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.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced it will cut nearly 2,000 jobs in WA. UW News spoke with Samuel So, @uw-hcde.bsky.social, about shifting views of the tech industry, workplace organizing and why workers find themselves in a state of “cruel optimism” with the industry.

I'm at #CHI2025 this week presenting my paper with Sourojit Ghosh on controlling unwanted content on TikTok's FYP: arxiv.org/abs/2504.13895. This paper was ~3 years in the making and I'm excited it finally found the (right) home!

HCDE researchers are contributing 33 papers to #CHI2025, including 1 Best Paper & 5 Honorable Mentions. 🎉 In addition, Kate Starbird will join the SIGCHI Academy, and Cecilia Aragon and Nadya Peek will receive Special Recognition for their contributions. www.hcde.washington.edu/news/article...

Excited to kick off DUB Research Day 2025! dub.washington.edu/seminars/202... A great local event ahead of UW's participation in CHI 2025! dub.washington.edu/posts/2025/c...

Ready to advance your career in UX research & design? HCDE’s Graduate Certificate in User Centered Design is a five-course, evening program for professionals ready to deepen their skills. Join us for an upcoming info session—applications due July 2025. Details: www.hcde.washington.edu/ucd

For those of you on the edge of #wxsky: I'm a PhD student studying human-computer interaction <> weather. I'm recruiting for a study on weather presentation formats and what you find trustworthy/credible. Doing 1hr interviews + survey. Pays $17! Screener: uwashington.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Help us enhance the Seattle REconomy customer experience! 🌟 We’re gathering feedback to improve the customer experience at the Shoreline Tool Library’s Reuse Store and we need your insights! Take a few minutes to complete this short survey: forms.gle/TGXWKAvJGc8A3sxs5

On Feb 24, I gave a lecture at UW explaining what my team's decade-plus research on online rumors during crises reveals about the right wing "bullshit machine." Fittingly, a lightning strike impacted the original audio. Here's a fixed version w/ the full transcript: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjiG...

Reminder for our alumni and friends in the San Francisco Bay Area: we are coming to Palo Alto this Thursday, March 13, for a conversation about safeguarding truth, privacy and wellbeing in the digital era. RSVP today; we hope to see you there! www.washington.edu/alumni/event...

Brett Halperin, a PhD student in HCDE and Cinema & Media Studies, was recently interviewed on @kuow.org SoundSide about AI’s growing role in Hollywood and the concerns it raises for film workers. Find the interview and a link to Halperin's research paper here: omny.fm/shows/sounds...

In the midst of all the nonsense coming out of the White House right now: I'm still trying to be excited about presenting some of the work I've been doing on misinformation education and games at #CHI2025. You can check out the pre-print here: arxiv.org/abs/2503.02135

New paper in International Peacekeeping with Naomi Miyashita, Laura De Backer, and @katestarbird.bsky.social: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

HCDE PhD student Danli Luo has developed an innovative system to transform used coffee grounds into a 3D-printable paste. By inoculating the paste with Reishi mushroom spores, Luo created a durable, compostable alternative to plastics, which can be used to print objects like packing materials.

In case you missed it, HCDE Professor Kate Starbird delivered the UW Faculty Lecture last week, about her research understanding how online rumors, misinformation and disinformation are created and shared in online—shining a light on the roles we and others play on social media and beyond.

“The Brutalist,” won 3 Oscars Sunday, showed AI generated architecture blueprints in a scene and its editor used a program called Respeecher to hone actors’ Hungarian pronunciations. Brett Halperin @uw-hcde.bsky.social on how AI is changing the film industry.

Danli Luo & @uw-hcde.bsky.social developed a system to turn used coffee grounds into a paste for 3D printing objects such as packing materials and a vase. The paste is inoculated with mushroom spores making it a fully compostable alternative to plastic. More: www.washington.edu/news/2025/02...

Congrats to @uw-hcde.bsky.social awardees @katestarbird.bsky.social, @ceciliaaragon.bsky.social, and Nadya Peek, plus PhD alum @alexishiniker.bsky.social and DUB colleague @profjayfo.bsky.social!

For Valentine's Day, @uwnews.bsky.social asked 12 faculty what sparked their love of research. HCDE Prof. Katya Cherukumilli, director of the Safe Water Equity and Longevity Lab, describes how her curiosity & proximity to water drew her to study safe water access: www.washington.edu/news/2025/02...

An alt title for our paper might’ve been “so you’ve decided to use LLMs; how do you even do rigorous science with them in HCI?” arxiv.org/abs/2501.12557 for use in your human-AI interaction CHI camera-readies 😌 #CHI2025

Coming on up February 24: @cip.uw.edu co-founder and @uw-hcde.bsky.social professor @katestarbird.bsky.social will present "A Spotlight on Rumors: Illuminating How Influence and Improvisation Shape Online Conversations," the 2025 University Faculty Lecture: www.washington.edu/facultystaff...

This @uwnews.bsky.social article details research by Robert Wolfe, Bill Howe and Alexis Hiniker of the iSchool, and Aayushi Dangol in @uw-hcde.bsky.social. Their research finds that cultural context matters in how AI references and predicts associations with teenagers. #acm #aiethics #phdsky

Join us in congratulating HCDE Professor Kate Starbird on receiving the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). This prestigious honor recognizes her groundbreaking research on the dynamics of misinformation and disinformation online.

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