AKSHATHA PANDITH
Milpitas,CA
Summary
- Strong leader with thirteen years of experience in building and managing large cross-functional teams for UX research, strategy, IXR design, UX design, UI design and prototyping.
- Experience with diverse technologies like mobile, AI, wearables, AR/VR, robotics,3D scanning, voice, gesture & face recognition across industry segments such as health care, social media, fin-tech, entertainment, ecommerce, futuristic retail/fashion, industrial, gaming, edutainment, and supply chain.
- Proven track record of synthesizing complex research data into actionable insights and high-quality, impactful experiences on time and budget in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
- Delivery of more than 3 digital platforms,10 digitals products, and 30 applications in over15 countries. Evangelize, demonstrate, speak and represent company at conferences such as CES, HIMSS and RSNA
Overview
2025
2025
years of professional experience
Work History
Project Lead
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Autonomous Vehicles Project
- Led a study on autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles to determine the impact of multimodal and multisensory information processing and adaptive displays on decision-making
- Collaborated with Indiana University to study the effect of prescription medications (with drowsiness as a potential side effect) on driving by analyzing brain activity
- Led a team at Purdue Discovery Park to establish a car simulation lab for conducting studies on lane deviations and the efficacy of various warning systems in preventing accidents among drowsy drivers
Microsoft Project
- Conducted a research study to understand the impact of software updates and version changes on user adoption, applying principles from HCI, psychology, and diffusion of innovation
- Performed qualitative and quantitative statistical analyses to explore the correlation between change, adaptation, and performance, providing recommendations on changes that positively or negatively influenced performance and adoption
Entrepreneur in Residence
Antler
10.2024 - Current
- Spearheading the product vision and experience strategy for a stealth-mode application, driving innovation and delivering user-centric solutions.
UX Leader
Wrapbook
11.2021 - 03.2023
- Built and led a UX design and research team of14 across the US and Canada
- Established a design and research operations framework, fully integrating it into the product development process
- Developed a UX strategy to support rapid product growth, setting and managing KPIs that aligned with product goals
- Increased productivity by developing native Design System to streamlining communication between developers and designers and delivering integrated product experience
- Developed research operations and defined lean research support strategies to scale research across 18 product teams
- Led key initiatives, including Information Architecture, Persona Development, and Customer Journey Mapping
- Enhanced communication across departments, facilitating better inter-departmental collaboration.
- Implemented performance metrics to track progress and drive continuous improvement.
UXR Leader
Google
08.2021 - 11.2021
- Developed a framework for the hiring process of quantitative and qualitative researchers
- Established research operations to scale across180 countries
- Created a framework manual for selecting vendors in different countries
- Developed training materials and trained vendors to ensure high-quality report delivery
UX Advisor
ZenDrive
02.2021 - 08.2021
- Consulting on UX team strategy and product direction
- Provided expert guidance to designers, IXR and UX researchers ensuring tailored solutions that met individual needs.
- Conducted UX maturity evaluation, standardized UX design and research operations
- Coached and mentored UX Researchers, Interaction Designers, and UX Designers
UX Leader
GE Healthcare Edison AI
06.2019 - 04.2021
- Company Overview: Edison AI is GE Healthcare’s artificial intelligence platform designed to increase efficiency, improve patient outcomes, and expand access to care
- Managed the GE AI Platform UX team, scaling it into a global team of18 across the US, Europe, and India
- Drove a user-centric design process with AI Platform and Engineering VPs to establish the UX strategy, roadmap, and budget
- Transformed fragmented AI services into a cohesive, end-to-end AI platform, enabling key personas—such as data scientists, radiologists, and business leaders—to effectively use the platform for delivering world-class AI models
- Contributed to a150% YoY increase in user adoption and achieved a cost reduction of $4.5 million in the first year by eliminating external APIs, applications, and subscription costs
- Directed over 72 research studies, including usability testing, interviews, field research/contextual inquiries, diary studies, and surveys, to generate actionable insights
UX Research Lead
Facebook
08.2017 - 03.2019
- Defined, designed, and conducted more than seven major global qualitative research programs evaluating concepts and features for the Facebook People Discovery and Profile pages
- Summative research on Life Events features to understand emotional needs & translated the research findings to develop features on birth, birthdays, anniversaries, marriage & death
- Developed a playbook for research methods for behavioral studies and mentored UX teams
Sr. Human Factors Engineer
Intel Corporation
03.2012 - 08.2017
- Instrumental in utilizing Depth Sensing (DS), 3D scanning, 3D modeling, eye/face tracking, gesture recognition, and emotion recognition and delivered more than 30 marquee apps that were showcased in CES 2014
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to align strategic goals with business objectives.
- Mentored and lead global UX design team comprised of UX designers, researchers creative leads, UI designers and prototype developers
- AR/VR Leadership: Defined UX strategy and roadmap for untethered AR/VR headset experiences targeting mid-tier markets; conducted usability and ergonomics studies and partnered with HTC, Lenovo, and Microsoft to meet Intel's UX standards.
- Retail Experience Innovation: Conducted large-scale exploratory research to identify pain points in online and in-store shopping experiences; developed RealSense-enabled apps in collaboration with Neiman Marcus, David Bridal, and Brooks Brothers.
- Gaming & Edutainment: Directed international UX teams to create six marquee apps, including LEGO, Crayola, and Carmen Sandiego, showcasing DS camera capabilities.
- Home Décor Apps: Delivered apps for IKEA, Home Depot, and Behr by conducting market research, focus groups, and competitive analysis to address limitations in existing home décor tools.
- Voice & Gesture Recognition: Designed and developed the Food Network app with embedded voice and gesture technologies, featured by Intel’s CEO at CES 2014.
Electronic Health Records Adoption
Purdue Research Assistant
01.2005 - 01.2011
- Led a research project under Dr
- Duffy, part of an initiative launched by President Bush focusing on the adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) and e-prescriptions
- Designed and conducted an extensive qualitative and ethnographic study across the U.S., involving doctors and healthcare professionals
- Analyzed over300 hours of qualitative data to identify resistance factors to transitioning from paper to EHRs and developed recommendations for a smoother transition
- Conducted interviews using principles from psychology, human factors, and HCI, and performed statistical analysis to assess the resistance of healthcare practitioners to adoption
- Developed and provided software redesign guidelines for top EHR vendors, including Allscripts, Athena, and Epic, as well as adoption strategies for major insurance companies such as BlueCross Blue Shield and Kaiser Permanente
Recruitment Manager
Alp Management Services
10.2004 - 07.2005
- As Recruitment Manager, led a team of four and managed six major corporate accounts, including EY, HCL, Accenture, Samsung, Cognizant, and Tata
- Successfully closed over200 positions within three quarters
Asst. Manager
Gati Ltd
07.2003 - 08.2004
- Supervised day-to-day operations to meet performance, quality and service expectations across two logistics centers in Bangalore
- Increased revenue by 6% and reduced delays by 11% through route reorganization and improved facility planning
- Received the Young Achiever Award for enhancing overall productivity and establishing ISO9001:2000 standards
Education
Ph.D. - Human Factors Engineering & User Experience (ABD)
Purdue University
01.2011
M.S. - Human Factors Engineering: Industrial Engineering
Purdue University
01.2008
B.E. - Industrial Engineering & Management
Bangalore Institute of Engineering
01.2003
Skills
- Team leadership
- Recruitment and hiring
- Contract oversight
- KPI development
- Processes and procedures
- Strategic planning
- Project management
- Decision making
- Stakeholder engagement
- Results orientation
- Customer satisfaction
- Process improvement
Timeline
Entrepreneur in Residence
Antler
10.2024 - Current
UX Leader
Wrapbook
11.2021 - 03.2023
UXR Leader
Google
08.2021 - 11.2021
UX Advisor
ZenDrive
02.2021 - 08.2021
UX Leader
GE Healthcare Edison AI
06.2019 - 04.2021
UX Research Lead
Facebook
08.2017 - 03.2019
Sr. Human Factors Engineer
Intel Corporation
03.2012 - 08.2017
Electronic Health Records Adoption
Purdue Research Assistant
01.2005 - 01.2011
Recruitment Manager
Alp Management Services
10.2004 - 07.2005
Asst. Manager
Gati Ltd
07.2003 - 08.2004
Microsoft Project
M.S. - Human Factors Engineering: Industrial Engineering
Purdue University
B.E. - Industrial Engineering & Management
Bangalore Institute of Engineering
Project Lead
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Autonomous Vehicles Project
Ph.D. - Human Factors Engineering & User Experience (ABD)
Purdue University
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