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Nitya Rao
Manager, UX Research at Tucows
Professional Background
Nitya Rao is a distinguished expert in user experience design and research, bringing a unique blend of skills in journalism, photography, and web development. She has built an impressive career that showcases her passion for both technology and storytelling. Currently serving as the Manager of UX Research at Tucows, Nitya plays an instrumental role in shaping user insights that drive product development and improve user interactions. Her extensive experience in the realm of user experience extends to her leadership position as Lead User Experience Researcher at Tucows, where she utilized her analytical and creative skills to enhance the overall customer experience.
Nitya's career is marked by her adaptability and rich interdisciplinary approach. Before her current role at Tucows, she gained significant experience working with reputable organizations in various capacities. Her previous positions include User Experience Researcher at TripAdvisor, where she honed her skills in understanding user behavior and preferences, and Academic Researcher at Curriculum Associates, further showing her commitment to education in technology. As a former Associate UX Designer (Research) at Dell EMC, Nitya contributed to the development of cutting-edge technology solutions while supporting users' needs in complex environments. In addition, she worked as a UX Researcher and Usability Tester at Ecovent.
Nitya's journey also includes the realm of freelance photography, where she successfully ran her own business under Nitya Rao Photography. Her artistic talents complement her technical skills, allowing her to approach UX design with a unique perspective that understands visual storytelling. Her online presence as a freelance photographer demonstrates her creativity and commitment to high-quality visual communication.
Beyond technology and design, Nitya has a notable history in journalism. As a Senior Correspondent for Outlook Magazine, she covered a wide range of topics with insight and depth. Her role as an Equities Correspondent at Thomson Reuters provided her with the opportunity to engage with economic trends and financial reporting. Nitya's time as a Feature Writer at The Indian Express allowed her to explore cultural and social issues, further showcasing her ability to convey meaningful narratives.
Education and Achievements
Nitya Rao's educational background reflects her commitment to continuous learning and professional growth. She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Print Journalism from the renowned Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication, where she developed her skills in storytelling and media production. Her pursuit of knowledge in the field of UX/UI led her to study Human Computer Interaction at the Startup Institute, where she learned to design effective and user-centered digital experiences.
Her academic achievements include obtaining an M.S. in Photojournalism from Boston University, a program that emphasized photography, videography, and multimedia communication. This interdisciplinary education empowers Nitya to create compelling visual content that resonates with audiences.
Nitya also holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in English Literature from Bangalore University, where she explored literary critiques and narratives that cultivate her passion for language and storytelling. Additionally, she has pursued Front End Web Development at General Assembly, equipping her with the technical skills needed to bridge the gap between design and implementation in the digital landscape.
Key Achievements
- Leadership in User Experience: In her role as Manager of UX Research at Tucows, Nitya has successfully led various projects that have significantly improved product usability and user satisfaction.
- Freelance Photography Success: Nitya Rao Photography, her freelance venture, has allowed her to cultivate a portfolio that reflects her eye for detail and creative expression in visual storytelling.
- Diverse Experience in Journalism: With experience in leading publications including Thomson Reuters and Outlook Magazine, Nitya has contributed to notable stories and financial reporting that exemplify her ability to inform and engage readers.
- Technical Proficiency: Nitya’s skills in front-end web development complement her user experience insights, enabling her to effectively communicate with developers and designers alike.
In summary, Nitya Rao is a multifaceted professional whose diverse experience in UX research, photography, and journalism has allowed her to make a significant impact across various fields. Her unique blend of technical and creative skills enables her to thoughtfully address the challenges faced in user experience design, making her a respected figure in the industry.
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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.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
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 makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
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.