HCDE PhD student Aayushi Dangol co-authored a new article in @us.theconversation.com with iSchool Professor Katie Davis, sharing findings from their research on how K-12 teachers are navigating the rapid rise of generative AI: theconversation.com/ai-could-wor...

Last week, my Foundations of Human-Computer Interaction class covered an older paper about “social translucence” where they explain how the design of online systems shapes the norms & behaviors w/in those systems. But the framework they create can be applied more broadly, eg to our political moment.

Join us Thursday for HCDE’s Research Speaker Series with Professor Sayamindu Dasgupta! He will discuss "Living with Data," exploring how quantitative data shapes how we learn and make sense of the world—and how we can design learning experiences that help young people engage critically with data.

Slate: Scholars, including @cip.uw.edu graduate research assistant and @hcde.uw.edu PhD candidate @zarine.net, say "recent attacks on Wikipedia differ from earlier critiques" of the website, which had focused on Wikipedia's content. Read more: slate.com/technology/2...

Just wanted to "so true" re. @stolisomancer.bsky.social's Geekwire article on my paper, specifically: "Video games often have a positive impact on the people who play them. That impact simply doesn’t get a fraction of the press of gaming’s various downsides." Thanks for writing about this!

It was such an honor to co-lead this paper w/ @priyadhawka.bsky.social. We do a fun mix of our research here -- looking at the visual participatory nature of data visualizations and the non-neutral underpinnings and infrastructures of the (open) data and actors behind them. (thread)

Proud to be a part of this research center! www.cip.uw.edu/2025/10/27/u...

There’s still time to join the first cohort of HCDE's Certificate in Human Centered AI! This program is designed for people with experience in UX design, UX research, and human-centered design who want to expand their skills and learn how to apply AI responsibly and creatively in their work.

Join us Thursday for HCDE’s Research Series with PhD candidate Blair Subbaraman. Blair, a researcher in HCDE's Machine Agency, explores how automation can be a creative tool for discovery and expression—bridging digital and physical making through new fabrication workflows. 4:30 p.m. @ 134 Sieg

Seattle Reign FC and Starbucks honored HCDE Professor Cecilia Aragon through their Legends Campaign, which celebrates women making extraordinary community impact. Professor Aragon was recognized on the field before last week's game for inspiring others to overcome fear and pursue their dreams. ✨

Members of the iSchool community and friends connected at the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (#CSCW) conference in Bergen, Norway, earlier this week. Tusen takk - thank you very much - to everyone who paused for a group photo and catch-up session! 💜

Join HCDE for this week’s Research Speaker Series talk with Professor Charlotte Lee! Thursday, Oc. 23 | 4:30 - 5:20 pm | 134 Sieg Building In her talk, "Floating Points," Lee combines personal memoir with computing history to reflect on how the past, present, and future of computing intertwine.

Our team presented five papers at the CSCW (computer supported cooperative work and social computing) conference this week in Bergen, Norway. (CSCW is an ACM conference and a “home conference” for my team.) I’m going to share a few highlights in a thread here.

Interested in HCDE’s new Graduate Certificate in Human Centered AI? Watch the info session recording and apply to join our inaugural cohort! Priority applications due Oct 24. www.hcde.washington.edu/hcai/admissi...

Excited to be in Bergen for CSCW 2025! This (Monday) afternoon I’ll be presenting a study I led with a fantastic team of undergraduate and Masters students, supervised by @katestarbird.bsky.social, on sudden attention, influencers, and TikTok - more details in 🧵 1/

Have a real-world design challenge that could use some fresh ideas? HCDE is seeking Capstone project sponsors for 2026! From January–June, teams of 3–4 students partner with industry and nonprofit sponsors on student-led projects that integrate research, ideation, prototyping, and evaluation.

1) I recently spoke with Business Insider about what the potential sale of TikTok could mean for the *magic* For You Page: 👇🧵 www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-insid...

We turned our pain into a research paper… documenting how our collaborative research team (which included researchers at a public university) navigated a slew of public records requests (by some of the same folks who have since turned their attention towards attacking academia more broadly).

A 2015 paper by Daniel Epstein, An Ping, James Fogarty, and HCDE’s Sean Munson received the Runner-Up 10-Year Impact Paper Award at UbiComp 2025. Their "Lived Informatics Model" continues to shape how researchers study everyday self-tracking.

HCDE Research Speaker Series: Join us Thurs, Oct. 16 (4:30–5:20 p.m., Sieg 134) for HCDE PhD Candidate Aayushi Dangol’s talk: “From Black Boxes to Playful Inquiry: Designing for Children’s AI Literacy.” Explore how kids, families & educators can make sense of and critically engage with AI.

@hcde.uw.edu is launching our new human-centered AI graduate certificate in January, with applications open now and a priority deadline of 24 October. Learn more at www.hcde.washington.edu/hcai

New from HCDE: Announcing our new Graduate Certificate in Human Centered AI. Learn to build AI systems that are ethical, equitable, and human-first. Courses are in the evenings, in-person, from January through September. Priority application deadline: October 24, 2025. www.hcde.washington.edu/hcai

How do video games shape who we are? HCDE & @ischool.uw.edu researchers found that 78% of gamers reported life-changing experiences from play—from coping with stress to building identity. Findings will be presented at @chiplay.bsky.social later this month. www.washington.edu/news/2025/09...

At @hcde.uw.edu, we will be hiring an Assistant or Associate Teaching Professor this coming year! Timing wise, we are hiring for a Sept. 2026 start date, but could be sooner. We are looking forward to welcoming a new colleague! Learn more and apply at apply.interfolio.com/171881

Professor Julie Kientz has been reappointed as Chair of HCDE for a second five-year term, recognized for guiding the department’s growth and fostering a supportive, inclusive community. www.hcde.washington.edu/news/article...

Hi Seattle! Come see my talk on the history of human-computer interaction. I'll explain U.S. gov funding of science has led to many of the innovations that power our economy & shape our lives — and call out the short-sightedness & hypocrisy of efforts to defund science in this field & so many others

HCDE has an outstanding opportunity for an Assistant / Associate Teaching Professor to join our faculty! We seek applicants with expertise in areas like engineering design, interactive programming, ML/AI, AR/VR, data science, fabrication, and more, with a focus on project-based, inclusive teaching.

📢 New paper, published by @knightcolumbia.org We often talk about AI agents augmenting vs. automating work, but how exactly can different configurations of human-agent interaction look like? We introduce a 5-level framework for AI agent autonomy to unpack this. 🧵👇

Does your work explore mis/disinformation, scams, hate speech, or other forms of harmful information online? We are convening a CSCW workshop to bring together a global community focused on information disorder. We welcome 2-6 page submissions, due August 8th. Cscw2025infodisorder.netlify.app

We got a visit from @seattletimes.com on Monday at KidsTeam. You can try Aayushi Dangol's AI Puzzlers for yourself! @hcde.uw.edu @ischool.uw.edu @juliekientz.bsky.social @jasoncyip.bsky.social

Congrats to HCDE Professor & Chair Julie Kientz on being elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences! As a WSAS member, she’ll bring expertise in inclusive tech design to support evidence-based policy across WA state.

Why are laid-off tech workers experiencing "cruel optimism"? HCDE PhD student Samuel So joined @kuow.org to share insights from his research into the psychological toll of tech industry layoffs. 🎧 Listen to the full interview here: www.kuow.org/stories/layo...

We had some fantastic interns, the "Handy Dandies", from @uofwa.bsky.social's @uw-hcde.bsky.social capstone program, who helped us improve our Reuse Materials Store. Their transformative efforts earned them a Leadership Award, so please help us congratulate them and celebrate their work 🔨🫶

Are you smarter than #AI? @uw-hcde.bsky.social researchers have created a game that shows kids how they’re smarter than AI. They found the kids learned to think critically about AI responses and discovered ways to nudge the systems toward better answers. More: www.washington.edu/news/2025/07...

Just published: "Unraveling the Big Lie: Participatory Disinformation and the 2020 Election." Thrilled to see this work out in the world and part of such an amazing compilation. My chapter features my initial research and model on "participatory disinformation": academic.oup.com/book/60493?l...

Really excited to draw attention to this dissertation by Melinda McClure Haughey (@melm.cc‬). Melinda's research explored collaborative infrastructure for supporting the "sensemaking" work of journalists working on high-stakes, fast-paced & often data-driven beats. www.melm.cc/research/dis...

Exceited to share this Lawfare article by two star students on our elections research team. It's about how the right has used courts to spread and legitimize (false) election fraud claims as part of a broader effort to justify new restrictions to voting rights. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-...

UW researchers Aayushi Dangol and Julie Kientz (HCDE) and Jason Yip (iSchool) created AI Puzzlers—a game to show kids where AI systems still typically and blatantly fail: solving certain reasoning puzzles. www.washington.edu/news/2025/07...

Camryn Soo (BS ’25) spent two years tracing the history of HCDE through archives, interviews, and coursework. Her research highlights a long tradition of rethinking engineering and celebrating work that defies easy labels.

As part of HCDE’s 2025 graduation, Professor Kate Starbird hosted a teach-in on the Foundations and Futures of HCI—tracing how public research shaped the tech we use today, and why inclusive, human-centered innovation must guide what comes next. 🎥 Review takeaways or watch the recording here:

Congratulations to the HCDE Class of 2025! This week we celebrated the achievements of 220 grads in our annual Graduation & Awards Ceremony. View highlights + a recording here: www.hcde.washington.edu/news/article...

HCDE Prof. Katya Cherukumilli is leading research to study and address issues with drinking water quality in WA schools. Working with state agencies, students are analyzing water testing data and identifying barriers that prevent schools from accessing and using available remediation funding.

I'll be at #DIS2025 presenting some findings from my first ever project as a PhD student (a labor of love heavily inspired by my own experiences): "Partnership through Play: Investigating How Long-Distance Couples Use Digital Games to Facilitate Intimacy" (arxiv.org/pdf/2505.09509) (details in🧵)

Our team at the UW Center for an Informed Public is recruiting for our next class of Community Fellows (for the 2025-2026 school year). Learn more about the program, apply, and/or pass our call along to folks you think might be a good fit for our next cohort!

HCDE Professor Sean Munson co-directs UW's ALACRITY Center, where researchers across campus are redesigning mental health care to be more accessible and effective in everyday settings like clinics and schools. Their work is powered by federal funding—without it, progress is at risk.

UW Engineering has launched two new stackable master’s degrees—and HCDE’s Certificate in User Centered Design is one of the building blocks. Our certificate can now count toward: + MS in AI & ML for Engineering + Master of Engineering in Multidisciplinary Engineering Learn more or apply:

Offshore wind and marine energy can boost energy security and economic revitalization along our coastlines. HCDE’s Shana Hirsch leads research that centers community voices in the development of this emerging industry, but recent cuts to federal funding put this community-driven research at risk.

In a recent interview with @opb.org, HCDE Professor Kate Starbird discusses how sweeping cuts to federal research funding are impacting universities and scientific research efforts across the US. Listen here:

A nice writeup, from the perspective of @uw-hcde.bsky.social, on the impact of our National Institute of Mental Health-funded research in the UW ALACRITY Center.

From clean water to clean energy, mental health to AI literacy, HCDE researchers are applying human-centered design to some of today's most pressing challenges. Explore how federal research funding advances knowledge and sparks innovation that serves communities both locally and nationally.