Firstly, I'm glad you're interested to know more about me. I'm Keenan Pereira, I grew up in a humble environment in Mumbai, in a culturally diverse city in India, and that has shaped my unique outlook on the world.
From a Jack of All Trades to a Master of Few
Growing up, I tried almost anything I could get my hands on. I played various sports, I danced, sang, acted, skated, drew and painted. But over the years, a few things brought me immense joy:
Exploring the complexities of human behavior and depicting human emotion through portraits.
I was often intrigued by the idea of portraying the human face as a gateway to someone's innermost world.
Being part of a collective effort toward a shared objective.
Initially, my experience as an athlete fulfilled this desire, teaching me the importance of having a winning mentality, never settling for mediocrity, and understanding my teammates on a deeper level, much beyond their roles on the field, to achieve the best collaborative outcomes.
This experience translated well into an academic setting, where I thrived in collaborative tasks with supportive and encouraging teammates who always pushed me to my limits.
Using feedback to steer me towards achieving the best design outcomes across my work
Everything design fascinated me: I designed deployable furniture, made origami objects and often displayed them outside my door. I loved hearing my neighbors' thoughts on my creations and continually refined my designs based on their feedback.
This habit convinced both others and me that pursuing a career in Architecture was the best path, and that's where I headed.
From Architecture to UX
Although I enjoyed applying user-centered principles in the design process, I found this was rarely implemented in real-world projects. Moreover, the inability to continually improve my designs once they were built, along with the slow pace of the architecture industry, led me to explore different design fields. That’s when I discovered UX as an elective. It perfectly combined all my interests and felt like the ideal fit for me.
But I was grateful for the lessons I learned in Architecture school. Here are a few highlights from some of my personal academic projects.
A leap of faith took me halfway across the globe
This passion drove me to pursue a master’s in Human Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington, taking me across the globe.
Looking to chat?
Get in touch with me on keenan11@uw.edu