Meena Kothandaraman
With 35 years of experience and as co-founder of twig+fish research practice, Meena has consulted to emphasize the strategic value of qualitative research across product, space and service. Meena pays particular attention to the credibility, transparency and communication around every research study design. Apart from her core consulting practice, Meena has been instrumental in building the world-top-three Bentley University Human Factors and Information Design (HFID) graduate program in her 25-year tenure. She holds a M.S. in Information Resources Management from Syracuse University and a B.Com. in MIS from the University of Ottawa, Canada.
She is a proud Canadian Bostonian, has authored a children’s book, has hosted a vegetarian cooking show and is an accomplished South Indian classical violinist … all passions that keep her curious!
Presentations
UX Camp Spring 2025
Curiosity Skilled the Cat: Reclaiming the Power Thinking Differently has on Creativity
Of late, the work that we do as qualitative researchers leaves us feeling that organizations aren’t really inspired to think “big”. With so many organizations hammering the “bottom line” and working hours sometimes having no definitive start or stop time – we aren’t given the chance to really think or explore beyond the tactical.
Being curious is a key contributor to sparking creativity in the field of user experience. We aren’t nurturing this skill as adults (or even as kids, let’s not go there!). We need to regain our ability to create space to be curious, and to make time for it in what feels like a permissible way. As researchers – we call out the act of conducting qualitative research as “learning from people”, “learning from customers” or “learning from constituents” – but what about “learning for ourselves” or “learning for joy”?
Join Meena in this discussion in which we unpack curiosity and how it relates to creativity – and look at ways in which organizations have truly benefited when encouraging people to follow the breadcrumbs on a path “just because”. Meena will share how to develop a curiosity habit – something that can keep the effort low, but the rewards high. For anyone involved in any product offering – this skill is pivotal to nurture.
UX Camp Spring 2024
Challenging the Concept of “Human-Centered”: It’s Time for a Rethink
Since the beginning of experience design, we have been focused on being human-centered for nearly every product, service and interface created.
What does human-centered really mean, and do we know if we achieve that as a goal when designing an experience?
At an organizational-level, practitioners must first agree on an aligned definition of “human-centered”, as it relates to the product/service/offering being put out to the world. What contributes to an experience being considered as human-centered? How close to that definition must products be for them to be considered truly “human-centered”? Without a clear and shared definition of human-centeredness, it is impossible to measure how “well” we achieve it within an organization.
Though this has long been a concept that is emphasized in theory – in practice, this moment of rethinking is imperative for multiple reasons. The design of experiences is at a tipping point. Can we afford to only be human-centered, and that too, with a poorly defined understanding of what constitutes the concept in the first place?
It is time to deconstruct what human-centered really means and consider the potential of being “human-calibrated” instead. In a world where we must be more responsible given truths about the environment and the climate, humans are only one part of the equation.
Tent Talks Session: There is More to Research Than Asking A Question
On Wednesday, January 25th at 5:00pm CST, Meena Kothandaraman joins us for a live Q&A session: “There is More to Research Than Asking A Question.”
Leadership By Design 2021
The Cost of Not Conducting Qualitative Research in Organizations
When we fail to include the human story in the designs of our products and services, we fail humans. twig+fish has worked with global customers and we frequently hear the same challenges: no time, budget, or value to qualitative research output. Products suffer when they are not anchored in the human story, and the humans who create and use them struggle even more. Rather than talk about the ROI of conducting qualitative research, twig+fish began to study the cost of not doing it.
Meena Kothandaraman shares the results of this internal study that looks at the costs to organizations who have left their decision-making to sources other than the wisdom and insights gained from qualitative research.
Dear Design Leader – Explanations & Experiences with Leading Designers
Leadership isn’t easy, and finding someone to ask questions to, or to give coaching and advice can sometimes be a challenge. Fear not, design leader, Maria and Helen, along with Meena as guide and expert interjector, will address your burning question about design, leadership, design leadership, and likely a few other things.
UX Camp Winter 2021
Unpacking Context During a Pandemic: Reflections & Tips
Context has always been of importance to unpack and describe when understanding human realities. Context is anything and everything that brings meaning to human realities. Pre-COVID, qualitative researchers readily presented options for studies for both in-context and out-of-context approaches.
With the onset of the pandemic, in-context approaches posed challenges: increased study expense and safety risks to assess. The need to elicit context understanding remains—but without the ability to immerse in it—how do we as researchers understand it? An absence of context understanding can affect a researcher’s interpretation of the human story and reality. This in turn can affect the knowledge applied by a design team.
Meena Kothandaraman of twig+fish will share four observations from recent projects in which participants engaged in a way that revealed more contextual detail. Every project was run remotely—but each time the research team noted approaches that allowed the participant a chance to think of their context and articulate it with more specificity. These approaches are easily applied and will be still be applicable post-pandemic.
