Respected Sir/ Madam,

Kindly consider my mail seeking for your advice
regarding my further education. I am planning to
pursue Doctoral Education (Preferably in Communication
Design) from next year (2008).

I have completed my Bachelor’s in Civil
Engineering. I have pursued a Master of Design (M.Des)
Program (with specialization in Visual Communication)
at Industrial Design Centre, Indian Institute of
Technology Bombay (IIT-Bombay) and have a work
experience of five years in a Public Sector Enterprise
in India in Marketing Communication.

I envision myself working towards a career seeking
innovative communication design solutions for a better
life for the underprivileged and deprived. This would
necessitate developing a Communication Design Strategy
and Methodology in areas related to participatory
sustainable community development and awareness in an
iterative constructivist approach, specific to Third
World countries. My research interest is focused on
people and their culture specifically to identity,
belief system and practices, ethnography and
development issues among the tribal, rural and
semi-urban sector through effective interaction design
and future technology intervention.   
 
Based on my educational background and work
experience, would seek your advice (and information)
regarding universities/ Programs/ Faculty, where I can
pursue my PHD Degree. Kindly convey your valuable
inputs/ comments in this regard.
  
I am also attaching relevant information for your
perusal.
 
Sincerely,

Uttaran Dutta.







OBJECTIVE	
To pursue my doctoral studies in Communication Design
towards developing an Innovative Communication
Solutions/ Models for the underprivileged and to build
effective Design Strategies and Methodologies for
community development.
	
AREAS OF INTEREST
	Constructivist Collaborative Communication
Design Strategy for participatory sustainable
development 
	Interaction Design and future communication
technology intervention in BoP [Bottom of Pyramid]
sector
	Non-verbal and Visual Communication
	
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND	
	Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
[IIT-Bombay], Industrial Design Centre [IDC]
	Master of Design (M. Des), Specialization: Visual
Communication [GPA 9.3/10] 
	The Institution of Engineers (India)
AMIE (Sec. A&B) in Civil Engineering [Equivalent to
Bachelor’s Degree in Engg.] 
	
SKILLS	
Communication Design Skills 
Prototyping (Paper-Prototype, Film, Scenario, Role
Play), Usability Methods, Contextual Enquiries, Focus
Group, Personas, Activity Analysis, SCAMPER, Indian
Typography, Animation, Clay-animation, Toy Making,
Story-Telling, Story-Boarding, Scripting, Filming,
Editing, Sound Recording & Editing, Photography,
Web-Designing, Packaging, Bamboo & Cane Craft,
Visualization, Brainstorming, Illustration, Sketching,
Rendering, 

	
RESEARCH ACTIVITIES / THESIS	
Information and Communication Needs of People in Towns
and Villages 
The research was conducted to identify and understand
information and communication needs of the people in
small towns and villages in India. The process
involved research in villages of Maharashtra and
Madhya Pradesh where many interviews were conducted
across villages and small towns. The process followed
was customized to the rural context by taking clues
from contextual enquiry and ethnographic studies. The
overall study helped to understand the true need of
rural India, and how media, information and
communication technology can help in their progress. 

Designing Health Awareness Instructions for Villagers
of Tribal areas 
Difference in cultural backgrounds, education and
motivation of tribal communities pose a major
communication challenge. The project is an attempt to
design a health awareness program for villagers in the
tribal areas in Karjat region, Maharashtra. While
designing instructions and writing content, I learnt
to take care of factors like local language, existing
communication practices, communication artifacts,
available local resource and their use. This project
helps to understand the channels and strategy of
communication suitable for the tribal community; it
also helps understand how the villagers can be
involved in the awareness drive step by step. 

SERVIK - Identity Design for Khadi and Village
Industries, India 
The Khadi and Village Industries have been identified
as one of the major organization in the decentralized
sector for generating non-farm employment
opportunities in rural India at low per capita
investment. In the present global economy there is a
need to reposition the Khadi and Village Industries in
terms of a unique identity, so that it can sustain
competition. In this Communication Design project,
attempts were made to convey the essence of the
company, such as simplicity, sustainability and
eco-friendliness effectively. 
	
PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE IN RESEARCH CENTRE	
Design for Underserved Communities – Transport
Workers [with Microsoft India Research] 
The problem definition here was to design an
interactive communication system/device for
underserved communities in India with main focus on
remembering, structuring and sharing. The user group
chosen was of transport workers and drivers, who find
it difficult to afford and adjust to the advanced
technology around them. The entire process/ product
were focused around the sharing needs of the workers
at a personal, family and community level. 

TADANG! - Redesign of Taxi- Meter. 
Taxi-meters in Mumbai are inevitable to daily
commuters. This project aimed at identifying the
communication problems faced by the taxi driver as
well as the commuters in interaction with the meter.
The final solution proposed a new product with extra
facilities for the drivers to find new locations, to
keep an account of the daily earnings, etc. For the
commuters the solution came in the form of detail
information of the journey, entertainment options,
access to live news and announcements, easy modes of
payment etc. 


	
SEMINARS	
Advanced Human Computer Interaction Seminar-
Accessibility for Blinds 
Discussed how web can play an important role for
people with disabilities by improving accessibility
and usability through Graceful Transformations, and
application of understandable and navigable content. 

Visual Ergonomics Seminar- Eyestrain in VDU users 
Computerized jobs require more cognitive processing
and mental attention – the interaction with the
Visual Display Unit (VDU) is visually stressful and
tiresome, so the users at greater risk for Computer
Vision Syndrome (CVS). 

Visual Design Seminar- Ganjifa Cards: Tradition and
beyond 
By studying Indian playing cards, I explored the
aspects of Indian culture, styles of Indian folk art
and Hindu symbolism. 

Contemporary Trends in Art Seminar- Yoga and Art 
Presented how Yoga has significant influence on Art
and Artists during the process of internalization and
expression.



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