Dr. Apala Lahiri is Co-founder, Human Factors International APAC and Global Chief of Technical Staff. She has led several strategic cross- cultural and innovation initiatives for MNCs across the world. She is a well known speaker at major international conferences. Her passion is to envision how user experience can be can be a positive change agent using digital channels. She is also fascinated by changes in user experience across time and space. Apala is an award-winning designer (International Audi Design Award). She co-edited the book Innovative Solutions: What Designers Need to Know for Today's Emerging Markets.
She was invited to speak on User Experience Design and AI at the AI for Good conference, 2017 organised by the United Nations. Apala's doctoral research explores the creation of a new UX framework that considers sustainability and societal issues as integral parts of the design process. She recently co-founded UX4.me, an AI enabled service platform for UX research. Dr.Girish Prabhu is a design strategist, educator, and innovation leader with over three decades of experience spanning industry, research, and academia. He has held senior leadership roles at Kodak, HP Labs, Intel, HFI, and the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, where he has been instrumental in advancing human-centered design, UX research, and responsible innovation.With a polymathic and systems-thinking approach, Girish draws from a wide range of domains--including healthcare, wellness, education, consumer products, and retail--to shape design that is both context-sensitive and future-oriented.
His work is grounded in the conviction that design must go beyond aesthetics and usability to engage with deeper questions of equity, inclusion, and long-term sustainability. A mentor to generations of designers and researchers, he has played a key role in shaping design education and innovation ecosystems in India and internationally.He is currently developing interdisciplinary leadership models through the Institute for Systemic & Polymathic Leadership, and continues to build frameworks for culturally grounded, ethically responsible design. As co-editor of this volume, he brings critical insight into the transformative potential of UX design to address complex societal challenges. Dr. Eric Schaffer is Founder, CEO of HFI and Head of the HFI Laboratories. Eric has been working in the User Experience engineering field since 1977. He holds a doctorate from Steven's Institute in applied psychology specializing in human performance and he is a Board-Certified Professional Ergonomist.
He worked at Mauro Associates, AT&T Long Lines, and Bell Labs, and then he founded Human Factors International, Inc. starting in 1981. While leading HFI he has focused on building UX capabilities in organizations and delivering sustained UX teams for complex environments. Eric was the primary driver in developing the HFI courses, certifications, and toolsets. He recently co-founded UX4.me, an AI enabled service platform for UX research. Eric has been a driver in the spread of UX engineering worldwide and helped pioneer remote and offshore operations. Eric lives in Fairfield Iowa, and Pondicherry India.