The Pattu Border

In South Indian silk sarees, the pattu border is the ornate woven edge — temples, peacocks, elephants — each motif carrying generations of meaning.

Inside a saree shop in India Colorful sarees in a shop

When I first walked into a saree shop in India, the shopkeeper explained every detail: the weight of the silk signals the occasion, the width of the border marks formality, the motifs connect to regional identity. A masterclass in human-centered design.

This stripe is a tribute to that craft — a reminder that the best design communicates richness through thoughtful detail.

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Sai Siddartha Maram

Design Researcher at Xbox  ·  Engineer & Designer

PhD in HCI, UC Santa Cruz  ·  Previously at Meta  ·  Invento Robotics

Work

LLM × UX

Internship Project
Xbox · Microsoft NDA
AURA: Agentic User Research
AI-assisted agentic systems for scalable user research — automating analysis while keeping researchers in the loop.
Try it live
LLM × Design
Ooha: AI Canvas
AI-powered canvas for collaborative ideation — transforming raw ideas into structured concepts with LLM workflows.
Try it live
LLM × Research
Cursor Research
AI canvas with human-in-the-loop chunking, thematic analysis, and RAG-powered semantic search.

Specialty Stakeholders

ACM DIS '25 — Best Paper
Shloka: Climate Action Games
The first climate game integrating authentic Hindu religious practices — four months fieldwork, Best Paper award.
CHI PLAY '24
Religious Inclusivity in Games
Understanding how players from diverse faith backgrounds experience games and what representation they need.
Buy Now
Best Seller
Tales of Dharma
Narrative tabletop game exploring dharma and moral choice — best seller with 1000+ copies sold.
Internship Project
Meta
Facebook Home for Gen-Z
Generative research exploring emotionally-aware feed experiences for Gen-Z at Meta Top of Home.
ACM FDG '23
AstraVerse Character Design
Character design and narrative systems — exploring how AI and storytelling intersect in character creation.

Education × AI

CHI '24
Game Play Reflection Systems
Systems that help players reflect on their play — designing for post-play reflection and meaning-making in games.
CHI PLAY '26
TGP: Gamified Prompts
A taxonomy for embedding game mechanics into LLM prompts — turning chatbots into game engines for learning.

About

My path into UX research has been shaped by hands-on work, academic exploration, and a deep interest in how people interact with technology in everyday life. From designing conversational robots at Invento Robotics to studying digital communities at Meta, I've worked at the crossroads of AI, software, and human behavior — and now bring that perspective to design research at Xbox.

With a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, I explore how design, AI, and community insights can support meaningful learning and reflection. Whether I'm studying how families play games together, helping students engage with educational tools, or building systems for collaborative inquiry — my goal is to design technology that feels thoughtful and grounded. I value clarity over complexity, people over features, and learning over perfection.

Feel free to reach out at msaisiddartha1@gmail.com

Connect

What people are saying about Ooha
Customer reviews for Tales of Dharma
Customer review 1 Customer review 2 Customer review 3 Customer review 4
Press coverage for Shloka
UC Santa Cruz News
Digital game demonstrates the power of religion for climate change education
"Even my grandmother could play this game and say 'I know this character, I know what they're talking about.'"
Read article
Phys.org
Digital game demonstrates the power of religion for climate change education
"Shloka uses Hindu deities, practices, and narratives to communicate the problems of climate change."
Read article