design.

TU Delft Summer School, Netherlands · 16–27 July ’18

Planning and Designing with Water

I was accepted among 190 students to participate. Explored theories of spatial justice and social sustainability, and how an inclusive and equitable future is for us to design — by talking to locals in Scheveningen.

Design myths & thoughts

Things I find myself unsaying

A few assumptions I meet often, and what I have come to think instead.

Design is how it looks.

I came to service design from architecture, where the drawing was never the building. It is the same here. The queue, the letter, the refund policy, the staff rota — that is the design, and none of it is something you can look at.

Accessibility is a constraint.

It is the brief, not the constraint. I work from the social model: people are disabled by barriers, not by their bodies. Once you accept that, the barrier becomes the thing you are designing — and the work gets more interesting, not less.

We asked people, so it is co-designed.

Asking is not sharing. The test I hold myself to is simple: did anyone leave the room with a decision that had not already been made before they arrived? If not, it was consultation with sticky notes, however good the sticky notes were.

The service is the website.

A service is whatever helps someone do a whole thing, start to finish. Working in the third sector I kept finding the real breakage three steps before the screen I had been asked to redesign.

Interests & Hobbies

A sanctuary on paper

Art has always been therapy for me — an expression of my thoughts and feelings. It provides a sanctuary. Below are a few samples of me enjoying my solitude through various artistic endeavors.