Ram Thangaraj

I am a third-year PhD candidate in Human-Computer Interaction at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, advised by Dr. Alisha Pradhan. My research sits at the intersection of aging, death, and design — specifically, how older adults navigate end-of-life planning, digital legacy, and remembrance.

I use qualitative methods — in-depth interviews and co-design — to understand how people think about identity, legacy, and the traces they leave behind. My work asks: how do people plan for the version of themselves that persists after death? Who do they imagine remembering them, and through what artifacts? My research has appeared at top HCI venues including ACM DIS and CHI, with a Best Paper Award at CHI 2026.

I am also interested in how South Asian users navigate identity expression through digital media — including emoji skin tone modifiers. This work examines how culturally embedded norms around skin complexion, such as colourism in the Indian context, shape choices in digital communication and raises broader questions about what it means to design for representation.

Before the PhD, I spent over four years as a management consultant at Ernst & Young LLP in India. I worked primarily in healthcare and oil & gas supply chains — helping healthcare systems reduce procurement costs for medicines and consumables, and optimizing labor productivity through technology and process interventions. That experience shapes how I approach research: with an eye for systems, an instinct for stakeholder complexity, and a belief that design problems are rarely solved by design alone.

I hold an MSc in User Experience Design from Birmingham City University (UK) and a B.Tech in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering from IIT Madras.

Outside the lab, I write and perform poetry, play the ukulele and keyboard, have recently taken up acrylic painting, and am learning salsa dancing with my partner.