Faculty and research scientists in the department of Human Centered Design & Engineering run directed research groups, which offer students a wide range of opportunities to do hands-on work, from conducting usability tests for local companies all the way to collecting data on communication issues internationally.

Students interested in participating in directed research must get permission directly from the faculty member leading the group. Students enroll in course HCDE 496/596. For details on how to register, please visit the Variable Credit Registration Policy. Check this webpage frequently as Directed Research Groups are added leading up to the beginning of the quarter.

Spring 2020 Research Groups

• Project EMAR: Hack-a-Bot for Evil (Björling, Cakmak, Bhatia)
• Project RESeT: Relaxation Environment for Stress in Teens (Björling, Sonney, Rodriguez)
• Human Centered Design in London Preparatory Seminar (Craft, Fox)
• The Internet of Light (Craft)
• HCD charrette for K-12 outreach (Davidson, Bipat)
• Online Experiences and Foster Care (Fowler, Zachry)
• Make It Work: Prototyping Futures (Fox)
• Children's Digital Media and Technologies Design Toolkit (Kawas, Kientz)
• Analyzing and Supporting Twitter-Based Science Communication (Williams, Mallari, Hsieh, Reinecke)

No longer accepting applicants for Spring 2020

• Human Centered Natural Language Processing (Aragon)
• Exploring the Impact of Outreach in Engineering Education (Davidson, Bipat, Roldan)
• UX Skills + ________ = Leadership (McDonald, Berg)

Winter 2020 Research Groups

• Dear Design: Capturing, representing and interpreting everyday design processes (Atman, Shroyer)
• The Internet of Light (Craft)
• Exploring the Impact of Outreach in Engineering Education (Davidson, Bipat, Roldan)
• HCD charrette for K-12 outreach (Davidson, Bhattacharya, Bipat)
• Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM (Haselkorn, Mays, Linjse)
• Interactive mobile app to support individuals with tuberculosis (TB) (Kientz, Iribarren)
• Children's Digital Media and Technologies Design Toolkit (Kientz, Kawas)
• Location-Based Gaming and Mental Health (Kientz, Lee, Windleharth, Yip, Aragon, Bhattacharya)
• Mobile Health as an Avenue to Reduce Health Disparities-Systematic Literature Review (Kientz, DeWitt)
• Family Informatics Solution for Parent-Child Asthma Management (Kientz, Sonney)
• Reading Group on Data-Centric Approaches and the Changing Practices and Cultures of Science (Lee, Sutherland)
• UX Skills + ________ = Leadership (McDonald, Berg)
• Designing to Support Clients and Therapists in Engaging with Therapeutic Activities (Munson, Agapie)
• Redesigning YouTube to Remove Dark Patterns (Munson, Lukoff)
• Memes of Production (Peek)
• Fabricatable machines: rapid prototyping of rapid prototyping machines (Peek)
• Data Then and Now Speaker Series & Reading Group (Ribes, Finn, Tanweer)
• STEAM Outreach through the Lens of Play, Creativity, and Movement (Spyridakis)
• Tools for Exploratory Analysis of Social Media Communities (Starbird, Beers)
• A Mixed-Methods Understanding of Student Reflection in Engineering Education (Turns, Meija)

No longer accepting applicants for Winter 2020

• Human Centered Natural Language Processing (Aragon)
• Project EMAR (Björling, Cakmak)
• Project RESeT: Relaxation Environment for Stress in Teens (Björling, Sonney)
• Co-design with older adults and designers (Kientz, Sakaguchi-Tang)
• A Human-Centered Design for Access to Justice (McDonald, Winn)