This episode of Down & Dirty with Dr. T features Kalpitha Jagadeesh, a young UX designer who is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Human-Centered Design & Engineering at University of Washington.

Kalpitha previously studied architecture and worked in digital inclusion spaces like financial inclusion and educational technology. She decided to pursue a masters degree abroad because she wanted a program that combined research, design, and engineering components.

Kalpitha started using Figma in 2018 and has sworn by the tool since then.

Highlights from the episode include:

• All things Figma: Despite the numerous design options available today, Kalpitha favors Figma above all others. She highlights her favourite parts about the tool, particularly emphasizing its web-based interface.
• Components on Figma: Kalpitha talks about the component feature in Figma and how it can keep designs consistent across hundreds of screens. She elaborates via an example where she shows how she easily updates all buttons across screens through linked components.
• Cross-team collaborations: Through a screenshare, Kalpitha takes us through Figma's development mode and how it makes it easier for designers to communicate with developers. The mode helps in providing precise design specifications, avoiding assumptions and misalignment.

Tune into the episode now!

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Chapters: 0:00 - About Kalpitha and her background in human-centered design 4:54 - Reasons for pursuing a Master’s abroad 7:39 - Go-to design tools 11:59 - Trusty resource recommendations for designers 15:23 - Figma: discovery and initial use 18:01 - Adobe XD vs Figma 25:17 - Screenshare: Figma run-through 27:48 - Pre-design research process, moodboarding tools 33:10 - Screenshare: Walkthrough of Figma components and Dev Mode 41:50 - Challenges with Figma 47:28 - Tips for budding designers 50:43 - Goodbye and thanks