What if design provides UX research, strategy, and design for climate and deep-tech startups. We translate complex product experiences into clear, usable flows that reduce activation friction, support enterprise buyers, and shorten sales cycles.
From early-stage user research to full design system builds, we handle the full UX stack for climate and deep-tech startups.
We conduct user interviews, stakeholder research, competitive studies, and journey mapping to ground design decisions in how your actual users think and make choices. For climate and deep-tech products, this often means researching technical and non-technical audiences who interact with the same platform in very different ways.
We build scalable design systems and component libraries that keep your product visually and functionally consistent as it grows. Each component is built to be production-ready, with states, variants, and documentation that your engineering team can implement directly without back-and-forth.
We build interactive prototypes to validate product logic and user flows before development begins. For technically complex tools, this step surfaces friction points early, which reduces rework and keeps engineering time focused on building rather than correcting.
From rough sketches to detailed wireframes, we map out how information is organized and how users move through the product. This is where we define content hierarchy, navigation logic, and the structural decisions that make complex workflows feel manageable to the people using them.
A well-structured design system is the foundation for scaling your product without accumulating design debt. We set up token-based systems covering typography, color, spacing, and component behavior, with guidelines clear enough that your team can follow them independently as the product evolves.
We build to WCAG 2.1 AA standards by default, covering contrast ratios, keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, and semantic structure. For products serving government buyers or regulated industries, accessibility is a procurement requirement, and we treat it as a foundational part of the design process rather than a final check.
Climate and deep-tech products are inherently complex, but that complexity shouldn't be a barrier to adoption. When users take too long to reach value, or when enterprise buyers can't understand what a product does without a lengthy demo, the issue is rarely the technology itself; it's the product experience. What if design builds UX systems for technical products that reduce activation friction, support multi-user environments, and create flows that are clear to both engineers and non-technical decision makers, so your product can close deals and scale without the UX becoming the bottleneck.
From seed-stage climate tech startups to Series B deep-tech companies, we have designed product experiences that shortened sales cycles, accelerated user adoption, and supported multiple investment rounds.
"They very quickly understood the kind of messaging that was important to us and how to translate that into a compelling visual experience. I can't recommend them enough!"
"Working with What if has been transformative — faster feature roll outs, reduced development costs, and a fantastic user experience. They quickly understood our vision and offered proactive ideas."
"The extremely high quality of outputs with fast turnaround times and availability of the team at short notice has been perfect for our requirements."
"They very quickly understood the kind of messaging that was important to us and how to translate that into a compelling visual experience. I can't recommend them enough!"
"Working with What if has been transformative — faster feature roll outs, reduced development costs, and a fantastic user experience. They quickly understood our vision and offered proactive ideas."
"The extremely high quality of outputs with fast turnaround times and availability of the team at short notice has been perfect for our requirements."
"They very quickly understood the kind of messaging that was important to us and how to translate that into a compelling visual experience. I can't recommend them enough!"
"Working with What if has been transformative — faster feature roll outs, reduced development costs, and a fantastic user experience. They quickly understood our vision and offered proactive ideas."
"The extremely high quality of outputs with fast turnaround times and availability of the team at short notice has been perfect for our requirements."
A UX partner that understands your technology, your buyers, and the complexity of designing for both at the same time.
Our UX work comes from real engagements with climate tech and deep-tech startups, not generic SaaS playbooks. We have designed for products in carbon accounting, grid analytics, clean energy infrastructure, and beyond.
Every design decision is connected to a business outcome: shorter activation time, higher demo conversion, clearer sales enablement. We design to make products work better for the people who need to buy or use them.
Because we work exclusively in climate and deep-tech, onboarding is fast. We understand the technical context, the buyer landscape, and the product complexity without needing weeks of background explanation.
We work with companies building in carbon capture, grid modernization, circular economy, and energy software. That context shapes how we design, because the users, buyers, and decision-makers in these industries think and evaluate differently than in consumer tech.
Designers with deep domain knowledge in climate and deep-tech, and the experience to move fast without sacrificing strategic depth.
Co-founder
Akhila's design philosophy was shaped by years working on LEED-certified buildings and $100M+ urban interventions that affected millions of people. Her background in architecture taught her that great design isn't just visual — it's systemic, considering every touchpoint and interaction within a broader context. Before co-founding What if Design in 2020, she spent years translating complex sustainability goals into tangible built environments, a discipline she now applies to digital product design. Her work has helped climate tech companies secure multiple funding rounds and win strategic partnerships. Akhila brings rigorous user research, structured thinking, and careful attention to detail to every project, ensuring designs are both clear and strategically grounded.
Co-founder
Tejas brings a rare combination of business strategy and design execution to What if Design. Before co-founding the company, he drove business growth for OYO across three countries and ran training programs that reached over 1,700 people across India. That business background gives him a sharp sense of how design decisions affect revenue, conversion, and customer retention. His approach combines data-informed thinking with clear creative direction, ensuring every design choice serves a specific strategic purpose. Since founding What if Design in 2020, he has helped climate tech and deep-tech companies raise capital, win enterprise pilots, and build brands that land with both technical founders and enterprise buyers. Tejas focuses on making high-quality strategic design accessible to companies working on climate solutions, because the quality of your brand and product experience directly affects your ability to close deals, raise capital, and grow.
Most engagements start with a focused discovery phase where we audit existing flows, map user journeys, and identify the friction points slowing down activation or adoption. From there, we move into UX strategy and wireframing, followed by high-fidelity design and a developer-ready handoff. For ongoing partnerships, we work in two-week sprints and act as an embedded design team, handling everything from new feature flows to design system updates.
We work with climate and deep-tech startups to identify the exact UX gaps slowing down user adoption, sales cycles, or activation, and address them with focused, sprint-based design work.
If users are taking too long to reach value, or your product isn't doing enough work before the first sales call, let's talk about what a focused UX engagement could change.
For immediate assistance, feel free to give us a direct call at You can also send us a quick email at team@whatifdesign.in
For immediate assistance, feel free to give us a direct call at You can also send us a quick email at team@whatifdesign.in