Design Researcher & Strategist (Madurai)

(REQUEST YOU TO PLEASE READ THE DETAILS provided below; especially the Salary range. Before applying!) Who we are 3 Big Things is a behaviour design studio. We believe that behind every business problem is a human problem, and that the real work is figuring out what that human problem actually is, before jumping to solutions. We work with organisations to help them understand why their customers, employees, or users behave the way they do, and then design solutions, innovations, and interventions that solve the human problem and the business problem. Our clients have included ITC Foods, Tata 1mg, Flipkart, Cult, GMR, and WeWork, among others. The problems we work on range from cancer care journeys to fitness habits to org culture to product innovation, which means no two projects feel the same. Yet they are all connected with a robust design process and keen customer focus. We’re a small, senior team. Param and Shalini (the co-founders) have spent decades doing this work at IDEO, Salesforce, Fractal, and Amazon. Revati, our Associate Partner, brings 20+ years of deep behavioural research, consumer insights work across rural and urban India. We’re a boutique practice by choice
- it gives us the freedom to go deep and focus on creating beautiful, meaningful solutions. What this role is We’re looking for a Design Researcher & Strategist to work with us. You’ll be in the thick of our projects from day one. This is a learning-by-doing role, with real-world coaching from a team that has done this work at some of the best design practices in the world. You’ll be with us, hands-on
- in the field, in synthesis sessions, in client conversations. As you grow and find your footing, you’ll take on more ownership. Eventually, leading research independently. But we want to be upfront: in the beginning, this is about immersion, commitment, and building a strong foundation. In practice, the work looks like this: going into the field and spending real time with real people
- the kind of time where you’re not just collecting data, but genuinely trying to understand how someone lives, why they do what they do, and what truly matters to them. It is making sense of messy, qualitative research material and finding the insight buried in there. It is translating what you find into design directions that are both deeply human and strategically effective.
- Beyond the research and synthesis, the day-to-day also involves a range of things that keep projects and the studio moving:
- Coordinating with external agencies to recruit the right respondents before a research sprint. Running quick dipstick research, both secondary and primary, to sharpen a brief or pressure-test an assumption. Prepping for an upcoming client workshop: materials, frameworks, logistics.
- Helping with new project pitches. Preparing case studies from our completed projects, documenting our frameworks, processes and ways of working, contributing to the growing body of work that defines how 3BT thinks and operates.
- Ideas (and execution) for studio activities like roundtables, AMAs, publishing reports etc. And, you'll contribute to how we show up in the world, helping create content for our social media that reflects the ideas, questions, and perspectives that drive our work. What we’re looking for 0 to 2 years relevant experience. Degrees and colleges don’t factor into how we evaluate you. What matters: whether you’ve been exposed to and have a working foundation in human-centered design and innovation, formally trained or self-taught, both work for us. You’ve done qualitative research or design ethnography in some form, a skilled project, a student brief, independent work. You can show us that work and walk us through your thinking. You go beyond the surface of what people say. You’re curious about the deeper why: the motivations, emotions, contexts, and contradictions that actually drive human behaviour. That kind of empathy and decoding is at the heart of what we do. You’re comfortable sitting with ambiguity and open-ended problems. The briefs we get rarely come with a known answer; that should feel more energising than unsettling. You have a point of view. On people. On design. On why things work or don’t. We want to understand how you think, not just what you’ve done. Any additional design skills: visual design, interaction design, communication design, are a delightful bonus, as long as the research foundation is solid. A few things worth knowing We work remotely, with regular in-person meetups in Bangalore. You’ll need to be based in Bangalore. Salary: ₹40,000 – ₹65,000 per month, depending on your experience. How this works Round 1: We look at your resume / bio and portfolio. ‘Portfolio’ means a walkthrough of your previous work: qualitative / user research projects, synthesis outputs, field documentation, anything that shows us how you approach primary & secondary research. Round 2: A conversation with one or more of the 3BT founding team. We want to understand how you think. Round 3: An assignment. Round 4: A final conversation based on what we see in your assignment. Apply on Kit Job: kitjob.in/job/4lajdj