About

Journal

Contact

About me.

I'm a designer with 12+ years of

I'm a software engineer with more than 10 years of experience in a variety of domains.

experience in a variety of domains.

Associate Director, UX DEsign

Piramal Finance, Bengaluru 🇮🇳

I’m Manthan Desai, a design leader with a love for building things from zero to one. Over the past decade, I’ve led design across fintech, SaaS, e-commerce, and wellness—turning early-stage ideas into meaningful digital experiences, while scaling the teams, systems, and culture that bring them to life.

At Piramal Capital & Housing Finance, I was the first designer on the ground. Today, I lead a 25-member design team responsible for 30+ products across customer experience, sales enablement, underwriting tools, operational systems, and platform capabilities. Along the way, design has played a key role in growing the business from ₹15K Cr to ₹70K Cr in AUM—deeply tied to outcomes, not just aesthetics.

What excites me most is the 0→1 stage: aligning with vision, crafting systems from scratch, iterating fast, and shipping products that actually work. I believe great design isn’t just about delight—it’s about clarity, craft, and conversions. The best experiences are invisible yet powerful.

I approach design leadership the same way I approach product design: with a bias for clarity, structure, and impact. It’s not about being the loudest voice in the room—it’s about creating the conditions for great work to happen. That means designing systems that scale, rituals that reduce noise, and cultures that reward clarity over cleverness. Good design leadership is invisible—but it shows up in the team’s velocity.

When I’m not designing or leading, you’ll find me watching films like they’re moodboards, café-hopping across Bengaluru, or tinkering with side projects I may (or may not) finish. I also love to travel—nothing recharges my curiosity like a new place, a different pace, and a window seat.

I believe teams grow when they feel safe, products work when they feel obvious, and careers thrive when they’re driven by curiosity, clarity, and care.

Let’s create more of that.

Stephen Mayer, a Salt Lake City native, was nurtured in the publishing world by his magazine-running father and developed a fascination for fonts upon receiving a Mac for his family. During his collegiate years, he skipped lectures and gained knowledge about typeface—and life—by working as a designer for his university newspaper.

He also worked independently as a consultant, bridging the gap between typeface creators and users, always championing the needs of both parties. Not only is he the co-founder of the web platforms, Typographica and Fonts In Use, Stephen has also penned a regular column for Print magazine and authored the acclaimed book The Anatomy of Type. In 2017, he became an integral part of the nonprofit library and museum, Letterform Archive, as an Associate Curator and Editorial Director.

Pssst…You can drag the photographs

I work across four disciplines

Strategy

Starts at $1,999

We immerse ourselves into an organisation to identify insights across brand, product and technology.

Audience analysis

Brand architecture

Brand positioning

Competitive analysis

Great custom service! I needed to make some specific changes and Rustam sent me a quick step by step video explaining how to make changes. Great communication!

Exotik Wrapz, Canada

Branding

Starts at $2,999

We build dynamic, distinct brands that transform how businesses connect with their audiences.

Art direction

Brand guidelines

Brand identity

Campaign design

Design systems

Motion design

Had some issues where my site crashed and broke, reached out to Rustam to see if he could help me fix it. Even though we are 12 hours apart in time, he was quick to reply.

Everett Vane, London

Digital

Starts at $3,999

We channel insights into elegant, engaging digital experiences that make the internet a better place.

Digital design systems

Information architecture

Product design

Prototyping

User journey mapping

Web design

I bought a template, its goooood, i needed help at some point, and it was quick and to the point. Im satisfied

Bart Brinkman, Berlin

Technology

Starts at $4,999

We engineer state-of-the-art experiences that respond to business needs and user expectations.

Web development

Creative development

Ecommerce

CMS integration

API integration

Best support out there! Rustam is always happy to help with any issues you may be having or even just showing how to edit things

Ricky Bobby, Amsterdam

Work Experience

May 2021 · Present

Associate Director UX Design

Piramal Finance

Led strategic design transformation across the organization, scaling from first designer to a team of 25 designers supporting 32+ products, establishing UX maturity models and governance frameworks aligned with business growth objectives.

Partnered with C-suite executives to position design as a revenue driver, implementing design-led strategies that scaled the loan book 14x from ₹5,000 Cr to ₹70,000 Cr (~$8B) in four years while acquiring 5M+ users.

Established cross-functional design governance model, collaborating with Product, Engineering, and Business teams to align design investments with organizational growth priorities.

Drove design innovation by developing comprehensive UX strategies, frameworks, and toolkits (including in-house Figma plugins) that enabled consistent quality while scaling, establishing organization-wide design principles aligned with business outcomes.

Led strategic AI design initiatives focused on two approaches: 1️⃣ Design using AI — implementing AI co-pilot tools to boost designer efficiency and creative output, and 2️⃣ Design for AI — creating seamless AI-native user journeys that leverage AI to enhance user experience through invisible assistance.

Jan 2019 · Apr 2021

User Experience Designer

Walmart Labs

Led the charter of health and wellness at Walmart, focusing on end customer experience (online + in-store) and partnering with business leadership to reduce COGS (Cost Of Goods Sold).

Established design strategy for pharmacy experience that balanced customer satisfaction with operational efficiency, resulting in improved metrics for both customers and business.

Spearheaded design and development of PHAIT (Pharmacy Assortment Inventory Turns) product suite, delivering $26.16M in cost savings (191% above the initial target of $9M) while maintaining focus on customer experience quality.

Successfully improved critical pharmacy customer metrics: increased In-Store Account Creation rate from 56.80% → 79.40% and first-time account creation success rate from 37.1% → 57.4%, directly impacting customer retention.

Created comprehensive Design System for health and wellness area, enhancing the existing Walmart Design System to ensure consistency, reduce design debt, and accelerate delivery of visual designs across multiple products.

Contributed to building Walmart India's design culture as a key member of the hiring committee, focusing on attracting and retaining top design talent while fostering an environment of growth and innovation.

AUg 2017 · JAN 2019

Design Manager

Paytm Money

Founded design function as first designer at Paytm Money, establishing design culture, processes, and team structure to support rapid growth for India's largest direct Mutual Funds Investment App.

Aligned design strategy with business goals to drive customer acquisition and investment flows, positioning design as a key differentiator in a competitive market.

Delivered exceptional product-market fit through user-centered design approach: 950K+ users registered for waitlist pre-launch, with 70% being first-time investors – expanding financial inclusion in the market.

Designed industry-leading onboarding experience achieving 92% KYC completion rate with investment-ready status within 30 minutes (new users: <2 minutes, existing investors: <1 minute).

Created and coded operational CRM system enabling rapid customer onboarding and service delivery, directly supporting business growth objectives and customer experience quality.

Established design practices that delivered significant market impact: 40% market share of direct mode SIPs in mutual funds within first year and ~15% contribution to MF industry, processing ~20Cr average daily investment.

Played strategic role in talent acquisition and retention, building design team capabilities and nurturing innovation culture throughout rapid organizational growth.

AUg 2013 · AUg 2017

Head of UI/UX

Zepo

Led end-to-end design strategy and execution across multiple product lines, evolving from individual contributor to design leader while building the design team, culture, and processes from the ground up.

Designed and launched Zepo Marketplace, unifying 16+ leading Indian marketplaces into a single platform for inventory, order, shipping and reconciliation management, processing ~₹12.32 Crs in first month and driving significant seller growth.

Conceived and built Zepo Couriers, an aggregator shipping platform integrating 8+ courier companies with automated reconciliation and eCommerce integration, generating annual revenue of ~₹36 Crs and handling COD orders worth ~₹27+ Crs.

Created Zepo Marketing, an integrated marketing engine for eCommerce sellers that facilitated ~₹10L worth of advertising spend within 15 days of launch, establishing new revenue streams and enhancing seller capabilities.

Improved customer acquisition through strategic UX improvements and developed 15+ revenue-generating eCommerce themes, demonstrating versatility in balancing design leadership with technical execution to drive business results.

DEC 2012 · DEC 2016

Founder

Domains n More

Founded and operated a service-based design and development business while pursuing my engineering degree, developing entrepreneurial skills and client relationships while generating revenue through practical application of design principles.