I accepted this position at ₹3.6 LPA in January 2026 understanding it would be a business analyst role with occasional design work for customer experience. Within 6–8 weeks, the scope expanded to full Design Lead responsibilities — managing teams, owning product redesigns, leading client relationships. Given my background and what I've delivered over four months, compensation needs to reflect the actual role I'm performing, not the original expectation.
I accepted ₹3.6 LPA for a business analyst role with occasional design work for customer experience. The role became full Design Lead work within weeks. Four months of delivered work, combined with my background, make the case for adjustment undeniable.
I hold a Masters from Parsons School of Design and have 5+ years of professional UX/design experience across India, Germany and US markets. I accepted ₹3.6 LPA for mostly work not related to my field and minor design work. The scope became Design Lead responsibilities. I am asking to be compensated for what I'm actually delivering, informed by both my background and four months of documented output.
A designer with a Parsons Masters and 5+ years professional experience is being compensated at ₹3.6 LPA — below what the market pays 0–1 year Business Analysts — while carrying a scope comparable to the most senior technical roles at this company, with design, brand, documentation, and pre-sales functions added on top. A tech lead now shares intern management, freeing my capacity for two full product redesigns.
Each stated responsibility from my hiring document, mapped to specific delivered work. Not one deliverable has been missed.
| JD responsibility | How I delivered it | |
|---|---|---|
| Understanding customer needs, business objectives, and product goals | ✓ | 5–6 client site visits, 2 multi-day on-site research sessions, input gathered across 8 industries. On-going |
| Creating user journeys, storyboards, flows, wireframes, and prototypes | ✓ | 4–5 user flow diagrams, 10–12 POC website and dashboard designs used directly in sales. Sole owner |
| Designing and maintaining end-to-end UI design systems | ✓ | Unified existing design elements into a cohesive system — colour palette, component library, design tokens. Extended this system to presentations, social media, and all company communications. Systematized & expanded |
| Translating requirements into functional specifications for development teams | ✓ | 30+ BRD and requirements documents. Sole author across all documentation. Exceeded Target |
| Acting as customer-facing representative on calls, visits, and discussions | ✓ | 20+ client calls, 12–15 led independently. 5–6 in-person visits. 2 multi-day on-site research sessions. Exceeded Target |
| Gathering, documenting, and communicating requirements in a structured manner | ✓ | 30+ structured documents across all engagements — proposals, BRDs, and client-facing specs. |
| Collaborating with design, development, testing, and management teams | ✓ | Primary design collaborator across all functions. Also managing tech interns — beyond stated scope. Exceeded Target |
| Reviewing test cases and providing feedback for quality outcomes | ✓ | UX and design review across all POC and development cycles. Issues flagged and fixed before client delivery. |
| Participating in delivery milestones and addressing customer feedback | ✓ | End-to-end project ownership — not participation. Sole design owner including farmer survey platform to MVP. Exceeded Target |
| Building presentation and communication skills for internal and client contexts | ✓ | Designed 25+ client presentations. Created master corporate deck template used company-wide. Praised by management and 7–8 clients for presentation quality. Exceeded Target |
Four months of output, documented.
Client industries engaged in pre-sales:
The following responsibilities were not in my hiring document and each carry their own distinct value.
Specific, documented outcomes from my time in this role.
Bengaluru salary benchmarks from Glassdoor, 2025–26. With a Parsons Masters and 5+ years experience, market value for my profile ranges ₹18–25 LPA. I am asking for ₹12–15 LPA — a significant startup discount.
| Role & Experience | Bengaluru range | |
|---|---|---|
| Business Analyst — 0–1 year | ₹5 – 9 LPA | |
| UI/UX Designer — 7–9 years (my experience level) | ₹7 – 17.8 LPA | |
| Lead Designer — 4–6 years | ₹10.1 – 20 LPA | |
| UX Researcher — 4–6 years | ₹10.5 – 22.3 LPA | |
| Design Lead — 4–15 years | ₹17.2 – 19.4 LPA | |
| My ask — startup-adjusted, based on background + delivered scope | ₹12 – 15 LPA |
With my background (Parsons Masters + 5+ years experience including US market), external market value would be ₹18–25 LPA. I am asking for ₹12–15 LPA — acknowledging startup constraints while reflecting the actual scope I'm delivering.
I am not asking to be paid for future potential. I am asking to be paid for work I am already doing, at a rate consistent with what this company values in its senior roles.
I am not benchmarking against external market ceilings. I am benchmarking against the seniority and output level this company already recognises in its most senior technical roles — end-to-end client delivery, independent project ownership, and team direction. My scope matches that seniority across design, research, documentation, and pre-sales simultaneously, with higher output volume across more functions.
I want to continue here. I am in the middle of two product redesigns and building a design team. I am raising this now — before those redesigns go deep and before the intern team is onboarded — because it is the right moment to align properly, not mid-delivery.
This document is not an ultimatum. It is the same rigour I apply to every brief I work on — structured, evidence-based, and forward-looking. I am happy to walk through any section in person.
I value the work we're building here and want to continue contributing at this level. But compensation needs to reflect the role I'm actually performing. I'm confident we can find alignment that works for both of us.