Care-based systems
I believe in building interfaces, structures and systems that are based on the ideals of feminist ethical frame of care, designing with and not for.
My principles are aligned with that of the Design Justice Network.
Hi, Namaskar, ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ
I'm Yashraj Wadalkar
Building the future of cloud infrastructure and developer experiences.
UX designer & tinkerer at large @ Google, teaching myself how to code.
Transitioning from the design-ing to engineer-ing.
Transitioning from the design-ing to engineer-ing.
About Me
I work at the intersection of design and infrastructure — shaping how builders think, navigate complex systems, and stay productive. I care about clarity, trust, and speed without sacrificing depth.
Outside of project work, I enjoy teaching myself to code, tinkering with small tools, and writing about what I learn along the way.
Currently
Designing developer experiences for core compute and modernization tooling at Google.
Exploring ambient interfaces and narrative ways to explain career history on the web — including this very site.
Designing developer experiences at scale.
3+ years of designing core user experience for complex sociotechnical developers across Infrastructure, Cloud Migration, Monitoring & Management.
Led the design for 2 migration products from 0-1
Designing for emerging markets
Led the design for multiple products across emerging markets through Google Maps, Google for Education fellowship, Microsoft New & Emerging market domain.
Worked across leading Indian NGOs & Think tanks, working as a builder, designer, and researcher.
My Career Journey
Roles and projects in order, newest first.
2022 - Present
UX Designer II
Designing developer experiences for core compute infrastructure and modernization tooling.
Microsoft IDC
2021
UX Design Intern
Redesigned core experiences for Azure DevOps, focusing on improving usability for enterprise-scale teams.
CJAP, Bhopal
2020
UX Design Intern
Built interactive dashboards for public policy and redesigned the organization's digital stack.
Design Beku
2020
UX Design Intern
Led collaborations with NGOs to mitigate vaccine hesitancy through targeted IEC content.
Centre for Policy Research
2019
UX Design Intern
Created materials to influence bureaucratic decision-making on nutrition financing in Tier-2 India.
Portfolio
Work
Featured work is three case studies on cloud modernization—two published, one in progress. “In other worlds” bundles my NIU strategy work on Google Maps, the Rocket Learning × Google.org fellowship (Appu), and M365 for MSMEs in India—each with its own page; some write-ups are still in progress.
Featured work
Live Application Migration Planner
How I built a 0→1 product as the first designer on the platform—from early discovery through a design partner cohort, an MVP, and a strategy for productizing complex migration tooling.
Design
Designed the end‑to‑end design system (tokens → components) and shipped it with engineering.
Mainframe Assessment Tool
I inherited a fuzzy, high‑complexity product picture and turned it into a clear plan we could ship—then grew the work from two journeys to six, with room for AI helpers on top.
Consumer side-quests
Leading the strategy for NIUs for Google Maps
Notifications as compressed decisions at the right moment, and hyperlocal content that respects how NIUs judge relevance—one Maps story from trigger to evaluation.
CPA project website
Built and shipped a public-facing site for CPA — information architecture, visual system, and responsive implementation.
Rocket Learning × Google.org Fellowship
Appu — a voice-first GenAI tutor for ages 3–6: 0→1 sprint across pedagogy, India field constraints, and Pedagogical Safety-in-the-Loop for pilots at scale.
Solving for MSMEs with M365
Microsoft IDC — mapping MSME reality (WhatsApp, ledgers, human glue) and shaping M365 directions: templates, one operational view, and flow without enterprise bloat.
Writing
Longer notes on design, infrastructure, and the social sciences — published on Medium.
Reunification of Italy, DevOps, and an ode to the social sciences
But why is this necessary? What are you going to achieve out of this appreciation for the supposed “pseudo” science? What is humanities, but either a refuge or accessory/hobby to the “real” sciences or a barrage of the South Delhi elites, training their kids for MUN, while they themselves mistake their English speaking prowess for “international relations”.
Mamdani vs मिसाळ (Misal)
But again, why does Mamdani matter, especially against, Raju Misal?
A democratic socialist, after winning the NYC mayoral polls, Zohran Mamdani played the Dhoom theme in his victory speech. An anthem of a heist film to announce his “rebellion” against the old guard, and the beginning of the new era.
On the modalities of interaction — interface engineering and building design
What I’m in fact saying, whether Ruby on Rails / Django / Flask / or any of these database wrappers serving on monoliths / clouds / vps’ in itself a political act. Or to ask the question is a political act.
Yashraj's Tech Notes
Shorter technical notes on tooling, infrastructure, and small builds — from my Substack.
The Source Code
This portfolio is an easter egg in itself. It’s a project I built from the ground up — not just to showcase my work, but as a piece of work itself. Here’s a look under the hood.
Portfolio Website © 2025 by Yashraj Wadalkar is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.
New to GitHub or not sure how to fork? Message me and I’ll help you set it up.
Elsewhere
A few places I share work-in-progress, notes, and projects.
notes.yashraj.cc
@notesyashrajcc Today
Short notes on tooling, infra, and tiny builds. Follow along as I ship this portfolio in public.
notes.yashraj.cc
Instagram Bengaluru
Small notes, progress shots, and behind-the-scenes while I’m building.
Yashraj Wadalkar
UX designer · Cloud infra & developer experience 1d · Edited
Shipping this portfolio in public — fork it, break it, remix it, and tell me what you build.
Contact me
Want to say hi, share feedback, or ask about my work? Drop a note.