FIG.04 — Background / Jaipur → Nottingham → London


Engineer by training.
Designer by obsession.


Biography

Electronics engineer turned product designer. Same discipline, different failure modes.

I find where products leak — users, revenue, trust — and remove the leak at system level. Jaipur → Metafic → Lead Product Designer at FirstCry Middle East → MSc HCI at Nottingham → freelance product design and AI advisory in London.

At FirstCry Middle East I led product design for the region — redesigning the Product Details Page and making the case for, then building, a Figma design system to replace a drifting Adobe XD library. Before that, Metafic, where I learned to translate business goals into user-facing designs. Then an MSc in Human-Computer Interaction at Nottingham, because I wanted my instincts to have evidence behind them.

Now I'm in London working freelance — product design and AI advice for a business owner, covering brand, the website and how the business uses AI — alongside self-directed work: Lumen, my EV charging concept, and this site, both built AI-first with Claude Code. Open to full-time product design roles.

Off the clock: Formula 1 (strategy calls, not just drivers), One Piece, and a camera that keeps me honest about composition. My design mantra comes straight from the Grand Line: “As long as I'm alive, there are infinite chances.”

Portrait of Kshitij Khandelwal
  1. Aug '19 – May '23

    B.Tech Electronics

    LNMIIT — systems thinking foundation.

  2. Feb '21

    Shift to design

    Systematic thinking, pointed at humans.

  3. Jul '21 – Sep '21

    Product Designer, Start From Scratch

    Freelance — digital products, concept to delivery.

  4. Mar '22 – Jun '22

    UX Designer, Artistixe

    Client UX under a senior design lead.

  5. Aug '22 – Dec '23

    UI/UX Designer, Metafic

    First full-time role — business goals to UI.

  6. Jan '24 – Mar '25

    Lead Product Designer, FirstCry ME

    Design system + PDP redesign, ME market. Dubai, then remote from Nottingham alongside the MSc.

  7. Sep '24 – Sep '25

    MSc HCI, Nottingham

    Research methods & behavioural science.

  8. Sep '25 – Jun '26

    Building AI-first, London

    Lumen + this site, built with Claude Code.

  9. Jun '26 – now

    Product Designer & AI Advisor, Freelance

    Brand, website and AI for a business owner.

Life beyond the canvas

FIG.05 — 35mm & 51.5°N


Mostly landscapes, shot wherever the walk ends up: hills, water, woods, a field of sunflowers. It's the same habit as the day job. Find the frame, then cut whatever doesn't earn its place.

Kshitij in profile against a city skyline at dusk
A desk at night — two monitors and a laptop, design files open across all three
Photography by Kshitij — rolling hills
Photography by Kshitij — a waterfall
Kshitij on the steps of a stone building, beneath a tall arched door
Photography by Kshitij — sunflowers
Photography by Kshitij — autumn woods

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