based in toronto

A

designer

who

<codes>

<codes>

<codes>

& loves story telling

Curious about AI,
committed to using it with care,
and always making something.
Simple black-and-white line drawing of a smiling girl with large round eyes and wavy hair, resting her chin on her hands, wearing a bright pink top, blinking her eyes.

About Me

For 7 years I worked as a software developer, building features, shipping code, and sitting in enough meetings to notice that good ux was often an afterthought. That bothered me and I followed that feeling. I moved into UX at Accenture, and Turns out I care deeply about the people on the other side of the screen.

When I find something that matters to me, I go all in, so I went back to school and completed a Master of Information in UX Design at the University of Toronto. These days I bring everything to the table, the research, the design, and the dev background that means I actually understand what I'm handing off to engineers.

For 7 years I worked as a software developer, building features, shipping code, and sitting in enough meetings to notice that good ux was often an afterthought. That bothered me and I followed that feeling. I moved into UX at Accenture, and Turns out I care deeply about the people on the other side of the screen.

When I find something that matters to me, I go all in, so I went back to school and completed a Master of Information in UX Design at the University of Toronto. These days I bring everything to the table, the research, the design, and the dev background that means I actually understand what I'm handing off to engineers.

Tools I Use
Where I have worked

UX Designer & Product Owner Intern @ Brightly

May 2024 - Dec 2024

  • Owned end-to-end design for a data synchronisation feature used by 100+ sustainability managers - reducing setup time from 2-3 hours to under 15 minutes
  • Contributed to the Brightly design system - component anatomy docs, master components, variant structures, and WCAG 2.1 accessibility validation for 5 core components
  • Led usability testing with internal users - surfaced critical navigation and labelling issues that directly informed design iterations before handoff
  • Identified a fundamental IA mismatch between Stream and the competitor product through competitive analysis - finding escalated to a separate IA redesign initiative
  • Acted as Product Owner - wrote and refined user stories, participated in sprint planning, and coordinated between design, development, and services teams
What collaborators say

Her exceptional creativity, meticulous attention to detail, and ability to translate complex ideas into meaningful solutions have helped the team go to the next level. With her collaborative nature and strategic mindset, she is an invaluable asset to any team — a rare mix of productivity and talent.

Khushbu Pipalia
Associate Team Lead · Ex-Accenture, Owens & Minor

Astha's curiosity, creativity, and user-centered mindset made a real impact on our team and product experience. She tackled complex Energy & Sustainability UX problems, collaborating across teams, and consistently showing a level of maturity and professionalism well beyond an internship role.

Soroush Amidi
Product & Portfolio Leader, Brightly

Astha took ownership of a complex feature that required ideation, discovery, and problem-solving. She worked closely with internal users, developers, and product managers to understand needs through research, deal with constraints, and turn insights into solutions. Her ability to tackle ambiguity, collaborate across teams, and deliver with a high level of quality made her a valuable contributor.

Michael Rhodes
Design Ops · Senior Product Designer, Brightly

Her exceptional creativity, meticulous attention to detail, and ability to translate complex ideas into meaningful solutions have helped the team go to the next level. With her collaborative nature and strategic mindset, she is an invaluable asset to any team — a rare mix of productivity and talent.

Khushbu Pipalia
Associate Team Lead · Ex-Accenture, Owens & Minor

Astha's curiosity, creativity, and user-centered mindset made a real impact on our team and product experience. She tackled complex Energy & Sustainability UX problems, collaborating across teams, and consistently showing a level of maturity and professionalism well beyond an internship role.

Soroush Amidi
Product & Portfolio Leader, Brightly

Astha took ownership of a complex feature that required ideation, discovery, and problem-solving. She worked closely with internal users, developers, and product managers to understand needs through research, deal with constraints, and turn insights into solutions. Her ability to tackle ambiguity, collaborate across teams, and deliver with a high level of quality made her a valuable contributor.

Michael Rhodes
Design Ops · Senior Product Designer, Brightly
When I'm not coding or designing, I am storytelling on YouTube…

For me, YouTube is so much more than just recording videos—it’s about delivering value, telling stories, and connecting with viewers in meaningful ways. Over the last three years of creating content on social platforms, I've learned that the best stories come from understanding how they make people feel.

I also love to write and publish my writings on Medium and WordPress.

For me, YouTube is so much more than just recording videos—it’s about delivering value, telling stories, and connecting with viewers in meaningful ways. Over the last three years of creating content on social platforms, I've learned that the best stories come from understanding how they make people feel.

I also love to write and publish my writings on Medium and WordPress.

Got a design problem worth solving, or want to talk shop?

I'd love to connect.

Send me a hello!

email

/

linkedin

/

medium

/

instagram

Got a design problem worth solving, or want to talk shop?

I'd love to connect.

Send me a hello!

email

/

linkedin

/

medium

/

instagram

Got a design problem worth solving, or want to talk shop?

I'd love to connect.

Send me a hello!

email

/

linkedin

/

medium

/

instagram

Designed and occasionally overthought by Astha Dhami ©

2026