Nice to meet you.

My name is Raghu. I started my career in open source software back in 2011 after I saw an opportunity that was easy to miss at the time: software had plenty of engineers, but not enough designers.

There was no GitHub, no polished visual tooling, and very little separation between designing something and building it. If I wanted to contribute, I couldn’t just hand over a design — I had to learn how to use git via the terminal, understand at least a bit of code, and collaborate with engineers directly on pull requests.

That experience has shaped how I have thought about design for the past 14 years. And, in a way, I think we’ve come full circle: AI is once again changing the distance between an idea and something you can build.

How I approach design

Prototype to understand

I use prototypes to explore the problem, not just validate the solution. Small cycles of making and learning help uncover better questions and decisions.

Stay close to technology

I try to understand how things are built. Working closely with technology helps me see new possibilities, constraints, and simpler ways to bring an idea to life.

Design for the system

I look beyond individual screens to the patterns, relationships, and structures that make a product coherent. Good design should hold up as the product grows.

Make thinking visible

I prefer putting unfinished ideas in front of people early. Making the work visible creates better conversations and exposes assumptions before they become expensive.