Namaste!
I'm Manoj Manduva.
I've always been fascinated by how things work.
As a child, I spent hours taking apart toys, radios, and household gadgets to understand what made them work. That curiosity eventually led me to study engineering and begin my career as a software engineer. I showed interest in making information meaningful and developed lateral thinking skills.
It led me from engineering to design, from designing experiences to shaping product strategy, and from contributing to products within organizations to building products of my own.
Every stage of my career has expanded my perspective:
Engineering taught me how products are built.
Design taught me how people experience products.
Product work taught me how to decide what should be built—and why.
Today, I bring together those perspectives to solve customer problems, align cross-functional teams, and create products that balance user needs, technical feasibility, and business impact.
Education
M.Des
Information and Interface Design | National Institute of Design, India.
Topics I enjoyed are Design Thinking, Elements of Design, Information Design and more.
I was elected President for Student Association Commitee (SAC).
B.Engg
Computer Science Engineering | Osmania University, India.
My favourite subjects are Computer Organization, Computer Graphics, Engineering Drawing etc.Product Management
Sauder School of Business | UBC, Canada.
Work
Kinsta
Senior Product Designer | Vancouver | 2021 - Present
Pictory
Lead Product Designer / Associate Product Manager | Vancouver | 2021 - 2021
Simulogics
Lead Product Designer | Darmstadt | 2020 - 2021
Carmeq Volkswagen AG
Lead Product Designer | Berlin | 2018 - 2020
Almabase
Lead Product Designer | Bangalore | 2015 - 2018
Mutual Mobile
Senior Interaction Designer | Hyderabad | 2012 - 2015
Mahindra Satyam
Product Manager | Hyderabad | 2005 - 2009
Internships
University of Salzburg
UX Designer | Salzburg | 2011
Bosch
Design Researcher | Bangalore | 2010
Frog Design
Design Researcher | Geneva | 2009
Mediashala
Design Researcher | Ahmedabad | 2009
TNS Global
Quantative Researcher | Hyderabad | 2005
Highlights
Patents
- Vorrichtung und Verfahren zum automatischen Laden eines elektrisch angetriebenen Kraftfahrzeugs - DE102020200292B4 📜
( Overhead robotic arm charger for Electric Vehicles, a patent filed while I was working at Volkswagen AG )
Awards
- Finalist and Young Scientist Award - National Children Science Congress 1999
- First Prize for Short Movie on HIV Awareness - AP Govt Health Department, 2006
- Top 50 Designs for Parking Space - Nissan, Designboom 2009
- $2500 Grant for "Rethink the Design" - GE Healthcare, Behance 2013
Publications
- Design for education in emerging economies - USID, 2011
- Richer Experience over mobile phone interactions - USID, 2011
- Design of automobile infotainment system for elderly drivers in Indian context - IIID, Vienna, 2011
- Multimodal Interaction with user’s forced exhalation - IEEE TechSym, IIT Kharagpur, 2011
- Real Time Traffic Information Research - Transport Expert Forum, Vienna, 2011
Contributions
- Information visualization Designer - Datakind, Bangalore, 2016
Volunteering
- Appliance repair assistant - Repair Cafe Vancouver - SPEC ·
CBC video
- Graphic Designer - World Environment Day - WWF, India
- Graphic Designer - World Earth Hour 2007
Workshops Delivered
- TRIZ & Design Thinking - Mahindra Satyam, Hyderabad, 2007
- Creativity and Design Thinking - Gyanville, Hyderabad, 2012
- Design Thinking - Technozion NIT Warangal, 2013
- Design Thinking for Children - Design Gyan, Prerna Waldorf, Hyderabad, 2015