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Research

Awareness, Learning, and Behavior

How can design support people in making more informed decisions, building healthy habits, or reflecting on their daily lives? Researchers in this cluster explore how technology and design shape human awareness, thinking, and behavior—with an emphasis on ethics, equity, and real-world impact.

We study the ways design can support individual and collective wellbeing—while also recognizing that interventions may have unintended consequences or reinforce inequities. Our work examines how people interact with information and systems, and how these interactions influence behavior and decision-making.

Drawing from research on behavior change, social influence, motivation, reflection, and mindfulness, we design and evaluate tools that aim to support awareness and learning in diverse contexts. These include health and wellness, education, leisure, civic engagement, politics, digital wellbeing, and sustainability.

HCDE Researchers

Keywords

Behavior Change

Civic Engagement

Design Patterns

Digital Wellbeing

Education

Engagement

Engineering

Health Systems & Services

Incentives and Motivation

Leisure

Mindfulness

Personalized Health

Politics

Public Health

Reflection

Social Influence

Sustainability

Wellbeing

Recent Publications

Coming soon.

Explore Research Clusters

HCDE’s Research Clusters are collaborative focus areas that reflect major themes in the department’s work. Explore our clusters to learn more about the ideas driving research in HCDE, and the people making it happen. 

Awareness, Learning, and Behavior  Social Interactions and Online Communities  Coordination, Collaboration, and Infrastructure  Just and Sustainable Futures  Novel Systems and Technologies  AI and Data Science