We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Manasi Vaidya. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Manasi below.

Hi Manasi, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on was designing and leading a workshop called “Making the Web Accessible for Older Adults.” I created it while I was a graduate student at MIT, with support from the MIT AgeLab. The goal was to raise awareness about how digital experiences can be exclusionary for older adults. I designed this course as part of the ‘Kaufman Teaching Certificate Program’ at MIT’s Teaching and Learning Lab. Most of the participants were PhD students developing curricula for courses they planned to teach. As one of the few master’s students in the group, I took on this challenge to explore my interest in teaching and curriculum design. It felt like an important step toward my broader goal of becoming an accessibility advocate in the web design and UX space.

I ran the workshop at several major conferences, reaching over 100 participants from different fields. The first was at ACM CHI 2023 in Hamburg, Germany, with professors, HCI students, and market researchers. The second was at the Gerontological Society of America’s Annual Meeting in Tampa, Florida, where many attendees came from government agencies like the Veterans Affairs office, looking for insights to take back to their teams. The third was at SHIFT 2025 in Boston, focused on design and disability, where most of the audience were students and professionals passionate about accessibility.

I started this project without expectations and was surprised by how well it was received. It also influenced my work as a hobbyist potter and ceramicist. I created a teapot with multiple spouts and handles, but only one correct combination worked. If the wrong handle and spout were used, the tea would miss the cup or spill onto the user’s hand or the table. It was a metaphor for how inaccessible websites work, as it forces the user to spend unnecessary time figuring it out, much like how users with visual impairments struggle to navigate websites that don’t follow accessibility standards like proper ARIA tags.

This project was meaningful because it let me combine my academic, artistic, and advocacy work in a way that sparked real conversations and reflection.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Manasi, and I am a User Experience (UX) Researcher at a tech company. Before transitioning into research, I worked as a UX Designer at a consulting firm. My work focuses on understanding user behavior and needs through in-depth interviews, workflow mapping, and usability testing, with a strong emphasis on accessibility. I collaborate closely with product and development teams to ensure our software works the way users expect it to, and also ensure it works effectively with assistive technologies like screen readers.

Outside of work, I am passionate about ceramics and spend much of my free time in the studio. I am also involved in the design community and currently serve as the Communications Officer on the leadership board of Women in Design (WID), Boston Chapter, under the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). Additionally, I am committed to accessibility education and conduct workshops at conferences to help more people understand how to design inclusively for the web.

My path into this field has always been guided by a desire to create more equitable and inclusive experiences. In high school, I volunteered as a scribe for students with learning disabilities, writing their exam papers based on oral dictation. This experience had a lasting impact on me. It gave me a close-up look at how people with disabilities often have to depend on others for basic tasks, and it sparked a lifelong commitment to bridging that gap through design.

I earned my undergraduate degree in Information Arts and Information Design, where my thesis focused on improving doctor-patient communication in a multilingual, high-volume public hospital in India. The project, titled Enhans, was developed in collaboration with the NeuroImaging and Interventional Radiology Department at NIMHANS in Bangalore. Patients often struggled to understand their diagnoses and treatment options due to language barriers and differing literacy levels. My goal was to design a system that delivered essential medical information in a clear, accessible way. Working directly with patients and healthcare providers made this a deeply fulfilling project.

Later, during my time at the MIT AgeLab, I worked closely with older adults, including individuals over 85 years old, on projects designed to support aging in place. My thesis research focused on how older adults interpret privacy-related messages in smart home devices, and how improving those communications could help them make informed decisions about adopting technology that supports independent living.

What sets me apart is the diversity of contexts in which I have worked, from hospital settings in India to smart home studies in the United States, and my consistent focus on elevating the voices of people who are often overlooked in the design process. Whether through research, education, or creative expression, I am driven by a mission to create inclusive, accessible, and human-centered experiences.

I am proud of the path I have taken and continue to seek ways to integrate my creative, academic, and community-driven interests. Whether I am designing research protocols, leading workshops, or exploring conceptual ideas through ceramics, everything I do reflects my core belief that good design should serve everyone.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Yes, several resources have deeply influenced my thinking around leadership, design, and advocacy, especially in the context of human-centered work.

One book that had a significant impact on me is Health Design Thinking: Creating Products and Services for Better Health by Bon Ku and Ellen Lupton. It helped me see how design can play a transformative role in healthcare, not just through digital interfaces but in systems, communication, and service delivery. This strongly resonated with the work I did during my undergraduate thesis, where I designed a communication system to bridge the gap between doctors and patients in a multilingual hospital setting. The book’s focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and empathy in design mirrored many of the real-world challenges I encountered and shaped the way I approach problem-solving in high-stakes environments.

Design Justice by Sasha Costanza-Chock has also been a powerful influence. It pushed me to think beyond traditional approaches to inclusion and equity and to focus on co-creating with the communities most affected by the systems and tools we design. That philosophy is closely tied to my own work, whether I am engaging with older adults in technology adoption or working to improve accessibility for users with disabilities.

From a process and systems perspective, I have found IBM’s Enterprise Design Thinking framework to be especially impactful. Its emphasis on diverse, multidisciplinary collaboration, constant user feedback, and the concept of the loop (observe, reflect, make) has helped shape the way I approach both research and leadership. It is a practical, scalable methodology that balances creativity with structure and aligns well with my goal of making inclusive design actionable across teams and organizations.

Beyond formal resources, some of the most important lessons for me have come from working directly with people. Patients navigating healthcare systems, older adults learning to adopt smart home technology, and screen reader users trying to access essential digital services have all shaped my perspective. These real-world experiences have been the clearest reminder that inclusive design is not a luxury but a necessity.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

One of the most challenging yet rewarding aspects of my journey has been working with user groups whose lived experiences are very different from mine. Whether it was patients in hospitals in India, older adults in the United States, or individuals with visual impairments, I often faced moments where I initially felt like an outsider.

For example, when I was working on a hospital communication project, many patients spoke regional Indian languages I didn’t know. Even though I speak four languages, our user base spanned eight or more, and that sometimes created a disconnect. In my work with visually impaired users, I realized they often felt most understood by others who used screen readers themselves, which I do not. And while working with older adults at the MIT AgeLab in the U.S., my Indian accent sometimes made it difficult for participants to understand me at first, which affected my confidence.

These moments could have made me feel like I didn’t belong, but I kept showing up with humility, empathy, and a deep commitment to making their experiences better. Over time, people recognized that I truly cared. They started to see me not as an outsider, but as someone who was there to listen, learn, and advocate for them. That shift didn’t happen overnight, but it taught me that resilience is about staying rooted in your purpose, even when you’re not immediately accepted.

This journey has shown me that building trust takes time, especially when you don’t share someone’s background or experience. But if you lead with empathy and stay committed, people see your intention. And that, to me, is the most meaningful kind of progress.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.manasivaidya.com/
• Instagram: @manasi_vaidya_
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manasivaidya/
• Other: Additional Instagram: @asmani.ceramics