Suruchi Biyani
UXR Lead, Search, Discover & Explore | Google | India
Suruchi Biyani is a leading User Experience Researcher currently spearheading UXR on Search Discovery & Exploration journeys for Google India in the APAC region. With over a decade of experience, she specializes in making technology culturally relevant and resonant, working on projects involving internationalization, linguistic diversity, cultural metaphors, and voice-first experiences across platforms like Gemini, Google Assistant, and Uber. Suruchi's expertise lies in deeply understanding human behavior, unearthing the mental models and nuances that drive actions, and exploring the intersection of linguistics, economics, business, and product. Her career as a researcher has involved navigating ambiguous user problems and needs through exciting research expeditions. Outside of her professional pursuits, Suruchi is passionate about discussing research impact, methodologies, and parenting, and enjoys activities like folding origami, organising Lego, cooking, and playing the ukulele with her children.
Building an anti-fragile UXR practice
In an era defined by perpetual change, data deluge & AI-proliferation, UX research faces a critical juncture. The traditional practice must evolve to become antifragile—a system that thrives and grows when exposed to volatility and uncertainty. This talk will explore a new role for the modern researcher, moving from a reactive "problem-solver" to a proactive "architect of experience."
Drawing on a decade of work across Google and Uber, and exemplified by case studies from Google Search and Gemini, we will dissect the core pillars of this transformation:
1 ) Embracing Ambiguity as a Feature, not a Flaw: Re-framing the role of the researcher from a "forensic linguist" uncovering singular truths to a "cartographer" mapping the landscape of "known unknowns."
2 ) Harnessing AI: Exploring how AI can augment our craft, not replace it, by handling data synthesis and allowing us to focus on the human-centric questions of ethics, culture, and intent.
3 ) Building for Context & Culture: Demonstrating how to adapt frameworks for localization, linguistic nuance, and cultural metaphors to ensure the experiences we build are globally scalable and locally resonant.
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