About

Designing experiences that scale, endure, and matter.

I'm Mahesh Malekar — a Senior Experience Design Lead with 18+ years bridging enterprise complexity, design systems thinking, and AI-driven product innovation.

Design philosophy

"Good design is invisible. Great design is inevitable."

Systems over surfaces

I design for the system first — tokens, patterns, and components that scale — so every surface inherits coherence without extra effort.

Research as foundation

Every decision traces back to a user insight or a business constraint. I treat research not as a phase but as a continuous practice woven into delivery.

Accessibility by default

WCAG compliance isn't a checklist item — it's a design constraint that sharpens thinking and expands reach. I build it in from the first sketch.

AI as a design material

I treat AI capabilities the way earlier designers treated responsive grids — as a new material with its own affordances, failure modes, and ethical weight.

Career timeline

2006Junior UX DesignerEarly career — digital agency

Started with interaction design and information architecture for web portals.

2009UX DesignerProduct studio

Led end-to-end UX for SaaS products; first exposure to enterprise-scale design challenges.

2013Senior UX DesignerEnterprise software firm

Built the first design system for a 200+ screen enterprise suite; mentored junior designers.

2017Lead UX DesignerGlobal technology company

Owned UX strategy across multiple product lines; introduced design tokens and component libraries.

2020Principal UX DesignerFortune 500 client engagements

Drove AI-UX integration projects; established accessibility standards adopted org-wide.

2023Senior Experience Design LeadCurrent

Leading cross-functional design teams, design system governance, and AI-driven product experiences.

Core competencies

Strategy & Research

UX StrategyUser ResearchStakeholder AlignmentDesign Thinking FacilitationCompetitive AnalysisJourney Mapping

Design & Systems

Design SystemsComponent LibrariesDesign TokensInteraction DesignVisual DesignPrototypingFigma

Engineering & Delivery

Frontend HandoffAccessibility (WCAG 2.2)Design QAAgile / ScrumCross-functional LeadershipAI-Driven UX

Education & certifications

Bachelor of Design

Design school

2006

Certifications

Google UX Design CertificateNielsen Norman Group UX CertificationCertified Scrum Master (CSM)WCAG 2.2 Accessibility Specialist

Let's build something together.

Open to senior design leadership roles, consulting engagements, and design system advisory.