Thu, 01/27/2022

HCDE alumnus Phil Spencer (BS '90) is the 2022 recipient of the College of Engineering Diamond Award in the category of Distinguished Achievement in Industry. Spencer is CEO of gaming at Microsoft, where he heads the Xbox brand and leads the global creative and engineering teams responsible for gaming at Microsoft.

Wed, 12/15/2021

HCDE Professors Cecilia Aragon and Sean Munson are named Distinguished Members of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for their outstanding scientific contributions to computing. Dr. Aragon is recognized for her research contributions to multiple computational areas related to processing large datasets, and Dr. Munson is recognized for his research contributions in social and collaborative health technologies.

Mon, 12/06/2021 | College of Engineering

When the Center for an Informed Public (CIP) launched in December 2019, no one knew what lay ahead. Kate Starbird, HCDE associate professor and CIP director, reflects on the CIP’s first two years and where it’s headed next.

Thu, 11/18/2021 | UW News

A team of researchers including HCDE's Raina Langevin, Rafal Kocielnik, Gary Hsieh, Amelia Wang, and Alexander Argyle developed a chatbot to ask emergency department visitors about social needs, including housing, food, access to medical care, and physical safety.

Mon, 11/08/2021

HCDE researchers David Ribes, Will Sutherland, Tom Wilson, Kate Starbird, Emma McDonnell, Steven Goodman, Leah Findlater, Andrew Berry, and Calvin Liang are recognized with Best Paper and Honorable Mention awards at the 2021 CSCW conference.

Tue, 10/19/2021

An interdisciplinary team from the University of Washington's Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering, Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, and UW School of Medicine received a grant from the Vaccine Confidence Fund to advance access to, and trust of, COVID-19 vaccine research.

Wed, 10/13/2021

HCDE Associate Professor Kate Starbird, a co-founder of the Center, assumes the director role after Information School Associate Professor Jevin West concluded his two-year term as director.

Tue, 10/12/2021 | UW Graduate School

Bias is a safety issue. Pilot Kimberly Perkins, a UW Interdisciplinary PhD student advised by HCDE Professor Cecilia Aragon, is using her doctoral research to prioritize psychological safety within the airline industry.

Mon, 10/11/2021

HCDE Professor & Chair Julie Kientz welcomes HCDE’s returning and incoming students, and shares opportunities for alumni and friends to connect with the Department in the coming months.

Fri, 10/01/2021

On September 28, 2021, HCDE welcomed recruiting and UX professionals from Google, Blink, Microsoft, and Wyze, for a panel discussion about UX interviews.

Fri, 09/17/2021

HCDE Professor Cecilia Aragon has received a new grant from the National Science Foundation aimed at diversifying human-centered data science through the research and design of ethical games. Over the course of two years, Aragon and her collaborators with the University of North Texas and UW's eScience Institute will study the learning experiences of a diverse group of undergraduates as the students research, design, and build a simulation game that teaches ethical thinking in data science and artificial intelligence.

Thu, 09/16/2021 | UW News

A new study led by HCDE alumni looked at if chatting with Alexa or Siri affects the way children communicate with their fellow humans. Probably not, the researchers found, noting that children are sensitive to context when it comes to these conversations. HCDE alumni who co-authored the study include Alexis Hiniker (PhD '17), Amelia Wang (BS '20), Jonathan Tran (BS '19), Kiley Sobel (PhD '18), and Sunsoo Ray Hong (PhD '18).

Mon, 09/13/2021

HCDE Professor Julie Kientz is the University of Washington lead on a newly-created network to tailor digital technologies for children, made possible by a recent $11 million grant to the University of California, Irvine, from the Jacobs Foundation. UW collaborators with Kientz include Information School Professors Jason Yip and Alexis Hiniker.

Wed, 09/01/2021

In a new paper in the journal Energy Research & Social Science, HCDE researchers Shana Hirsch and David Ribes discuss how HCDE research can be applied to issues of climate change, mitigation, and transitioning to a green energy future.

Tue, 08/31/2021

In a new summer program led by HCDE Assistant Professor Sucheta Ghoshal and collaborator J. Khadijah Abdurahaman, students from around the world explored designing tools and techniques for counter-fascism. The program was oriented around learning from social movements and community organizations that are fighting repression, violence, and extraction—particularly in the context of India, Tigray, Oromia, and the Black US South. In this article, Ghoshal describes how the program came to be and outcomes from the 2021 cohort.

Wed, 08/18/2021

A team including HCDE researchers including Rafal Kocielnik, Raina Langevin, Amelia Wang, Alex Argyle, and Gary Hsieh received an honorable mention award at the 2021 Conference for Conversational User Interfaces (CUI 2021) for their paper about understanding preferences for conversational user interfaces in healthcare settings.

Tue, 08/17/2021

The University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public (CIP) announced a new $2.25 million award from the National Science Foundation to study ways to apply collaborative, rapid-response research to mitigate online disinformation.

Thu, 07/08/2021

For their capstone project, HCDE students Sabreen Mohammed, Grace Barar, Nadir Tareen, and Kevin Kuo create Novoloom: a brand of ready-to-sew clothing kits that empower people to create their own custom clothes.

Fri, 07/02/2021

Dr. Sayamindu Dasgupta is an educator, designer, and researcher who studies creative learning technologies for young people, especially in contexts of the communities that they live, learn, and play in. Dasgupta joins the HCDE faculty as an assistant professor, beginning in January 2022.

Fri, 07/02/2021

The UW's Center for an Informed Public announces a $1 million gift from Craig Newmark Philanthropies to support the multidisciplinary research center's rapid-response research of election-related mis- and disinformation. HCDE Associate Professor Kate Starbird is a co-founder of the Center.

Fri, 07/02/2021

HCDE presented the department's annual award, the Mikey Award, to affiliate instructor Dr. Daniella Kim. Dr. Kim received the award at the 2021 Graduation & Awards ceremony on June 9, and had a message for the graduating students. Find the transcript of Dr. Kim's remarks here.

Tue, 06/29/2021

Mary-Colleen Jenkins and Tina Loucks-Jaret, two HCDE Lecturers who teach courses within the Engineering Communication Program, were recognized with award-winning work at the University of Washington's 2021 Teaching and Learning Symposium. Jenkins and Loucks-Jaret presented about using break out rooms to increase student engagement, bias-free and inclusive language for Engineering students, and fostering collaborative teams in online learning.

Thu, 06/24/2021

Since transitioning to emeritus status in 2014, HCDE Professor David K. Farkas has remained an active researcher in the field of technical communication. He recently received the Ken Rainey research award from the Society for Technical Communication for repeatedly demonstrating the ability to make research accessible across academic and industry communities.

Thu, 06/17/2021

An industry audit, customer research, and consultation with transit execs informed the HCDE students' approach.

Thu, 06/17/2021

Julie Zhuo, co-founder of Sundial and author of the bestselling book The Making of a Manager, delivered the 2021 Graduation Address for the University of Washington's Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering. The 2021 ceremony was recorded live on June 9, 2021.