Hello, I am Rachit,
an HCI turned UX Researcher
driving impact through research.

I leverage strategic research
to unpack people-centered requirements

I'm a UX Researcher at Headout, where I own the research practice. I strongly advocate for people, be it users or the team members I work with. Through extensive work in HCI and Ethnography, I have experience with leveraging reasearch insights for strategy, design innovation, deep-dives and cutting-edge tech like AI, Data Driven Systems and Mixed Reality.

Previously, I informed Airtel Black's product design strategy through compelling research insights. Recently, I was helping foreign language learners to speak through stories , researching ethnographically how the GenZ in Delhi uses and buys sneakers and rekindling my love for dancing. In 2020-21, I actively mentored 120+ UG design students to research and design some amazing interactive systems!

Say hi to me on LinkedIn! If you prefer email, reach out to me at rachit.jain.hci[at]gmail.com
I like to keep my resumes personalised, so you won't find any here.

Keywords: UX Research, HCI, Ethnography, Mixed Methods Data Analysis, Research-driven impact

Selected Work in Public Domain

I can freely show these projects without IP restrictions.

Kyro: Your Virtual Productivity Companion [2020]

Published at Student Design Consortium, IndiaHCI 2020.

Iterative Design | Evaluative Research

Ethnography of Video Calls, Through Video Calls [2020]

Published at UX Collective's Bootcamp on Medium.

User Research | Digital Ethnography

Virtual Reality for Learning a Language [2019]

Extended Mixed Reality Project

Interaction Design | Virtual Reality

Work not in Public Domain

I cannot talk about these projects publicly.

#1 Weaving stories together to help people speak in a foreign langauge [2019-2021]

HCI Research | Novel interactive systems

My 1.5 year long HCI thesis, under review at a premier HCI conference. Delivered a novel, user-validated 0 to 1 MVP. Validated the product through success metrics of adoption, usability \& effectiveness

#2 Consumption Culture: GenZ in Delhi and Sneakers [2018-2020]

Ethnographic Research | Exploratory Consumer Behaviour

My 2-year long ethnographic research at multiple fields in Delhi. Triangulated \& validated insights by leveraging multiple research methods- Interviews, FGDs, Observation \& Fieldwork.

#3 Digital Acquisition for Airtel Black [2021]

Actionable Research | Stakeholder Buy-ins | Service Design

Airtel Black is one of the key focus areas of the Airtel, with an ambitious charter. Influenced the product and design strategy for a digital acquisition journey by getting cross-functional stakeholder buy ins through compelling insights from user research.

Affiliations

Headout: UX Researcher[2021-]

Airtel: UX Research Intern [2021]

Weave Lab: HCI Researcher[2020-21]

IIIT-Delhi: Teaching Assistant, Design[2020-2021]

STEM-Away: Lead UX Intern[2020]

MyWanderlust.in: UX Design Intern[2018]

Achievements, Testimonials, Events
July 2021 My research insights (w/ Srishti) are informing the design and acqusition strategy at Airtel! Stay tuned for an updated Airtel Black!. Some reactions from the team:
  • Senior Lead Designer: "It was an incredible collaboration effort and kudos to Srishti and you for carrying out fabulous research for such a complex project..."
  • Senior PM: "Yeh UAT hi sab kuchh hai aage." (These insights from the user study will inform the plan ahead)
May 2021 I received an A+ Grade (Outstanding) for my thesis! This grade is super rare (less than 2% across all UG thesis), even more so in HCI grounded thesis!
May 2021 I'll be graduating with three Dean's Award for Academic Excellence(2017-18, 2019-20, 2020-21). Multi-disciplinary education is awesome, let's go!
May 2021 Student Feedback for my work as a Teaching Assistant and Mentor!
  • "You were so helpful all the time! Thank you so much bhaiya!"
  • "(You) gave valuable guidance and critiques on our group's progress and ideas. (You) also helped a lot in paper publication methods and how to take the overall project forward."
  • "You were the best TA of this course."
  • Thank you very much for helping us develop our prototypes throughout the semester!"
May 2021 I received a feedback score of 9.5+/10 for my second TAship of the course DES205: Design of Interactive Systems (DIS) at IIIT-Delhi, taught by Dr. Aman Parnami. I mentored 66 Students across 17 spectacular Interactive System projects, many of them around Mixed Reality. Received 10/10 for providing constructive feedback, helping students to reach a direction of thought and helping them appreciate their process and work!
April 2021 Submitted my thesis work to CSCW 2021!(one of the top collaborative interactive systems conference in HCI) ! This work is with Avyakt Gupta and my advisors Dr. Aman (HoD, Dept of Design) and Dr. Rajiv (Dept of Design X CS). Super excited!
Jan 2021 I received a feedback score of 9.5+/10 for my TAship of the course DES519: Design of Interactive Systems (DIS) at IIIT-Delhi, taught by Dr. Aman Parnami. I mentored 67 Students across 17 research intensive IxD projects. Received 10/10 for providing constructive feedback, helping students overcome mental blocks, communication and helping them appreciate their process and work!
Jan 2021 Student Feedback for my work as a Teaching Assistant and Mentor!
  • "Honestly, your office hours were the most insightful :D"
  • "(Your) assignment feedbacks were extremely helpful, as well as conversations during the office hours really helped my team and I look at problems from a different perspective and gain clarity on how to solve them."
  • "I think if u werent part of dis course we might have never survived. You gave us right insights before final prototype ❤️"
Aug 2020 Finished my role as an intern UX Lead at STEM-Away! Led a team of 9 fellow interns across 4 timezones to work on two beautiful projects! My work has set a positive precedent for the future interns from my college!
  • Debaleena Das, CEO: "You were an amazing lead. The perfect mix of skills and passion."
  • Anon Team Member: "Hello! I know I don't speak a lot but thank you so much for everything. Your style is unique and you made working in the team fun..."
May 2020 My fully-funded HCI Research Internship at McGill University was rescinded last minute owing to the spike in Covid-19 worldwide :(
Email Copied!