Hello!

My Background

Born and raised in India and migrated to U.S., I am a hybrid product of eastern-western culture. I can speak four languages and have lived in six different cities since childhood.

Growing up in multi-cultural atmosphere (while being deep rooted in spirituality) has made me an adaptive individual. It has taught me to be considerate of others and be a quick learner.

How I got into UX Design?

During my undergraduate studies in Information Technology, I had taken up a course on introduction to HCI (Human Computer Interaction). That is when I knew such a field existed. I found the course to be very interesting, it gave me a basic understanding of what HCI is and why it is important but I never considered pursuing it as a career until I actually started working professionally.

Manali Gortekar

After completing my undergrad studies, I got an opportunity to work as a Software Engineer at Accenture. I took it up in the hopes to get a good experience of working as a professional and also, to explore a new fun place - Bangalore. As a software engineer, I was doing functional testing on the applications related to banking domain. I was preparing test cases and tracking defects for the same. While working I was always curious to know the impact of my work on a bigger scale and the difference it was making in people’s lives.

The quest to know why I am doing what I am doing led me to the realization that my passion actually lies in design. I researched more on the field of HCI and got very excited about its applications. As an individual, I always wanted to channelize my creative side in my career to do something meaningful. After talking to dozens of students, professors from different universities around the world, I decided to pursue my masters in HCI program and get formal education to become a UX Designer.


Current Achievements

I am currently working for Edifecs since 3+ years where I am designing human-centric solutions for healthcare field. I am the local lead of Ladies that UX, Seattle meet- up group of 1200+ members where I organize monthly design talks and workshops. I read a lot about design through books, articles and podcasts and experiment with different techniques so that I can collaborate better and make informed design decisions.

Besides work, I enjoy participating in community service projects and spreading awareness about holistic well being through yoga and meditation.