Everyone has a story and this is mine
I'm Shine Krishna, and I spent my childhood in India with a pencil in hand, dreaming of being an artist. Life had other plans — I studied commerce, climbed the conventional ladder, and tried to ignore the pull toward creativity.
Eventually, I couldn't anymore.
Today, I'm a Lead UX & Product Designer who specialises in untangling complexity at scale — the kind of complexity that lives at the intersection of business strategy, technical constraints, and human needs.
What I've delivered
At Spark NZ, I led the MySpark Business transformation, increasing B2B platform adoption by 50% and reducing support calls by 20%. I built practices and ways of working that teams still rely on today.
At Westpac, I led DCS compliance design in partnership with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, drove the evolution of the RED Design System, and proactively improved UX processes across teams. I also led strategic research for business lending that redirected significant investment away from a solution that would have failed.
How I work
I believe great design isn't about making things look pretty. It's about turning messy problems into something people can actually use.
I like to zoom out before I zoom in. I notice the gaps others walk past. At Westpac, I saw that our design ways of working were all over the place across teams. So I jumped in, led the changes, and helped push the RED Design System forward. Nobody asked me to. I just saw what needed fixing and got on with it.
I also believe in making things visible. At Spark, I built a big journey map on the wall. It brought together people who had never worked with UX before. Suddenly everyone could see the problem the same way. That's when the real conversations started.
And I try to leave things better than I found them. The ways of working I set up, like journey mapping and user testing, are still being used long after I moved on. That's the kind of impact I care about.
Experience
Senior Experience Designer, Westpac NZ
May 2020 to Present
Led DCS compliance design in partnership with RBNZ, drove the evolution of the RED Design System with new tokens, colours, and typography, and proactively improved UX processes across teams. Beyond assigned projects, I identified gaps in how design was working at Westpac and took initiative to fix them. I also mentored designers and ran workshops to lift the quality of output across the organisation.
Key projects: Business Lending Modernisation, Depositor Compensation Scheme, and RED Design System Evolution.
Senior Experience Designer, Spark NZ
November 2016 to April 2020
Led MySpark Business transformation, increasing B2B platform adoption by 50% and reducing support calls by 20%. Worked across mobile, broadband, and enterprise customer lifecycles. Built practices like journey mapping and usability testing that teams still use today. Mentored peers and raised the bar for how product teams approach design.
Key projects: MySpark Business Platform, Managed Data, Xtramail and Broadband Self-Service Journey.
Product Design Lead, Fastfilmz
September 2015 to October 2016
Led product strategy and visual identity for a video on demand app targeting India's 250 million smartphone users, optimised for low bandwidth environments.
Key project: Fastmfilmz iOS and Andriod App e2e design, Branding and Marketing Strategy
Senior UX/UI Designer, Cisco
July 2012 to October 2014
Designed set top box interfaces and companion apps for global broadcasters including Sky and beIN Sports, reaching 10 million households worldwide. Created intuitive UIs using four key remote navigation and low bandwidth optimisations, collaborating with global teams across the project.
Let's talk
I'm exploring Principal level UX roles in Australia where I can solve complex problems, mentor teams, and drive strategic design decisions.
Email: mails4shine@gmail.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shinekrish
Phone: AU +61 450 542 255 | NZ +64 22 027 2255