01 / HELLO

I design for complexity —
where systems meet

the human.

Enterprise UX · HCI · Art & Composition

Enterprise systems where the stakes are high and the edge cases matter. I work at the threshold of art, systems, and meaning — asking the questions that make organizations uncomfortable, because those are usually the right ones.

Currently at Johnson Controls — available for Mid to Senior Product Design roles.

02 / PRINCIPLES

How I think about

design.

01

Writing is my first design tool

Before I design, I write. It helps me break down complex problems, connect decisions across the system, and ensure I’m solving the right thing—not just jumping to solutions.

02

I see design as a system of relationships

Design doesn’t just live in screens. It lives in how people, tools, and decisions interact. I look for patterns across these connections to create solutions that hold up at scale.

03

I design from proven patterns

I don’t start from scratch when a pattern already works. I look across domains, maps, editing tools, dashboards, to understand what users already know, then adapt it to fit the problem. It helps me move faster, stay consistent, and build on proven mental models.

04 / PROCESS

My Design process.

Before anything is sketched or mapped, I write — not notes, but actual questions I don't have answers to yet: what does this system assume about its users? What is everyone in the room incurious about? What would I need to believe for this brief to be true? Sitting with those questions long enough is the work. The rest follows.

01 / VISUALIZE

Shaping the Problem

Journaling, system mapping, information architecture. I'm not organizing yet — I'm trying to understand what kind of problem this actually is. Coming from illustration, I know you can't compose something you haven't looked at long enough. So I look. I map. I ask what's missing from the picture before I start filling it in.

01 / VISUALIZE

Shaping the Problem

Journaling, system mapping, information architecture. I'm not organizing yet — I'm trying to understand what kind of problem this actually is. Coming from illustration, I know you can't compose something you haven't looked at long enough. So I look. I map. I ask what's missing from the picture before I start filling it in.

02 / ANALYZE

Find where it breaks, then zoom out

Edge cases, stress tests, pattern mapping. I'm looking for the scenario that exposes what the design assumes — and then I pull back and ask whether that assumption holds in three years, not just today. Enterprise users are always behind the trend curve. Designing for where they are now means missing where they're going.

02 / ANALYZE

Find where it breaks, then zoom out

Edge cases, stress tests, pattern mapping. I'm looking for the scenario that exposes what the design assumes — and then I pull back and ask whether that assumption holds in three years, not just today. Enterprise users are always behind the trend curve. Designing for where they are now means missing where they're going.

03 / DESIGN

Experiment, decide, move

I care enough to get stuck sometimes. But I've learned the stuck feeling is a signal, not a stop, it means I've lost sight of the main purpose of the design. I anchor back to what this person needs to do, make the most honest decision I can, and run the experiment. Then I make it better. I've found more success in 10 failed designs than just a perfect one.

03 / DESIGN

Experiment, decide, move

I care enough to get stuck sometimes. But I've learned the stuck feeling is a signal, not a stop, it means I've lost sight of the main purpose of the design. I anchor back to what this person needs to do, make the most honest decision I can, and run the experiment. Then I make it better. I've found more success in 10 failed designs than just a perfect one.

05 / ABOUT

Not just a designer. The one who pictures everyone.

Profile image of the designer.

I trained as an artist before I trained as a designer. My B.S. in Animation and Illustration gave me an eye for composition, narrative, and the weight of visual decisions. My M.S. in Human-Computer Interaction gave me the language for systems, research, and the humans inside them.

For three years at Johnson Controls, I've been building enterprise products for users in high-trust, high-stakes environments. I work best at the edges, where the edge case exposes the system, where the user the brief forgot turns out to be the most important one.

I read philosophy. I write essays. I ask why more than is comfortable. it's how I design.

Let's build something

worth using.

Open to senior UX roles at enterprise and complex-systems companies — especially where the problems are hard, the users are underrepresented, and the edge cases actually matter.

© All rights reserved – Sowmya Chandra

Let's build something
worth using

Open to senior UX roles at enterprise and complex-systems companies — especially where the problems are hard, the users are underrepresented, and the edge cases actually matter.

© All rights reserved – Sowmya Chandra

Let's build something

worth using.

Open to senior UX roles at enterprise and complex-systems companies — especially where the problems are hard, the users are underrepresented, and the edge cases actually matter.

© All rights reserved – Sowmya Chandra