In this episode of Surfacing, co-hosts Andy Vitale and Lisa Welchman talk to qualitative researcher and experience strategist Meena Kothandaraman. They talk about understanding qualitative research and why it's essential to be inspired by and learn from people when designing products. Meena also shares advice for teams who face challenges and constraints around getting research integrated into their development process.

 

About Meena Kothandaraman

With 25 years of experience, Meena has consulted to emphasize the strategic value of customer experience across product, space and service. She truly believes that businesses can achieve greater focus by better understanding the behaviors of their customers, and those who create the products from within the business.  Experiencing the journey of conducting research can truly inspire! Apart from her core consulting practice, Meena has lectured in the Bentley University Human Factors and Information Design (HFID) graduate program in her 15 year tenure. She has helped the program to stand as one of the top human factors/user experience programs worldwide.   She holds an M.S. in Information Resources Management from Syracuse University and a B.Com. in MIS from the University of Ottawa, Canada. 

Apart from work, Meena has written a children's book, hosts a cooking show, and is a South Indian classical violinist. She has firmly maintained a strong work life balance, and has her two children and husband to thank for making life so rich.

Episode transcript

Show Notes

Meena's Twitter

Twig + FIsh Website

Twig+Fish Blog

Qualitative Research

Zarla Ludin Twitter

NCredible Framework

Bring Your Humanity to Work

Bentley University - Information Design & Corporate Communication Course

Fluxible

Hal Miller-Jacobs