Headline

Head of Design · Director, Design & Research at Housing.com · Design Systems, Research & Team Building · Gurugram, open to relocation

About

I lead Design & Research at Housing.com, helping build products, teams and systems that create meaningful business and customer outcomes. My work sits at the intersection of design leadership, product strategy, user research, design operations and AI, with a strong belief that great design organisations are built through systems, not individual brilliance. Over the last 20 years, I have had the privilege of building and scaling design capabilities across fintech, proptech, food-tech, e-commerce and education. My journey has included leading design initiatives at Housing.com, Cashfree Payments, Domino’s (Jubilant FoodWorks), Info Edge (99acres & Shiksha.com), Paytm and India Today Group, delivering experiences used by millions of users and enabling measurable business impact. Beyond product design, I enjoy building design organisations. This includes defining design strategy, establishing governance models, scaling UX research practices, maturing design systems, improving design quality, mentoring future leaders and helping cross-functional teams make better product decisions through evidence and systems thinking. My approach to leadership is grounded in collaboration, curiosity and continuous improvement. I believe design creates the greatest impact when it becomes an organisational capability rather than a function, empowering teams to solve complex problems with clarity, empathy and measurable outcomes. I regularly write about design leadership, systems thinking, AI, product strategy and the evolving role of design in modern organisations. My goal is to contribute to the broader design community by sharing practical frameworks and experiences that help teams build better products and stronger design cultures. Areas of Interest • Design Leadership • Product Strategy • UX Research • Design Operations • Design Systems • AI in Product Design • Organisational Design • Systems Thinking • Design Quality & Governance • Mentoring & Building High-Performing Teams

Location

Gurugram

AI stack

claude code

claude

codex

cursor

gemini

notion

Work experience

Head of Design and Research at Housing.com, Dec 2025 - Present · 11 mos, Gurugram, Haryana, India

Advisor - Prouduct & Design at WNE3, Jan 2024 - Nov 2025 · 1 yr 11 mos

Associate Director - UX at Cashfree Payments, Aug 2022 - Nov 2025 · 3 yrs 4 mos, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Head of Product Design at Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd., Oct 2020 - Jul 2022 · 1 yr 10 mos, While serving as the Head of Design at Jubilant Food Works, Nishant Kaku took on pivotal responsibilities, including the establishment of a research practice, the mentorship of designers, and the optimization of design processes. His remarkable leadership extended to the successful localization of Popeye's App and web Experience for the Indian market, tailoring it to meet diverse user preferences and demands. Notably, Nishant's visionary thinking and innovation led to the conceptualization of the Next Gen Domino's Experience. Under his guidance, this initiative introduced game-changing features such as the Magic Cart, a comprehensive Address Revamp, an improved Payment Experience, and an enriched Post Order Experience. Nishant also played a key role in expanding the Endless Menu, ultimately enhancing user engagement and satisfaction across the platform.

Principal Designer - UX at Info Edge India Ltd, Apr 2014 - Oct 2020 · 6 yrs 7 mos, Noida, As the Head of UX at Shiksha.com, Nishant led a significant personalization project and resolved complex issues within CRM and CMS systems to address B2B and B2C challenges. From 2014 to 2017, as Lead Designer - UX at 99acres, Nishant played a key role in redesigning the Desktop home interface, enhancing the Map Experience, and optimizing listings for the App and mobile site, demonstrating exceptional design leadership.

Education

Executive MBA, Leadership & Strategy, Indian School of Business

International Immersion Program, Emerging Markets, Global Business Management & Corporate Entrepreneurship, National University of Singapore

Public links

medium: https://medium.com/@nishantkaku