After earning a degree in graphic design, Shreesa Shrestha, MSIXD ’26, worked for a year in the home decor industry, where she often wondered about how people interacted with her designs.
She wanted to expand beyond visual design and learn the strategic product design decisions that structure user experiences (UX). That’s when she discovered Pratt’s master’s program in Information Experience Design (IXD) and its emphasis on client-based projects through Pratt’s Center for Digital Experiences.
“I wanted a structured curriculum for product design, and I thought Pratt was perfect for that,” Shrestha said. “What I love most about this program is you’re able to work with real clients on real projects.”
New Skills and Perspectives
Now in her second year of the program, Shrestha has gained hands-on experience through a curriculum that blends theory with practical application.
In her favorite class, Digital Product Design, she learned how to build applications through research, prototyping, and user testing. For one project, she and three teammates created Expressoh!, a networking app for graduate students. Inspired by dating app mechanics, Expressoh! invites users to swipe on local coffee shops and matches users based on the coffee shops they like, offers an AI-assisted chat to help plan meetups effortlessly, and lets users earn rewards redeemable at partnered cafes, making it simple to network with like-minded people over coffee.
“We went through the full product development lifecycle and learned different ways to do each step of the process,” she said. “I might not use every method in a project, but knowing the range of possibilities helps me choose what’s best for the project.”
In her Usability Theory and Practice class, Shrestha’s team was paired with a client looking to increase the number of small businesses using their AI chatbot. They conducted research into how users, specifically small business owners or employees, were engaging with the chatbot and then provided a range of tailored recommendations.
Another favorite class, Design Systems, challenged her to deconstruct and rebuild the restaurant reservation platform Resy, which involved creating a comprehensive library of components, design tokens, style guides, and usage guidelines for consistent user experiences across the product.
“We’re redesigning components, creating documentation, and it’s exciting to see how everything connects into a system that works for both designers and developers,” she said.
A Growing Network
Shrestha works as a graduate assistant for Pratt’s Center for Digital Experiences, where she manages the Center’s social media presence and contributes to research papers and best practice guides, and also supports an initiative aimed at expanding the Center’s participant pool to make user recruitment easier for students and faculty conducting UX research.
“It can be hard to locate people for interviews, especially with specific target audiences for client projects,” she explained. “We’re promoting these tools to get more participants beyond the Pratt community, and it’s been going well. We’re seeing increased engagement.”
In addition to her GA role, Shrestha works as a UX consultant on client-based projects through DX Center-related classes, helping nonprofit and community organizations improve their websites, apps, and digital experiences. She also supports the Jobs & Careers team, helping to demystify the job market for her peers. She recently helped organize an internship panel featuring six students who shared their experiences at startups and major firms, covering topics like application timelines, networking, and portfolio building.
“We wanted to support current students during the stressful internship search process,” she said. “In UX, you are expected to have a portfolio ready before you apply, something that’s especially challenging for students transitioning into the field.”
Commuting from Jersey City to Pratt’s Manhattan campus gives Shrestha the chance to explore new neighborhoods and tap into the city’s rich network of professional opportunities. She encourages fellow students to embrace both the energy of New York City and the strong sense of community within the IXD program.
“The program is diverse, with international students like me from all backgrounds—graphic design, sociology, psychology, computer science,” she said. “So many of the classes involve group projects. You end up making friends and also future connections. There is so much to learn from everyone.”
Dreaming Big
Growing up in Kathmandu, Nepal, Shrestha had always wondered what made Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night so iconic.
As an undergraduate at Caldwell University, she was finally able to visit it in person. “When you stand in front of the painting, you can really see the layers and layers of paint,” she said. Since then, she has returned to The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) many times, including through Pratt’s free and discounted museum access perks.
Now, as part of a yearlong digital product design fellowship at MoMA, she gets to visit The Starry Night and the rest of the museum’s world-class collection whenever she wants. Alongside another design fellow, she contributes to digital initiatives that enhance visitor engagement and improve the discoverability of the museum’s collection through thoughtful, user-centered design.
“My goal is to make the experience feel effortless,” she said. “If visitors can explore the collection while discovering something unexpected along the way, that’s when design really works.”
As Shrestha enters her final semester at Pratt, she’s confident that her portfolio of client-based projects will position her to successfully navigate the job market.
“I love getting to work in a museum, but what excites me the most is designing for real people,” she said. “Knowing that something I design becomes part of someone’s everyday experience, helping them discover, navigate, or connect, makes my work meaningful.”