Projects & Initiatives

The Experience Design Lab actively engages with academia, industry, and the wider community through a range of projects and initiatives. These include public workshops, hands-on training programs, panel discussions, sponsored research collaborations, and design consultancy engagements. By working closely with diverse stakeholders, the lab creates platforms for dialogue, learning, and co-creation, translating research and design expertise into real-world impact.

The 17th International Conference of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Design & Research.

IndiaHCI 2026 is the 17th Indian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction — and this year, it is hosted at IIT Hyderabad, from October 29–31, 2026.
For over a decade and a half, IndiaHCI has been the country's foremost gathering for HCI research grounded in South Asian realities: local cultures and languages, socio-economic contexts, and regional industry practices. Its focused scale and collegial spirit make it a space where ideas travel freely — between researchers, practitioners, and students — and where conversations begun in a session carry well beyond the conference room.
IndiaHCI 2026 is chaired by Dr. Anusmita Das, founder of the Experience Design Lab in the Department of Design at IIT Hyderabad, whose work sits at the intersection of interaction design, behavioural design, and the cross-cultural HCI.

Empowering SHG's through Financial Literacy

On 5th and 6th August 2025, the Convention Centre at IIT Hyderabad hosted an awareness workshop titled “Empowering SHGs Through Financial Literacy: A Path to Sustainable Growth.” Organised by the Centre of Design Excellence under the RAMP initiative, this two-day workshop brought together 25 Self-Help Group members from Eddumailaram and Indrakaran villages. The sessions covered key topics such as money management, budgeting, savings, banking services, digital transactions, and important government schemes.

Link to video: https://youtu.be/brt4BaIOYS8?si=i44B6zyHmXhvaajV

Fireside Chat with Anand Tharanathan, Global Vice President, ServiceNow

This Fireside Chat, at the Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, focused on navigating careers in Research, Design, and Product Management in the age of AI. Through discussions on emerging mindsets, critical skills, and real-world lessons, the session examined how universities and young professionals can prepare for the evolving demands of the future workforce.

Understanding and Influencing Financial Wellbeing in Lower-Income Demographics of Telangana

For millions of rural women in Telangana, financial security is not a matter of choice but of circumstance shaped by unequal access, deep-rooted social norms, and limited opportunities to learn, earn, and decide. While Self Help Groups have offered many women a first foothold into formal financial life, participation alone has not been enough to bridge persistent gaps in literacy, digital access, and household agency.

Supported by the SEED Grant at IIT Hyderabad, this study listens closely to these women across Sangareddy, Medak, and Ranga Reddy; comparing the experiences of SHG members and non-members to understand what actually drives financial confidence and wellbeing in rural households. Drawing on behavioural and empowerment frameworks, the study maps the structural, cultural, and personal barriers that keep women from using banking, credit, and digital financial tools consistently and independently. Through surveys, group discussions, and community workshops, it seeks not only to document these challenges but to co-develop practical, culturally grounded interventions in financial literacy, behavioural support, and technology adoption that can make a meaningful difference in women's financial lives.

Lead Researcher: Vidhi Siwal

Understanding Financial Capability and Behavioral Patterns Among Early-Career Professionals in India

Financial capability encompassing knowledge, behaviour, and confidence in managing one's economic life has long been studied as an individual deficit problem. Yet growing scholarship in HCI and inclusive design calls for a shift: from blaming users for poor financial decisions to examining how systems, interfaces, and information architectures either enable or obstruct financially capable behaviour. For early-career professionals in India, this tension is particularly acute. Navigating a complex financial landscape shaped by UPI-driven digital payments, informal income structures, and deeply embedded cultural attitudes toward money, this cohort is underserved by tools and frameworks designed for other contexts and other generations.

This study approaches financial capability as an interaction problem: one that sits at the intersection of cognition, context, and design. Drawing on theoretical frameworks and situated cognition perspectives in HCI, it examines how early-career professionals in India think, decide, and act around money, and whether conventional financial guidance models remain relevant to their lived realities. Particular attention is paid to behavioural patterns, digital engagement, and the socio-cultural factors that shape financial agency. The study also foregrounds questions of inclusivity asking whose financial behaviours are centred in existing research, and where design has historically failed to account for diverse users, contexts, and capabilities.

Lead Researcher: Abhimanyu Tiwari

Feel free to reach us or just say hi!

You can reach us at:

anusmita@des.iith.ac.in