Her Story
About Diana
Diana Cholankeril is a UX/UI designer with about 10 years of experience in the field. She currently works in a visual design position focused on designing user interfaces for e-commerce sites, which is more technical than her earlier graphic design work. Originally inspired by artistic interests after leaving a PhD program in political science, she transitioned into design through an internship and subsequent roles. Diana earned her undergraduate degree in political science and philosophy as a double major, followed by a master's in political science with a focus on race and politics, and later a master's in Design Strategy from the Institute of Design in Chicago. She holds a Web Accessibility Certificate from EDX and an AI for product designers certification. Among her honors are highest honors for her political science thesis and a Student of Excellence Award from the NAACP chapter of Rutgers. She also volunteers a few times a year with the Undocumented Women's Fund in New York, where she has been involved for two years. Diana attributes her success to breaking boundaries by trying new things, such as recently pursuing modeling and placing third in the Miss Petite USA national competition. She advises young women to chart their own path by trusting themselves and following what they believe will make them happy.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Diana
01What do you attribute your success to?
I've always tried to do different things and as you get older sometimes you can stagnate a little bit and just kind of do the same thing that you've been doing just because you're getting older. And in the last couple years I've tried to do new things I hadn't really done before and I think sort of breaking those boundaries is what I've been most proud of.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Sometimes it seems a little scary to sort of chart your own path when you don't really have a roadmap. I didn't really have a roadmap and I sort of tried different things that I thought would make me happy or just something I would enjoy. I think in doing that I created my own path. When I was younger I thought things would just happen and somehow things would just sort of manifest themselves and I realized that was because I didn't really have a lot of support. As I got older I realized that even though it might seem scary to chart your own path when you start sort of trusting yourself you'll realize and you sort of follow the things that you truly believe are what you want to do the path sort of unfolds itself.
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