hello!
I'm Bhavna Bhavanishankar, a researcher and design strategist that's focused on co-creating user-centered solutions. I believe that at the root of a successful and meaningful design, is a set of insights that came from true user needs.
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I am extremely passionate about user-driven contextual research; mapping insights that aren’t as explicit. I aspire to convert research insights into actionable blocks that can be translated into user-centered design outcomes.
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When I’m not working, I obsess over all things Marvel, Harry Potter and Disney, dream about living in a place surrounded by alpacas (Peru, here I come!) and avidly search for an ice cream place that sells the best gelato there is.
Thriving in interdisciplinary intersections
I’ve always had people tell me that my resume and all my work that I share online should reflect one line of thought, with each contributing to the creation of one functional and interconnected set of skills and capabilities. So, every time I had the thought to maybe post something, I would inevitably dismiss it because I felt that it wasn’t up to the mark, or that it wasn’t entirely subject relevant, because what if people read it and thought “Oh! She appears to be all over the place!” or “She seems to have her hand in too many pots”.
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But the truth is that I genuinely am interested in a whole bunch of things, that on paper, do not seem connected to each other. Over the last year, I accepted the fact that just about anything you learn does indeed come in handy at different instances, without you even realizing it. Professionally, I have worked as a graphic designer and photographer, in publishing as an editor and copywriter, in theater as a stage manager, actor and assistant director and in academia as a facilitator, printmaker, and researcher. I find that every single thing that I have experienced and learnt from, significantly informs and enriches the work that I do today.
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It is extremely coincidental (or is it, really?) that every single field that I’ve worked in and studied about, broadens my perspectives when I approach all my research projects, making them that much more user-centered and rich in content. And so, here I am, sharing with you my work that hopefully communicates an inter and transdisciplinary approach to user research.