Ambika Roos

About

I believe that design & digital have the power to create positive change.

As a product leader, I am passionate about creating digital products that improve lives and connect global communities. Most recently, I’ve focused my attention on creating public sector digital services enabling benefits access for millions, managing teams of product managers at Ad Hoc, the US Department of Labor, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. I've developed messaging features on the American Express app, and brands and online experiences with UNICEF, Google, Sesame Street, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Working cross-functionally anywhere from New York to rural India, I excel at translating business goals from the nonprofit, public, and private sectors into actionable insights for product, design, engineering, ops, and strategy teams.

My projects have been recognized by Brand New Awards, Awwwards, Malofiej, the Webbys, AIGA, Fast Company, and Mashable.

Core Competencies
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- Product Management
- Business Development
- User Experience
- Digital Strategy
- Brand Strategy
- Project Management

Please get in touch! You can reach me at ambika.roos@gmail.com

 
Posts from Bhuj Bound blog
CraftDB: Digital artisan portfolios via Whatsapp
CraftDB: Digital artisan portfolios via Whatsapp
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Exploring India, building local ties
Exploring India, building local ties
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Look what I made!
Look what I made!
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(Semi) Rural life in Kutch
(Semi) Rural life in Kutch
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How do artisan's document their own work? How can we help?
How do artisan's document their own work? How can we help?

During field research with the Meghwar communities, I interviewed leather artisans about their thoughts on Khamir’s archiving and documentation practices. Most acknowledged the benefits of educating a global audience, but none felt that Khamir's digital or physical records had a direct impact on their daily lives.

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Making Khamir's research accessible to a global audience
Making Khamir's research accessible to a global audience

Microsites for bandhani (tie-dye), pottery, Ajrakh (block printing), and ply split weaving are now live at: exhibitions-khamir.org. Through these sites, Khamir’s unique research archive on the craft communities of Kutch is available to people around the world for the first time.

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Trip down south: cultural campuses in Tamil Nadu
Trip down south: cultural campuses in Tamil Nadu

Though Khamir often hosts visiting students, artists, and tourists interested in handicrafts, I began to wonder whether there weren’t some missed opportunities to attract and engage visitors who arrive on campus

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Introducing digital tools to a rural nonprofit
Introducing digital tools to a rural nonprofit

How can smaller nonprofits take advantage of the internet and the prevalence of mobile phones not only to spread their message, but to actually improve their programs?  I came to India this year to see how I could apply my knowledge of nonprofit branding, and UX design to an organization that is far more grassroots, and far less funded, than some of the large NGOs that were my clients in New York.

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Embellishing the everyday
Embellishing the everyday

I’ve always been fascinated by human beings’ predilection for adding ornamentation to our surroundings. What is the impetus for going to the trouble of decorating everything? A love of color, pattern, and decoration is obvious across India, and in Kachchh, where handicrafts have played an important role in culture and livelihoods for millennia, it’s especially hard to miss. 

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Supporting the artisans as well as the art
Supporting the artisans as well as the art

I’m sitting next to Ranabhai, a leather artisan who has been making traditional Kachchhi shoes for many decades in the village of Hodka, Gujarat.  Ranabhai uses the same rohi (flat stone work surface) as his great-great-grandfather. Yet he’s lived through quite a few changes to his craft. 

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