Anjana Balyan

Systems designer, story-first methodology. Designing experiences and products for the people most systems overlook.

The journey so far

Srishti Institute of Art and Design

B.Des, Information Design

Teach For India

Bengaluru

Fellow, two years in Bengaluru classrooms

National Institute of Design

M.Des, Universal Design

Worked with

Open to internships from June 2027!

↻ my desk, on loopBengaluru

Selected work

01Participatory design

DP2

DP2How might young people from low-income communities see and be seen in public, on their own terms?

02Cognitive ergonomics

In Transit

In TransitRedesigning the metro card recharge terminal so commuters can top up quickly and without confusion.

03Game design

Kin KathaA craft game reviving Rajasthan's Kavad storytelling, with a share of every kit going back to the artisans.

04Universal design

NodiPlay equipment boards for public parks, plus a volunteer-logging app that keeps parks cared for.

05Service design

Year OneSeven interventions across two student cohorts at a government school, mapped as one service system.

Play

things I make when nobody's asking

Illustration

Comics and drawings, followed by 12.6K people on Instagram.

Too

A three-legged bamboo stool with a soft seat, from Design Project 1.

Accessibility audits

Testing everyday things, like a suitcase, against the people they leave out.

Get a Life!

A card game of quick dares and stories you build together.

Baby Bar

A bamboo bar chair we built as a group in Material and Manufacturing.

Reminisce

A smart object, from Smart Technologies and Applications.

launch day, at Museum Of Solutions, Mumbai

I draw sometimes

I'm a published illustrator!

I illustrated On the Path, a children's book written by Riya Parekh for Teach For India.

Writing

What a classroom taught me about designing for people

Read on Medium ↗

What a classroom taught me about designing for people

Oct 2026

Notes from a co-design workshop with teenagers

Read on Medium ↗

Notes from a co-design workshop with teenagers

Oct 2026

Designing for the person your product forgot

Read on Medium ↗

Designing for the person your product forgot

Sep 2026

Process

About

With roots in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala and a childhood in Chennai, I've always felt at home in many parts of India. I studied Information Arts and Information Design Practices at Srishti, then joined the Teach For India Fellowship, teaching Math and Science to ninth and tenth graders at a government school in Bengaluru.

Now I'm pursuing a Master's in Universal Design at NID, creating inclusive products for people most systems overlook. I love the space where design and education meet.

Want to talk design, education, or the space between? Let's connect.

Resume Let's connect

My desk, more or less.

Off the clock

Bollywood movies, love stories and classroom stories, a lot of Asian food, and a plan to travel solo some day.

Let's design for the people who get left out.

Resume