Seven months in Dubai, and I'm still processing how much has changed! Back in February, when I first stepped into Emirates' gleaming Dubai headquarters, I felt like that kid who just got called up to play with the big leagues.
The CricHQ foundation
Before Dubai happened, I was finishing up at CricHQ, designing for both their native mobile and web platforms. That role was brilliant, it taught me to think across different user touchpoints and really solidified my hybrid designer-developer approach. Plus, cricket scoring apps have some seriously complex user flows, which prepared me for aviation complexity.
When Derek Dunagan, who was the Manager of UI Center of Excellence at Emirates, reached out I honestly didn't expect much. But during our interview, something clicked. Derek immediately understood that I could both design and code the implementation, that bridge between idea and reality.
Beyond Chennai
Joining as a Senior UX Engineer felt massive. Four years of experience suddenly seemed tiny when you're designing for millions of passengers and working on systems that span Emirates Airlines, Dnata, and the entire Emirates Group ecosystem.
But here's the thing, Derek's been very helpful throughout this journey so far. Having a manager who gets the best from people has made all the difference. He recognised my hybrid skillset and gave me the space to use it properly. He even gave me the confidene to tackle large datalake projects where I ended up visualisating millions of passengers records and helped build a 360 degree view of the Emirates Customer. That single project alone felt like drinking out of a hose, to learn so much in a short time and building something of incredible value.
The Centre of Excellence concept is exactly what excited me most. It's not just about churning out designs; it's about building the design DNA for one of the world's most recognisable brands. One of my key goals was to help create a unified design system across the entire Emirates Group. I am truly excited to see how it all goes.
Dubai: my first international adventure
This is my first time living outside India, and what an introduction to international life. Dubai is a real melting pot where my team alone has people from about 10 different countries. Every meeting is a lesson in cross-cultural communication.
The learning curve has been steep but brilliant. Food, work culture, design & engineering perspectives, everything's been expanding my worldview. You know those conversations where you suddenly realise how much you didn't know, that's been my daily experience here.
Plus, the city itself feels like it's designed by someone who asked "What if we just made everything a bit more like scifi!", the energy is infectious, other than the hot sun at times. ;)
The hybrid role
The role itself has been everything I hoped for. I'm tackling complex airline business problems through design while also building the technical solutions to make them work. It's that sweet spot which I love where creative thinking meets practical implementation.
I have also started working on the Emirates Group design system, it is of a scale that I've never touched before. We are created individual identities for each sub brand, a design language that will influence everything from website interactions to airport kiosk experiences.
The technical challenges are proper exciting too. I love the challenge to work across different platforms, cultures, and use cases, while switching between design & code.
What's next
Seven months down, and I feel like I'm just hitting my stride. The design system work is slowly gaining momentum, and I'm contributing to projects that I have never imaging, even travelling as a passenger. I guess, that is the beauty of the kitchen.
Dubai's given me the sense of scale, from scaling skyscrapers to mega transformation projects. I often go to the Emirates HQ for a coffee and sit in their balcony overlooking the airport operations in awe. It is a surreal place to see the big Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s whizzing around Terminal 3.
I am looking forward to learning more and contrubuting to some amazing projects. I will try to share some of my experiences here soon.
Cheers from the desert!