I am a digital nerd with the mind of a Himalayan yogi.
I went to the Himalayas, lived in monasteries, and spent time with other monks. I got bored with long hours of meditation, little food, and intense pressure to realize the ‘truth.’ I found creativity fulfills the soul. So I got into the design profession.
I bring a broad and deep range of experience in marketing, brand, service design, UX strategy, implementation to each opportunity, and I look forward to helping grow any business.
I am blessed with a great sense of design, a supernatural ability to bend any design software at will, and a belief that the best solutions are those that are both simple and powerful.
I enjoy simplifying complexity through my 'joyful design' process. Joyful design helps my teams with an ability to filter the ambient noise generated in today’s business environment and distill the complex into clear, succinct, and actionable thoughts and frameworks. Being joyful has helped my teams work better individually, together, and at scale.
Life = temporary × (time + energy). Since the ephemeral nature of life and 24 hours in a day cannot be changed, I try to do something meaningful every moment of my life and keep my energy level up.
I can make people laugh, cry and reach for their wallets at the same time. I have gained expertise in all aspects of product design. I have worked and managed teams on-site, across continents, remote, and also onsite locations in remote places. I often wander outside my comfort zone and then adjust and adapt quickly. Moving around has helped me do so.
Part strategist, part designer, and part management consultant, I’m an integrative thinker that lives at the intersection of people, purpose, and profit. I aim to bring culture to business and business to culture by humanizing products, services, and brands.
Experience design is the core of my design practice, and I leverage experience design as a significant source of strategic business differentiation. I lean into Design Thinking and creative processes rooted in understanding real human needs and context.
“Start where you are, with what you have. Make something of it and never be satisfied.” — George Washington Carver.
This mantra has enabled me to define the perception, integration, creation, and consumption of digital experiences for several large brands. I have worked for startups that aspire to be global and global companies with a startup culture. These experiences have helped me think big but start small - based on today.
I am a servant leader to my teams, always available to serve my team. I set them up for success and get out of their way. I am guided by ‘good faith’ when working with other humans. It brings strong collaboration, trust, vulnerability, and sensitivity in us to succeed.
I am a hungry person. Hunger is not just a physical condition; it encompasses the soul as well. I have the hunger to learn and improve.
What I have done
$270B opportunity
Designed a cash flow management solution for a massive global market opportunity of more than $270B (Per Goldman Sachs). AI-driven tools, an integrated suite of products, and banking products make it unique. Co-founding team member and employee #1 of Centime.
Joyfuldesign is 1+1=1
Created ‘Joyful design’, a unifying design thinking process to redesign our business, rewire how we think about innovation, and rejuvenate our minds. Led Joyful Design Thinking workshops with C-suite, resulting in 4 product launches.
25+ Startups
Helped 25+ startups refine, build and commercialize their ideas. One became a global firm (Lenddo) with a presence in 15 countries.
White House meeting
Designed and managed an online non-profit advocacy platform. Grew a community of 50 thousand subscribers within 12 months and raised over $1M within 3 years. Hired top counsel in DC to solve a national issue. Attended meetings at the White House and Congress offices.
0-$1M growth
As a cofounder scaled a digital agency business from 0 to $1M and 10 employees in less than 2 years. Mentored and scaled onsite, remote, and offshore high-output teams of up to 20.
Fintech of the year
In 2022, Centime was recognized as Commercial Banking Fintech of the Year by Aite-Novarica within 2 years of its founding.
3 world’s firsts and counting
I brought 3 of the world's first successful digital product innovations to life:
A chat-enabled social banner for Dice. Winner of 22 industry awards, including 11 Gold, and hundreds of thousands of users ranted wildly inside the ads for 2 years.
Multi-player gaming banner- Humanaction for Heineken. Played by 1M+ users over 4 months. Average time engaged: 5+ mins. 4.2% CTR – highest in brand history. 38% shared with a friend.
Loan application on Facebook for Lenddo. Recognized by Wired Magazine and also at the World Economic Forum as one of the topmost innovative companies in the world.
3+ ‘failures’
Learned invaluable entrepreneurship lessons for life and business. As Seth Godin says, “If you can’t fail, it doesn’t count.”
What I offer
Leadership
Cross-functional
Team building & Org strategy
Mentoring & coaching
Recruiting and hiring
Business development
Thought leadership
Strategy
Joyful design thinking
UX strategy
Product vision and research
Product marketing
Brand & positioning
Organization culture
Design
Design direction
Product design
Brand design
Marketing communication
Design systems
Operations
Companies I have worked with
American Express, Axa, Delta, Deutsche Bank, Dice, GE, Genentech, General Motors, Heineken, IBM, JP Morgan, Kraft, Lionbridge, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Nikon, Novartis, NYC.gov, Party City, Pfizer, Revlon, Sage Group, Sara Lee, Samsung, Sirius, Snickers, Thomson Reuters, Timeless Capital, Travelers, Univ. of Michigan, Verizon, Vivus, and many other S, M, L and XL companies.
My executive coach
“I’ve known and coached Himanshu for the past year. His leadership is based upon the fundamentals of human values like integrity, honesty, straightforwardness, etc. and that makes him a trusted & authentic executive leader!
I also found him to be very empathetic, who is supportive and caring of his team. He’s an easygoing person with a calm demeanor and good listening skills. People across cultures, geographies, and departments can, therefore, develop trust and connect with him easily.
I rate him highly on emotional intelligence; he can manage his emotions well even when there is strife.
Above all, psychometric reports have confirmed he has a strong experimenting (creative) mind. This is very helpful for his core function as a design leader. I have also seen him make impressive pitch to clients, and public speaking with his strong repository of domain knowledge and best practices.
Combined with his desire to spread joy in the world, his concept of “joyful design” (https://www.joyful.design) brings a fresh and unique perspective to design itself and how that can be a source of joy for his employers, clients, teams, and users.
I’d recommend him to someone who is looking for quality, innovation, and trust in their executive design leader.”
Amit Chatterjee, Executive Coach & Entrepreneur.
People I worked with
"Himanshu was instrumental in the launch of the redesigned HCP Lucentis site. The fact that he answered my call at 4 AM on a Saturday/Sunday with a pleasant "hello?" should say it all...His calm and cool demeanor in crisis speaks volumes."
Jay Sylvester, EVP, Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness
"When you spend more time with your co-workers than you do with your family, your co-workers better be smart, talented, strategic, and above all great peeps - Himanshu is all the above and more. The man is truly a gifted artist and as nice as warm apple pie a la mode on a winter day. Any creative department lucky enough to have him should call me immediately. I'd like a job there."
Jordan Jacobson, Creative Director at Loeb.NYC
"When "He-man", as he is affectionately called, is not defending Castle Grayskull from Skeletor, you can find him wielding a sword of a different kind. Among the unique weapons, he has at his disposal is his understanding of both the creative and technical side of interactive design and his ability to marry the two. His attention to detail will leave you feeling reassured there is not an "i" without out a dot or a "t" without a cross. Add to that his great personality and what you have is a real-life "Master of the Universe"
Keith Hensel, Global Digital Experience Lead at Cognizant
"I have worked with many designers and Himanshu ranks in the top 1%. Himanshu takes the time to understand the business case and engages in a much higher level conversation than I am used to when it comes to design and UX help. Himanshu has a gift to take a complex process and condense it into a simple and easy-to-understand interface. I highly recommend him and will continue to consult with him in the future"
Avinash David Singh, Head of Digital Product Management, Goldman Sachs
"Himanshu can really dig into a digital user experience challenge and explore very valuable ways to solve a particular problem. His counsel on strong UX options and solutions always brings a much-needed POV. One of his best qualities is his easy-going manner which makes collaboration that much more productive and enjoyable. Finally, he is very astute when it comes to clever ways to use digital and social media towards a marketing objective."
John Bell, Vice President, Enterprise Digital Marketing, Travelers
"I've been honored to work with- and be mentored by- the great Himanshu Bharadwaj. His wisdom plus his supreme talent and sense of humor have brought me great joy (and success) in my career. It is not very often that one gets cross paths with a rockstar like Himan and I hope to do so again on a project in the near future."
Logan Wolf Reidel, Senior Associate, Innovation VIVALDI_
"Himanshu and I worked on a project together where he took ownership of all aspects of the UX process from discovery to design under a tight timeframe. When I learned we might be working together I was excited to have him on the team because of his great reputation, and the experience of working together exceeded my expectations.
Having Himanshu lead our UX process brought a level of creativity, design execution, and collegial professionalism that made every day working together a pleasure. He's not only great at his job but also a great person to work with on a day-to-day basis.
I will definitely plan to work with him again the first chance I am given, and anyone who has an opportunity to have Himanshu work on their team should jump at the chance. Thanks, Himanshu!"
Alex Christison, Co-Head of Product & Agile | Agency Lead, Trunk Digital
"Very unique and innovative approach to UX. Incorporates human factor well beyond the simple mechanics of interface build-out."
Maksim Spivakov, Executive Director - Transformations & Data Governance Lead, Investment Management - Office of COO, Morgan Stanley
"Heman is the BEST! Work with HEMAN!!"