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Kamran Ahmed
Information dashboard design & architecture
Professional Background
Kamran Ahmed is a seasoned UX designer with a strong commitment to enhancing user experience and delivering impactful solutions. With an impressive track record of leadership in design, Kamran currently leads the UX design for the CX Partner Portal mobile application at Cisco (CSCO). In this role, he plays a pivotal part in enabling Cisco's partners to assist their customers in scaling their IT infrastructures as their businesses grow. His approach is deeply rooted in user-centered design principles, where he collaborates closely with the UX research team to uncover valuable customer insights, prototypes innovative solutions, and subsequently translates designs into clear specifications for the development team to implement.
Prior to his time at Cisco, Kamran spent five rewarding years at Deluxe Corp (DLX), where he excelled in advocating for the voice of the customer. His notable accomplishments there included steering product innovation for VerticalResponse through remote usability testing and one-on-one user interviews. Kamran's collaborative spirit led him to connect various design departments across Deluxe and establish a thriving global design community, fostering the sharing of insights and best practices among designers. Among his many achievements, Kamran was instrumental in creating the design for Hostopia’s Webmail from scratch, a significant project that now supports 10 million active users and is utilized by esteemed vendors including AT&T, SaskTel, and Vodafone.
Education and Achievements
Kamran Ahmed's academic background is as diverse as his professional career. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from York University, where he honed his creative skills and developed a keen eye for design. Further enhancing his qualifications, he pursued a Post Graduate Certificate at Sheridan College and also studied Business & Professional Studies Certificates at the University of Toronto. This unique blend of artistic and business education has equipped Kamran with the comprehensive skill set necessary to approach UX design from both a creative and strategic perspective.
In the ever-evolving field of design, Kamran continually seeks to enhance his expertise and knowledge. His specialties encompass product direction, functional prototypes, customer research, competitive analysis, design flow, vision presentation, high fidelity design, dashboard design, and data visualization. Kamran’s passion for improving the visual display of information is particularly noteworthy; he believes that effective dashboard and information design empowers individuals to make informed decisions in an increasingly automated world.
Achievements
Throughout his career, Kamran Ahmed has achieved numerous milestones that reflect his dedication to user experience and design innovation. His proactive approach to understanding user needs has led to the successful implementation of design strategies that resonate with customers while addressing real-world challenges. Kamran’s leadership in UX design allows him to influence significant projects and drive initiatives that prioritize user engagement and satisfaction.
His role at Cisco not only highlights his capability to manage complex design projects but also demonstrates his commitment to advancing design practices within the technology sector. Kamran's involvement in establishing a global design community at Deluxe Corp has also set a precedent for collaborative efforts that benefit the entire organization, illustrating his belief in the power of teamwork and shared knowledge.
Kamran’s expertise in functional prototypes and customer research has continually informed his design decisions, ensuring that the end products not only meet client specifications but truly serve the needs of end-users. His impressive ability to visualize data and create high fidelity designs has made him a sought-after professional in the UX design community. In addition, Kamran actively contributes his insights to the broader design conversation, demonstrating his willingness to share his expertise and engage with fellow designers.
Whether collaborating on a new initiative or refining existing products, Kamran thrives on connecting with people who share his passion for design innovation. His open invitation for collaboration reflects his enthusiasm for supporting others in defining value propositions and creative visions. As a product designer at VMware and in previous roles, Kamran has continued to build on his extensive experience with a focus on forward-thinking solutions that prioritize user experience.
In summary, Kamran Ahmed exemplifies the perfect blend of artistic vision, strategic thinking, and a user-centric mindset. His journey through various prestigious organizations, coupled with his strong academic foundation, has equipped him with the tools to create designs that not only meet the functional needs of users but also enhance their overall experience in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.