Company/
Uzence Design Studio
Role/
UI-UX Design Intern
Duration/
June 2025 - Present
/context
I spent a year inside a design system being built from nothing. Auditing components, leading a team, fixing sprint blockers, writing code. Working at a startup teaches you how things actually get built — and I got to see all of it.
/the internship
I finished my Bachelor's in CS in May 2025. A month later, I joined Uzence Design Studio — a startup design agency based in Bengaluru, building a design system from scratch. Talented team, fully remote. Good place to start.
/Auditing Design System Components
The first thing I did at Uzence was auditing components the team was building.
25+ components — checking consistency, spacing, responsiveness, whether things matched industry standards. More than 50% had issues. I'd flag them in Figma or reach out directly, they'd fix it, I'd recheck.
Variants
Wrong states, missing sizes, mismatched styles across similar components
Responsiveness
Things that broke or looked off on smaller screens
Accessibility
Contrast, focus states, label clarity — checked against WCAG guidelines
Consistency
Did it feel like one system, or a bunch of components that just coexist
/Leading the Documentation
After auditing, I moved into documentation. 50+ components, 4 people, fully remote.
Before we started, I built a documentation template — structure, rules, what each section needed to cover. Shared it in a sync, kept updating it as we went. Every morning we'd check in — blockers, progress, anything needing dev input. I was the middle point. The goal was simple: four people writing docs that feel like one system.
/the Button Variant Problem
Button was the most complex component in the system — states, sizes, shapes, styles, appearances, all combinations. Another team was stuck on how to map it all out. They approached all the teams for a solution.
I took some time, thought it through, and proposed a matrix — mapping every appearance against every other variable to make sure no combination was missed. They used it. 1,000+ button states documented. Dev handoff went out 3 days later, unblocking the sprint.
/Designing the Website
The team needed a marketing website for the design system. I started with the IA — mapping out every section, what goes where, how it all connects. Then moved into visual direction. Dribbble research, gradient exploration, figuring out what the thing should feel like before touching Figma. From there, straight into building — Figma Make, Google Stitch, some vibe coding.
/What I Took Away
I came in thinking design was mostly Figma. It's not. There's an entire layer of decisions and communication that happens before and after the file — and you only see it when you're inside a real team building a real thing.
Leading the documentation team taught me that vague direction creates rework. Clear communication isn't a soft skill. It's a design deliverable.
The button matrix wasn't a design decision — it was a systems thinking one. That distinction changed how I approach complexity now.
And I don't open Figma without a plan anymore. Structure first. That's new. Design systems thinking became something I actually practiced every day.
Component Anatomy
Design Tokens
Accessibility (WCAG)
Responsive design
Component Documentation
Information Architecture
Developer Handoff
Vibe Coding
/What People said
She demonstrated strong design sensibility, attention to detail, and a solid understanding of user experience principles. Her ability to translate complex requirements into clean, intuitive interfaces greatly enhanced the quality and consistency of our design system.
- Adiba Taj, Director
She was a consistently motivating lead during our daily morning syncs and always made herself available to help whenever the team hit a roadblock. Her ability to resolve technical doubts and simplify complex tasks was a huge asset to our workflow.
- Mridhula Veera Raghavan, UI/UX designer
She consistently helped me improve my understanding of design systems, UX thinking, accessibility, component structure, and overall attention to detail while building interfaces.
- Naman Jain, Frontend Developer
In one standout instance, when our team hit a design roadblock, Updesh quickly proposed a creative solution that both I and our boss enthusiastically adopted.
- Beosha Balamurugan, UI/UX designer