WHO EVEN IS SHREYA?
I've been fascinated by human nature for much longer than I've been designing. Studying cognitive science gave me a vocabulary for it (biases, mental models, friction points) but the drive to investigate why people do what they do came first.
These days my work lies mostly in early-stage products, where defining the overarching problem (and consuming an adequate amount of coffee) plays a significant role in product success.
How I Think (and Operate):
Everything I work on leads back to my fascination with human cognition — what drives people to adopt new products, adapt existing ones for their needs, and connect to them emotionally.
Led by Human Curiosity
with a background in cognitive science
Startups and student organizations have taught me how to get creative when mobilizing with high stakes and never ideal conditions. They've also shaped my approach: align on goals early, and keep looking for opportunities to design more thoughtfully.
Independent and Scrappy
with a background in startups
Three years of building speculative design projects and workshopping TEDx talks refined my judgement about which ideas actually move people and which ones only sound like they do. While I know the importance of delivering through what's familiar, I love being inspired by ways to reimagine against convention.
Hungry for Cool Ideas
whether they're mine or not
Other Ways I Show Up:
These experiences have strengthened my skills across event-planning, community engagement, and education.
Organizing Team Efforts for TEDxUCSanDiego Conferences
I discovered TEDxUCSanDiego through a pop-up event that happened right outside my dorm during the spring quarter of my freshman year. Since then, I joined and led efforts to revise speeches for TEDx eligibility, plan event flows that engaged audiences, and create long-lasting processes for organizing the team workflow for events.
Design for San Diego (D4SD) Sprint at the World Design Policy Conference
I helped organize a design challenge geared towards creating resilient solutions for housing insecurity in San Diego. I synthesized research to frame the problem for challenge participants and helped run design workshops that helped teams ideate and iterate through their ideas for solutions.
This experience was summed up at the 2024 World Design Policy Conference (WDPC) held in San Diego. I had the unique opportunity to facilitate critique and conversation with student teams and leaders in design alike!
Study Abroad Experience & Community Engagement
In the summer after my freshman year of college I took two classes in Paris: Jazz culture & Jazz and the Music of the African Diaspora. Being a former high school jazz band member and someone who had been taking French for 7 years, this experience fulfilled a lot of childhood dreams.
I later held a job at the UCSD Study Abroad office, where my role was to conduct outreach regarding study abroad opportunities by speaking in panels and organizing engagement events.
Teach for America & Tutoring
Educating and providing people with the confidence to solve problems has lingered as a passion and an important responsibility of mine. In 2022, I participated in Teach for America's Ignite Fellowship to tutor 4th grade students in phonetics. Prior to this I had been tutoring algebra and geometry to students in the library and individual clients.