About me

Hi, my name is Nachiket Pophali, with 5 years of experience and a background in information technology and UX. Completed masters in Design Management at SCAD. My mind is wired like an engineer; I love systems, logic and precision, but my heart beats for stories, visuals, and emotion.

Right now, I’m learning how to blend both, building experiences that make people feel and understand through design.

Resume

contextual research • ethnographic research • facilitating creative thinking • project management • systems thinking visual communications • stakeholder management • brand strategy & positioning • service design • competitive analysis • trend analysis • future casting • design audits • marketing strategy • stakeholder alignment • roadmap prioritization • design rationale & executive presentations • storyboards • data visualization •AI tool integration & ops • content strategy & systems • journey mapping

iterative lean UX • mixed-methods user research • contextual inquiry • usability testing • heuristic evaluation • behavioral analytics review • affinity diagramming • Jobs to be Done • semantic differential surveys • persona development • empathy mapping • interaction design • prototyping & wireframing • information architecture • accessibility evaluation • design system • human cognitive psychology • lean hypothesis testing • user teting • sensory & contextual probes

Business Model Canvas • Value Proposition Canvas • Blue Ocean Strategy • Porter's Five Forces • Go-to-Market (GTM) planning • financial projections • unit economics • marketing-spend benchmarking • ROI analysis • growth loops & retention design • product-market fit • resource management • investment thesis • cash flow analysis • break-even analysis • pricing strategy • OKRs & KPI frameworks • SWOT analysis • Lean Canvas

The way I'm built

Before I started the Design Management program at SCAD, I was already deep in UX. Research, systems, the craft of understanding people and translating that into experiences that actually work. But I kept hitting the same wall. Good solutions that never got built. Insights that didn't survive the room they were presented in.

That frustration changed the direction of my practice. Strategy, finance, and how organizations actually decide what is worth building. My Design Management chair, Professor Jay Peters, calls this the π-shaped designer. Someone with real depth in design practice, and a second leg in business, held together by the strategic thinking that makes both sides useful.

That is now how I work. I can hold the user's perspective in one hand and the business case in the other, at the same time. And that combination is what closes the gap between a good designer and a design leader. It is what lets me push back on the right things, advocate for the right people, and build solutions that actually survive contact with the real world.