Resume

Zainab Manaal

UI / UX Designer

Architect turned UX designer with 5 years of formal design training and 2 years of professional practice in spatial design, stakeholder management, and complex project delivery. I design intuitive digital experiences through research, information architecture, wireframing, and interaction design, with shipped products serving 40,000+ daily users. I bring systems thinking from projects spanning 40 million users to healthcare facility planning.

01
Selected Design Experience

Junior UI/UX Designer

Reno Platforms

Aug 2025 – Feb 2026

Designed examination and certificate modules for a School & Universities ERP platform serving 40,000+ students daily, improving task completion speed by ~25% during UAT testing.

  • Led end-to-end design of Safed Baradari heritage venue website — transforming a fully offline business into a digital booking platform with conversion-optimized user flows
  • Designed and shipped Franco-Indian Campus website (Embassy of France × IIT Delhi), connecting international life sciences researchers
  • Collaborated within a 25-person product team (5 designers, 15 engineers, 2 PMs) using Kanban workflows on Jira
  • Used analytics including heat maps, dead-click tracking, and task completion metrics to iterate on design decisions across multiple product lines

Designer in Residence

10K Designers — Cohort 11

Aug – Dec 2025

Developed end-to-end UX case studies from research through high-fidelity prototyping with persona creation and usability validation.

  • Participated in design critiques, mentorship sessions, and design sprints with senior designers and industry practitioners
  • Built portfolio case studies: problem framing, research synthesis, wireframing, visual design, and outcome documentation

Freelance UI/UX Designer

925 Studios — Intl. Client

Late 2024

Designed Audioh, a social audiobook platform with unlimited streaming, social listening rooms, and community features.

  • Created investor-facing prototypes for pitch decks that contributed to securing $250K in pre-seed funding
  • Delivered ideation-to-development-ready files in days within an established design system under fast-paced sprints

Founder

Folio — Presentation & Print Design Studio

Jan 2026 – Present

Founded a design studio focused on presentation systems and narrative-driven visual communication for creative professionals.

Executive Architect

Vyom, New Delhi

Feb 2024 – July 2025
02
Spatial & Systems Design

Architectural work reframed through UX thinking

Mar – Dec 2025

Urban Experience Design — Kumbh Mela 2025, Prayagraj

Executive Architect | Vyom, New Delhi

Designed wayfinding and spatial interventions for 13 major city roads serving 40M+ pilgrims. Conducted on-site user research across a 9-month engagement with Prayagraj Mela Authority and UP State Government.

Feb 2024 – July 2025

Healthcare Experience Planning — Fortis Mental Wellness Center, Gurugram

Executive Architect | Vyom, New Delhi

Designed patient-centered spatial layouts with accessibility considerations informed by empathy mapping and journey analysis.

Feb 2024 – July 2025

Global Health Infrastructure — WHO Global Centre, Jamnagar

Executive Architect | Vyom, New Delhi

Spatial planning and visual communication for a global research facility, applying user journey thinking to institutional wayfinding.

2023

Residential User Experience — Kapoor Residence, New Delhi

Architectural Intern | ADCPL, New Delhi

Designed interior environments focused on comfort, spatial clarity, and material harmony.

Feb 2024 – July 2025

Institutional Campus Planning — National Communication Academy

Executive Architect | Vyom, New Delhi

Large-scale campus planning concepts with focus on circulation systems and spatial hierarchy.

03
Skills & Tools

UX & Product

User ResearchWireframingPrototypingUser Flow MappingInformation ArchitectureInteraction DesignUsability TestingDesign SystemsResponsive DesignVisual CommunicationStakeholder Presentations

Tools

FigmaFigJamAdobe IllustratorAdobe PhotoshopAdobe InDesignJira (Kanban)G SuiteAutoCADSketchUpEnscape

AI-Assisted Design

ChatGPT & GeminiBolt & Lovable

Languages

HindiNative
EnglishProfessional
FrenchElementary
UrduLimited
ArabicReading
04
Education

Bachelor of Architecture

2018 – 2023

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

First Division with Honours

Thesis15-Minute Neighborhood — User-centered spatial design exploring walkability, community infrastructure, and human-scale urban planning

Higher Secondary Education

Summer Fields School, New Delhi

Class XII: 89% aggregate, 94% (best of 4) · Class X: CGPA 10.0

05
Credentials & Research

Achievements & Certifications

Cohort 11 — 10K Designers
Aug – Dec 2025

Designer in Residence

ANDC (Annual NASA Design Competition)
Jan 2021

Selected in Top 100

Housing Policy & Planning — NPTEL
Oct 2021

Certification

Disaster Recovery & Build Back Better — NPTEL
Apr 2022

Certification

Zonal NASA Zone 1 Winners
Oct 2018

Jamia Millia Islamia

Psychology Behind Designs
Jan 2022

Course by acedge.in

Research & Documentation

Magazine Publication

ADCPL's project on milk processing plant for Country Delight — SSMB Magazine, May 2023

Medieval Neighbourhood Documentation

Urban morphology, spatial patterns, and community structure — Nizamuddin Basti, Delhi, 2022

Kath-Kuni Architecture Study

Vernacular architecture and sustainable construction — Manali, 2019

Dissertation on Indian Architect

Research study on Dr. Suptendu P. Biswas, 2021

Design Community

Cohort 11_10K Designers

Future of Design — IIT Delhi

UX and product design meetups across Delhi