Autumn 2026
From Power to Interests: Negotiation of Smart Home Care Arrangements to Support Older Adults Aging in Place
Smart home devices are increasingly marketed as tools for helping older adults age in place, but they often leave older adults with little say over how their own homes are monitored. This DRG builds on my past work, which examines how technology mediates care and support for older adults aging in place, and how smart home devices can change who holds power in informal care relationships. Studies 1 and 2 are complete. Study 1 found that older adults choose technologies based on their relationships, and that they resist being positioned only as recipients of care. Study 2 found that always-on smart home devices, such as cameras and smart speakers, often put control in the hands of whoever introduces and configures them, leaving older adults with few ways to question or change those arrangements.
This DRG will support Study 3, which designs and evaluates a structured negotiation protocol delivered through an LLM-based mediator tool. The tool aims to guide pairs of older adults and their family members or other support network members through scenarios about monitoring, data access, and device control. The goal is to help them move from positions like “I installed it because I care about you, so I need to see everything. Knowing you're safe matters more than your privacy” toward a shared understanding of what each person needs. The central question is whether making these imbalances visible can help families build care arrangements that are more trusting, equitable, and open to revision as circumstances change.
For the first three to four weeks, the DRG will be a reading and discussion group. We will read across HCI, gerontology, privacy, and conflict resolution to understand the background and context. These discussions will also inform final refinements to the tool and the interview protocol. For the rest of the quarter, students will help pilot the negotiation tool, support participant recruitment, and, after completing human subjects training, take part in initial dyadic interviews. This DRG is especially well suited for students interested in aging and accessibility, privacy, human-AI interaction, qualitative methods, or design for families and care relationships. It is open to students from any department. No technical or AI background is required. Students should bring curiosity about aging, care, and technology, and a willingness to read across disciplines.
This DRG will be led by Shengzhi Wang, HCDE PhD Candidate, under the supervision of Dr. Beth Kolko and Dr. Sean Munson.
Enrollment information
Credits: 2
Meeting Time: DRG will meet for approximately 2 hours each week (in person or hybrid) and will require 4-6 hours of outside work per week. Meeting schedules will be decided based on DRG member availability.
Application: Complete this Google Form
Application deadline: September 26, 2026
Anticipated notification date: September 28, 2026
Questions: Shengzhi Wang, shengzw@uw.edu
Autumn 2026
The crisis in US science: How did academic institutions respond?
Instructors: Meg Moldestad, PhD candidate; Dr. Beth Kolko, faculty advisor
The overall goal of my dissertation research is to investigate rapid, large-scale disruptions – or crises – on scientific research in the US and contribute empirically and theoretically to the emerging field of science in crisis. My dissertation is a case study on the impacts of the second Trump administration’s actions on the US research enterprise. Studies 1 and 2 have been completed, which looked at policy frames and individual researcher experiences, respectively.
This DRG will focus on the findings for my third and final study, which examines the gap between the administration’s mandates on indirect cost rates (IDC) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and enforcement of those mandates. It will also explore how three publicly funded universities responded to these changes.
Students will gain experience in primary qualitative data collection and preliminary analysis using publicly available documentary data (e.g., executive orders, university statements, etc.). Participants will learn how to identify data sources, and collect and analyze data using template and matrix approaches. No specific research background is required, though preference may be given to students with qualitative research experience. This project is open to students from any department. This 2 credit DRG will meet for approximately 2 hours each week in-person and will require 4 - 6 hours of outside work per week.
Enrollment information
- Meeting time: Meeting time will be determined based on student availability; the date and time will be decided by Sept. 25, 2026.
- Credits: 2
- Who should apply: Anyone interested in the topic area and qualitative research. No prior experience required.
- This DRG does count toward the PhD research requirement.
- To apply: Complete this Google form.
- Application deadline: September 21, 2026
- Anticipated notification date: September 23, 2026
- Questions? Meg Moldestad, momo63@uw.edu.
Autumn 2026
Rethinking Economics from the Perspective of People First
The DRG is designed as an interdisciplinary reading and discussion group, not a technical economics seminar. Vishnu’s current dissertation work examines how HCDE can engage with economic questions, especially around tariffs, human capital, and lived impacts of policy. Students do not need formal economics training; the goal is to collectively interpret, question, and humanize economic ideas. Economics often uses mathematical models and quantitative indicators to explain social systems. In this DRG however, we will ask how those models connect—or fail to connect—to lived human experience. Here, we explore the ways in which economic policies, models, and indicators shape everyday life. We will ask how HCDE perspectives can help us understand not only what economic systems measure, but also what they miss. Rather than asking only whether an economic policy “works” in aggregate, we will ask: for whom, under what conditions, at what cost, and according to whose measures? We will treat economic models and indicators as designed ways of seeing the world: powerful, partial, and open to human-centered critique.
Over the quarter, we will read and discuss approximately six papers at the intersection of economics, human-centered design, policy, sociology, STS, and related fields. Some readings will be selected by the instructor to support ongoing dissertation work on the human side of economics; others will be chosen collaboratively by the group based on participants’ interests. Possible topics include tariffs and everyday consumers, human capital, consumer confidence, labor and work, inequality, infrastructure, and how economic indicators do—or do not—capture lived experience. No prior economics background is required. Students should bring curiosity, willingness to read across disciplines, and interest in asking how economic systems affect people. This DRG is especially well suited for students interested in human-centered research, policy, social impacts of technology, design justice, public interest technology, or interdisciplinary research methods.
This DRG will be led by Vishnupriya (Vishnu), HCDE PhD student, under the supervision of Dr. Beth Kolko. The group will meet weekly for discussion.
Enrollment information
- Meeting time: Mondays, 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
- Credits: 2
- Who should apply: Students who are willing to read, think, and discuss.
- To apply: Complete this google form.
- Application deadline: October 1, 2026, at 5 p.m.
- Anticipated notification date: Rolling admissions.
- Questions? Contact Vishnu at vishnura@uw.edu
Autumn 2026
New Directed Research Group opportunity: Build an Unexpected Company
If you’re a founder, or want to be a founder, or have considered becoming a founder, this is for you. Come join the group at Unexpected Venture for 10 weeks of intense building and discover where the journey takes you. Apply to build an Unexpected Company here.
Run by three experienced founders (Omri Mor, Steve Krenzel, and HCDE Professor Beth Kolko), this Directed Research Group will be a “doing” group. Basically, an incubator. It doesn't matter what department you're in. You’ll be able to sign up for credits if you need/want (HCDE 496 or HCDE 596), but it’s not required. This is for anyone who wants to build — no prior founding experience, technical background, or specific coursework required. If you’ve got an idea and a team, great. If you have more than one idea and no team and no idea which idea to pursue, also great. If you have a team but no idea, also great.
Apply here, and for those selected, you’ll meet with the team and other founders every Monday from 4 - 6 p.m. You’ll hear from speakers, you’ll have office hours with Omri, Steve, and Beth, and you’ll learn from watching your peers build.
By the end of ten weeks, if you’re ready we’ll put you in front of investors, and if not, we’ll keep working with you until you are. And if you decide founding isn’t for you, that’s ok, too. Just come curious and willing to work.
Dr. Kolko's research group archive