Headline

Senior Technical Lead – UX | Automotive IVI & Digital Cockpit HMI | Bridging Design, Engineering & Production-Ready Embedded UX

About

I lead UX for automotive infotainment and digital cockpit HMI systems at Daimler Truck Innovation Center India, where design decisions must survive embedded platform constraints, hardware realities, and global delivery pressures. With over 10 years of experience across IVI, Instrument Cluster, and e-Cockpit systems, I have worked with automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers across Europe and Asia on both production and concept-level programs. My core strength lies in bridging UX design and engineering execution - designing systems that are not only intuitive and visually refined, but also implementation-ready for embedded automotive environments. At DTICI, I currently lead UX activities across system definition, interaction design, prototyping, design reviews, and production validation for commercial vehicle HMI programs. I work closely with designers, developers, system engineers, suppliers, and global stakeholders to align UX intent with technical feasibility, platform constraints, and scalable implementation workflows. Beyond product delivery, I actively contribute to workflow and tooling improvements within the UX process. This includes building scalable Figma design systems using reusable components and variables, developing a custom Figma plugin to streamline localization workflows, and contributing to automated UI validation concepts for improving pixel-level visual verification efficiency. My technical foundation in Electronics and Communication Engineering, combined with hands-on prototyping experience using Python, CAN communication, Qt workflows, and multimodal interaction concepts, allows me to explore UX ideas beyond static screens. One such exploration involved developing a hardware gesture interaction prototype that interfaced with Figma prototypes through CAN-based communication. I’m particularly interested in the future evolution of automotive HMI systems through AI-assisted interaction, multimodal experiences, embedded UX workflows, and tighter integration between design systems and engineering ecosystems.

Location

Bengaluru

AI stack

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openai

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Work experience

Senior Technical Lead - UX at Daimler Truck Innovation Center India (DTICI), Oct 2023 - Present · 3 yrs 1 mo, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, • Leading UX activities for production and concept-level IVI and Digital Cockpit programs, collaborating across designers, developers, suppliers, system engineers, and global stakeholders from concept definition through production validation • Led UX activities for a production infotainment program targeting the Chinese market, balancing user experience goals with embedded platform constraints, engineering feasibility, and delivery timelines • Built scalable Figma design systems using reusable components and variables to improve consistency, streamline collaboration, and reduce design-to-development misalignment • Developed a custom Figma plugin to streamline text extraction and translation workflows, significantly reducing manual effort during localization support activities • Introduced structured design review checklists and validation workflows to improve UX review efficiency, strengthen implementation alignment, and reduce late-stage design corrections • Co-developed an automated screenshot comparison concept for pixel-level UI verification to improve visual consistency validation and reduce repetitive manual review effort • Designed and developed a multimodal interaction prototype using Python and CAN communication to enable hardware gesture interaction with Figma prototypes, exploring future automotive HMI interaction possibilities • Contributing to long-term UX innovation discussions around AI-assisted interaction, multimodal HMI systems, XR cockpit concepts, and embedded UX workflow evolution.

User Experience Lead at UST, Apr 2023 - Oct 2023 · 7 mos, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, • Led UX activities across concept design, interaction workflows, and stakeholder alignment for enterprise and digital experience initiatives • Collaborated with cross-functional teams to translate business requirements into scalable and implementation-aware UX solutions • Contributed to UX process refinement and delivery coordination within fast-paced project environments

Specialist | Automotive e-Cockpit UX and HMI at Tata Elxsi, Oct 2020 - Apr 2023 · 2 yrs 7 mos, On-site, • Conducted requirement engineering, user research, concept development, and UX strategy activities for automotive infotainment and e-Cockpit programs • Rapidly visualized and prototyped concept designs for an AR-enabled centre stack infotainment system, helping secure a new OEM engagement during the proposal phase • Led UX activities as the primary UX generalist for a centre stack single-display infotainment PoC project with an Indian OEM, managing workflows from concept through prototyping • Managed internal R&D initiatives focused on AR navigation and cabin monitoring using 3D point cloud-based interaction concepts • Collaborated with multidisciplinary teams to align user experience, technical feasibility, and visual design quality across automotive HMI programs • Provided technical and creative guidance for infotainment HMI concepts, interaction workflows, and embedded UX visualization • Successfully completed the organization’s First Time Manager program and received Vision Maker certification

Onsite Engineer – Production Software Quality Analysis at Mercedes-Benz AG, Jan 2019 - Apr 2019 · 4 mos, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, • Supported an onsite software quality analysis initiative for a production automotive infotainment program at Mercedes-Benz AG, Stuttgart • Analysed requirements, specifications, issue management workflows, and project documentation to investigate factors contributing to production software quality issues • Performed feature traceability assessments and identified gaps in requirement-to-feature mapping, implementation tracking, and delivery visibility • Conducted comparative analysis of existing and previous development processes to identify opportunities for improving requirement traceability and release governance • Prepared analysis reports and recommendations to strengthen specification traceability, feature tracking mechanisms, and development lifecycle visibility • Received appreciation from management for identifying process gaps and providing actionable recommendations for improving software quality processes

Senior Software Engineer | Automotive HMI at Tata Elxsi, May 2018 - Oct 2020 · 2 yrs 6 mos, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, • Designed user interfaces for a low-cost electric two-wheeler infotainment system aligned with Japanese Tier-1 requirements and embedded platform constraints • Led user research and interface design activities for an Android-based explainer tablet HMI communicating with in-car infotainment systems for an Italian Tier-1 supplier • Identified requirement analysis gaps and software quality issues in a production infotainment program for a European OEM, helping improve stakeholder confidence during technical reviews • Integrated an interactive 3D vehicle model into an Android infotainment vehicle settings application showcased at CES 2020 and Embedded World 2020 • Collaborated as a technical artist between Industrial Design and HMI development teams to improve designer-developer alignment for a digital instrument cluster concept • Improved rendering performance of a fully digital instrument cluster PoC developed using CGI Studio from 15 FPS to 60 FPS for a Japanese Tier-1 engagement

User Experience Designer | Automotive HMI at Quest Global, Oct 2016 - May 2018 · 1 yr 8 mos, Thiruvananthapuram Taluk, India, • Conducted user research, interaction design, and HMI concept development for automotive infotainment programs targeting Japanese OEM requirements • Received organizational recognition for UX contributions to an infotainment concept demonstrated to a Japanese OEM • Awarded first place in the organization’s global model-building competition for demonstrating an Adaptive Automotive Lighting System concept

Software Engineer | Automotive HMI at Quest Global, Oct 2014 - Oct 2016 · 2 yrs 1 mo, Trivandrum, • Worked across software development, software testing, and hardware validation activities for automotive infotainment HMI programs • Participated in system-level design discussions, feasibility studies, framework evaluations, and supplier coordination activities • Collaborated with clients and cross-functional teams during HMI workshops, technical reviews, and release coordination processes Technologies: AS3, XML, MXML, Adobe Flash Builder, Thrift IF1 Debugger

Education

Bachelor of Technology (BTech), Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering, COCHIN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, ETTAPPILLY, ERNAKULAM