Akshara Dash is a product designer and an Interactive Systems Design student at the University of Saskatchewan (USask). At 22, she is the youngest TEDxUniversityofSaskatchewan 2024 speaker.
Dash found her calling for digital product design at 19 when she started the first user experience design student club in USask's Department of Computer Science, connecting and educating students and professionals in the field.
Across her time at USask, Dash has won over $16,000 in scholarships and hackathons, including the Zu Award for Women in Technology and Community Service and the Nasser Family Award. She is a strong advocate for inclusive and accessible design, and has worked on several initiatives to advance these causes including a project with the Saskatchewan Poverty Reduction Partnership to re-imagine public washrooms in Saskatoon. Upon graduation, Dash aims to work as a product designer and to continue learning new things about herself and the world around her every day.
Great design goes beyond empathy
After recently purchasing her first iPhone, Akshara Dash was delighted to see that Apple's built-in health app contained an extensive menstrual cycle tracker. She felt seen, alongside millions of other users. It was inclusive.
That's one of the biggest metrics in determining whether a product is successful: Do humans feel seen when they use it? The products we use today are shaped by the people who had a vision for the future. With inclusion and creativity built into the heart of the design process, we can shape the future.
Let's design the future together.