Ⅰ; Work · Selected projects · 2018–2026

Law,
research,
craft.

A non-linear career that looks, from far enough away, like one long argument: that the systems we build; courts, classifiers, checkout flows; owe the humans inside them clarity, dignity, and a door back out.

Owned
12 / 12 end-to-end
Roles
Lead / Researcher
Scope
0 → 1 / 0 → n / R&D
Tools
Figma · Miro
Category I · 04 initiatives · 2020; now

Love for law.

Law, practiced and redesigned. These are products, platforms, and programs that try to make the legal system easier to enter, easier to survive, and harder to hide inside.

I / 01Sept 2025; now
Training Specialist · UW EPIC

EPIC Peer-to-Peer Sexual Harassment Prevention Training for Academic Student employees, research assistants, & postdocs.

Trauma-informed training Policy × design
Summary

Training Specialist with EPIC, SafeCampus, UW Division of Campus Community Safety. Conduct data-driven sexual-harassment prevention trainings for Research Scientists/Engineers, Academic Student Employees, and Postdoctoral Scholars. Currently also working on the division's website and social media.

About EPIC ↗
EPIC · UW · Live preview Open full site ↗
I / 022021–2023
Advocate · Bengaluru

Independent practice; family, civil, pro-bono.

Advocate Pro bono P.01 · JTBD
Summary

Ranjitha Naruganahalli Rangaswamy, Advocate. Litigation strategy in family law and civil disputes; pro-bono counsel on partition rights, contract negotiation, and intimate partner violence matters. Karnataka State Bar Council, enrolled since August 2020.

Before that

Legal Associate, S. Kalyan Basavaraj & Associates (2020–21).

How my legal practice influences my design thinking

Evaluating how information architecture and narrative decide whether a person is understood. Every flow I draw is a cross-examination of a brief, but in a design context. I'm more interested in the flow of information leading to culmination of justice.

About → Reach out for more details
FAMILY · CIVIL LITIGATION· PRO BONO ADVOCATE · BENGALURU
I / 032025
Studio · UW HCDE

Haven; a trauma-informed guide for GBV survivors.

Trauma-informed Support tech P.04 · transparency
Summary

A trauma-informed companion that surfaces options (safety planning, reporting pathways, support services) for survivors of gender-based violence, without pressuring any particular next step. Every screen passes the "can you close this in one tap?" test. No dead-ends, no forced escalation, no tracking.

Live

Try the prototype ↗

Repo → github.com/haven-support-app ↗
Haven · Live preview Open full prototype ↗
I / 042024–2025
Studio · UW HCDE

U-District Safety Map; community reporting, on a real map.

Civic tech Maps P.02 · heuristics
Problem

UW students, staff, and neighbors see safety issues; broken lighting, hazards, incidents; and have no lightweight shared way to log them.

Stack

React 18 · TypeScript · Leaflet · Tailwind · Vite. Color-coded markers by type; no personal identifiers required; admin verification layer.

Design for coordinators

Built with an explicit second audience: prevention coordinators who need geographic + temporal patterns to inform where lighting, security, and maintenance budgets should go.

Repo → github.com/u-district-safety-map ↗
U-DISTRICT · REPORTING MAP
Category II · 04 studies · 2024; now

Rigor with research.

Mixed-methods work at the seam between AI systems and the humans who have to live with them; with a focus on aviation mental health, AI companions, and the guardrails around both.

Publications
  1. 2026 IDC '26 · ACM · pre-print

    Gupta M., Kiyohara M., Naruganahalli Rangaswamy R., Rosner F., & Kientz J. Exploring AI Companions Together: A Structured Family Co-Investigation of Character.AI.

  2. 2026 Work-in-progress

    Rangaswamy R., Oberoi S., Kang S., & Perkins K. "This isn't living the dream. I want out": Jailbreaking Mental Health Concerns in Aviation.

II / 02March 2025; now
Research Lead · IPAAC

IPAAC Global regulatory comparative analysis of aviation mental health support and psychosocial risk management.

Policy research Aviation Systematic review P.04 · transparency
Summary

Research Lead, Academic Working Group on Global Regulatory Comparative Analysis, International Peer Assist Aviation Coalition (IPAAC). Ongoing systematic review of how jurisdictions regulate mental-health support and psychosocial risk management for aviation professionals.

Method

Systematic literature + Regulatory review · Cross-jurisdictional thematic coding · Working-group synthesis.

Output

Comparative framework across jurisdictions.

WIP → Contact for details
FAA EASA DGCA AVIATION MENTAL HEALTH · POLICY MATRIX IPAAC · GLOBAL REVIEW
II / 03Sept 2025; now
Researcher · UW directed research

Digital copilots for pilot mental health.

AI ethics Mental health Guardrails P.04 · transparency
Summary

Directed research under Prof. Kimberly Perkins and Prof. Cecilia Aragon. Fall: experimental analysis of AI-based mental-health support for aviation professionals. Current: evaluating guardrails in existing AI tools and designing an ethical chatbot as a mental-health intervention surface.

Why pilots

A high-stakes profession with stigmatized help-seeking and a regulatory environment that deters disclosure. The AI question is not "does it help?"; it is "how to use ethical AI for better mental health outcomes?"

Private → Contact for details
DIGITAL COPILOT · GUARDRAILS PILOT MENTAL HEALTH · UW DR
Category III · 04 projects · 2023–2026

Range of craft.

Studio projects, class work, and weekend builds. Evidence that a non-linear path gives a wider problem aperture.

III / 012026
Hackathon · Legal Quants × Manus AI; Runner-up

Legally Lite: gamified legal education for all 50 states

Legal tech Gamification Accessibility P.03 · plain words
Result

Runner-up, Legal Quants × Manus AI Hackathon 2026.

What it does

Gamified legal education platform. Users select their state and learn housing, employment, and consumer rights through 12 challenges + 5 mini-games (Card Match, Court Sorter, Tenant Shield, Clause Cutter).

Accessibility

Text zoom · high-contrast mode · reduce-motion · screen-reader / ARIA · dark/light toggle.

Stack

React 19 · TypeScript · tRPC · Supabase · Tailwind 4.

Live

Play games and learn about your rights! ↗

50
states covered
12
educational challenges
5
mini-games
2ⁿᵈ
place · Legal Quants hackathon
Repo → github.com/legally-lite-game ↗
Legally Lite · Live preview Open full game ↗
III / 022025
Hackathon · Youth Connector, City of Seattle × AI2; Runner-up

RUSE: Real-time Updates on Seattle Events

Civic tech AI matching P.01 · JTBD
Result

Runner-up, Youth Connector Hackathon; organized by the City of Seattle and AI2 Incubator.

What it does

AI-powered platform that discovers, curates, and matches Seattle youth programs (ages 13–24) with users; via a Tinder-style swipe interface with interest-based filtering and safety verification.

Live

ruse-seattle.vercel.app

Stack

React 18 · Tailwind · Lucide · Vercel.

Repo → github.com/RUSE ↗
RUSE · SEATTLE YOUTH EVENTS
III / 032025
HCDE 518 Studio A · Team TRU

TRU: Wellness pods for campus micro-recovery

User centered design Physical + digital prototyping Accessibility P.01 · JTBD
Problem

Students ride out 30–60 min gaps between classes in hallways and cafés that don't support rest. Campus counseling is appointment-based and stigmatized.

Team

Ranjitha Rangaswamy, Grace Huh, Willa Wei, Maxine Tang. Instructors: Douglas Pyle, Hyewon Suh.

Research

Online survey · semi-structured interviews · co-design with DO-IT Center (accessibility). Key finding: 71.8% would try a biophilic wellness pod.

Solution

Modular biophilic pods (massage/nap chair, artificial sunlight, digital-detox box) + kiosk interface + booking flow, specced for campus facilities planners.

71.8%
would try a biophilic pod (survey)
10–45
min preferred session duration
3
usability participants · cardboard + digital
1
library collaboration in progress
Design doc → Read the full PDF ↗
TRU · BIOPHILIC POD · HCDE 518
III / 042024–2025
HCDE 515 · Accessibility & Inclusive Design

RetroquestAccessible gaming for all

Accessibility Gaming P.04 · transparency
Summary

A learning resource and interactive game exploring what makes gaming accessible for disabled players, which studios do it well, and how the design community should stop treating accessibility as a post-launch afterthought.

Stack

Vite · React · TypeScript · shadcn/ui · Tailwind.

Live

retro-quest-play.lovable.app

Repo → github.com/Accessible-gaming-resources ↗
Gaming Without Barriers informational poster
Adaptive hardware Digital accessibility Design frameworks AI & future Live site ↗

Have a hard problem?

I like the fuzzy middle; ambiguous briefs, regulated contexts, and (*my most favorite*) 0→1 territory where nobody has written the playbook yet.

Let’s talk →