Malavika Mahesh is a UX designer and researcher passionate about designing for social good. Driven by the belief that research and thoughtful design can create meaningful change, her work bridges education, web design, and civic tech— united by a commitment to building tools and experiences that empower communities. With a background in business administration and a postgraduate fellowship in Liberal Arts, she's dedicated to reshaping the way we design, build, and think about technology.
A design challenge finalist at Stanford, her current projects include designing learning experiences at the National Research Council of Canada, as well as uOttawa. At uOttawa, she has also delved into studying the digital lives of unhoused individuals, researching how they navigate and share their lived experiences on platforms like TikTok— a project which asks difficult questions about who technology is really for, and who it leaves behind.
As a volunteer with the Canadian Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Ethical Design Lab (CRAiEDL), she works on designing the lab's website and resources like the Critical Research into Tech's web toolkit. Outside of these projects, she can be found at civic tech community meetings, volunteering at music festivals, or hopping through thrift stores in the city.