Participatory Design (PD) as a Method for more Ethical Computer Science
Throughout my work I have relied on HCI research methods and, in particular, PD methods to be able to co-design technology with vulnerable groups in in-person and online/remote settings. In particular, the use of value-sensitive and speculative design approaches have helped me to include and amplify the voices of study participants and stakeholders from the very beginning of the design process. This has been particularly important in my research as I have been working with vulnerable populations around sensitive topics. After all, the way and the type of technology that we end up designing can have several unintended negative impacts or consequences in people’s lives as my work has shown. In this sense, the design of my studies using participatory strategies have aimed to unpack the tensions, values and needs of participants via the use of dialogic and democratic strategies that allow researchers to foreground values and needs of participants within a ‘wicked’ social problem space.

Moving forward with my research agenda, I am interested in tackling the design of technologies using machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). Such technologies may reflect and even exacerbate systemic bias and inequalities experienced by racial and gender minorities and other vulnerable and stigmatized groups. There is an expanding line of research that calls for a more transparent and human-centered design process of the algorithms and data management in ML and AI systems. I argue that PD and the strategies that I have used in my prior work could lead the way towards a more ethical way to design algorithm-based systems.

Technology for Navigating Stigmatized Identities
Via a collaborative and interdisciplinary effort with a research team in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota, I have been in charge of the organization, design and deployment of in-person PD workshops that use speculative design artifacts and activities to co-design technologies that would allow gender expansive teens to better navigate their coming-out as well as the gender identity exploration process.

Technology for Self-Disclosure of Stigmatized Conditions
My work with people living with HIV uncovered a gap in HCI research where there has been a tendency to design technology that would focus primarily on medication adherence and treatment rather than addressing the deleterious impact of HIV-related stigma. Studies conducted under this research project have identified and discussed the limitations and barriers of online platforms like social media and online forums in allowing people cope with HIV-related stigma via disclosing their condition to others. Consequently, I have also conducted studies to co-design customized technology concepts that could help mediate self-disclosure and social support exchange. Based on the findings and outcomes of these studies, we are currently running another study using a low-fidelity prototype to probe participants on using technology that would mediate sensitive self-disclosures in both remote and in-person scenarios.

Read more:

How to Design for Public HIV-related Stigma?

Conducting HCI on Stigma

Privacy Unraveling as a Threat to Disclosure Choice Around Sensitive Information in Online Social Environments

Conducting HCI Research Remotely
Most of the research in HCI with vulnerable populations has relied on in-person studies. Yet,  conducting research with such stigmatized populations in FtF settings can be challenging as participants may worry about their privacy and confidentiality. Consequently in order to address this additional gap in our field, this research project investigates and assesses ways to conduct research with vulnerable and stigmatized groups in online settings. Studies in this line of research has contributed with lessons learned and best practices that range from managing informed consent to data collection and data analysis.

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Defining through Expansion: Conducting Asynchronous Remote Communities (ARC) Research with Stigmatized Groups

Conducting HCI Research with People Living with HIV Remotely

Examining Mobility of Vulnerable Populations
Via a recent collaboration with researchers at the University of Michigan, we investigated the barriers and facilitators for transportation access by vulnerable groups in urban and rural areas. We used a remote participatory design methodology to generate prototypes of favor-based systems that could help people get rides from others to get to health care appointments and grocery stores.

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Examining Mobility Among People Living with HIV in Rural Areas

Trust, Reciprocity, and the Role of Timebanks as Intermediaries: Design Implications for Addressing Healthcare Transportation Barriers