June 2025
On May 22, 2025, Mina Lee, an Assistant Professor in Computer Science and Data Science at the University of Chicago, presented during the last Technology and Social Behavior Colloquium of the 2024/2025 school year, hosted in Northwestern’s Center for Human-Computer Interaction + Design. Lee’s research on writing with AI and her focus on its transformative effects on individuals’ writing process, content, and identity as writers sheds light on AI’s helpful or detrimental capabilities.
May 2025
Thank you to Dr. Oliver Haimson for joining the HCI+D community on May 15th to discuss his new book "Trans Technologies" and join Dr. Calvin Liang in a discussion of the books main themes and ideas.
May 2025
On Friday, May 9th, Deb Roy, Professor at MIT, spoke for the Technology and Social Behavior Colloquium on "From Outrage to Understanding: Conversation Networks, AI, and Human Agency"
May 2025
On Thursday, May 15th, Dr. Oliver Haimson from the University of Michigan will be joining HCI+D for a talk on his new book, "Trans Technologies" and a conversation with affiliate Calvin Liang.
April 2025
Congratulations to Michael Horn, professor of Learning and Computer Science, for receiving the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence.
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Northwestern Now
April 2025
Center affiliate and Jane S. & William J. White professor of Behavioral Sciences, Noshir Contractor, has been selected for the 2025-26 Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University.
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SONIC Lab
April 2025
The premier international conference of Human-Computer Interaction in the world, ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) CHI, is taking place in Yokohama, Japan, from April 26th to May 1st. Northwestern University proudly showcases groundbreaking work, with 19 faculty members and 10 students or postdocs presenting their research.
April 2025
On Thursday, April 3rd, Elissa M. Redmiles, Assistant Professor at Georgetown University, joined Northwestern's Technology and Social Behavior colloquium series to share lessons on internet governance and digital safety.
March 2025
The CHI Academy recognizes exceptional leaders in the Human-Computer Interaction field for their scholarly achievements, research excellence and contributions to society. Dr. Gerber is being recognized for her significant contributions to the field and her dedication to using design for social impact.
February 2025
Join us for an engaging conversation with Eric Horvitz and David Autor, contributing authors the Nation Academies Report on Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work, as they discuss with co-director Liz Gerber the insights to stay ahead in our rapidly changing world.
December 2024
During the 2023-24 year, The Center for Human-Computer Interaction + Design was able to achieve a number of milestones. From select accomplishments of faculty and student affiliates to activities the center has supported during the past year. We're looking forward to continuing to grow the center in the new year.
October 2024
Congratulations to faculty affiliate Andrea Graham on being appointed as Chief of the Division of Implementation Science in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine!
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Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine
October 2024
Co-director Elizabeth Gerber joins Professor Hatim Rahman to discuss some of the biggest challenges of adopting AI at work.
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Kellogg Insight
October 2024
Center co-director Liz Gerber will be joining Carissa Carter (Stanford) and Scott Doorley to discuss "Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future" on October 9th at 6pm CT.
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Family Action Network
September 2024
Earlier this summer, the Creative Interfaces Research + Design Studio (led by faculty affiliate Duri Long) collaborated with the Georgia Institute of Technology to display three AI literacy exhibits at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.
September 2024
Curious about a career in human-computer interaction? Wondering what resources are available at Northwestern to support your research? Just want to get advice from real world professionals?
Join the Center for Human-Computer Interaction + Design for an enlightening discussion with alumni as they share their journey through Northwestern programs, career paths, and their hard-earned knowledge.
June 2024
HCI+D co-director Darren Gergle and faculty affiliate Eleanor O'Rourke are working with researchers to to create an accessible infrastructure of new interaction techniques.
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UCI Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences
May 2024
Hannah Chung's journey from McCormick Engineering to co-founding Sproutel is a testament to the transformative power of design education.
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Northwestern McCormick School of Engineering
May 2024
How can we create more trustworthy and accountable social media that support diverse communities?
Join HCI+D and the Community Data Science Collective (CDSC) on May 23 at 4 p.m. CT for an engaging conversation about the challenges and opportunities of decentralized social media.
May 2024
We are so proud that the Center for Human-Computer Interaction + Design's community will collectively showcase 18 papers, works, panels, and other events at ACM CHI'24 in Honolulu Hawai'i.
May 2024
Contemporary information societies constitute complex adaptive systems that are strongly shaped by two interacting sets of rules: law and code. Recent advances in computing methods and technologies, combined with the increasing availability of data concerning every aspect of our lives, create unprecedented opportunities to tackle our world's biggest challenges, but also unprecedented risks for individuals, societies, and our planet at large. To seize the opportunities and mitigate the risks, we need a productive exchange between computer scientists, social scientists, humanities scholars, and legal scholars. In this talk, I will discuss different approaches to establishing such an exchange, from computational legal studies to ethical algorithm design. I will further describe how these approaches will help us achieve two long-term goals: developing a critical computational systems theory of law, and devising a
trans-disciplinary regulatory framework for responsible computing.
May 2024
Technical Difficulties centers the stories of female leaders in tech and design. In each episode, these women share career-defining moments, unexpected pivots, values they live and design by, and advice for students and new grads. Join Liz Gerber, Northwestern Professor and founder of Design for America, as we learn alongside the leaders designing a human-centered digital future.
May 2024
Large language models have revolutionized the way humans interact with Al systems, transforming a wide range of fields and disciplines. In this talk, we discuss several approaches to enhancing human-AI interaction using LLMs. The first one looks at social skill training with LLMs by demonstrating how we use LLMs to teach conflict resolution skills through simulated practice. The second part develops efficient learning methods for adapting LLMs to low-resource languages and dialects to reduce disparity in language technologies. We conclude by discussing how human-Al interaction via LLMs can empower individuals and foster positive change.
April 2024
HCI+D is honored to announce that center affiliate Professor Wei Chen has been elected to join the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Along with the 250 other members elected in 2024, Dr. Chen is being recognized for their excellence and is invited to uphold the Academy’s mission of engaging across disciplines and divides.
April 2024
The Center for Human-Computer Interaction + Design and the Cognitive Science Program are excited to welcome Dr. Munmun De Choudhury, Associate Professor at the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, to Northwestern on April 30th. Dr. Choudhury will be giving a talk entitled: "Does Social Media Support or Worsen Our Mental Well-Being? What Quasi-Experimental Studies Can Tell Us" on April 30th at 4pm in Swift Hall, Room 107. There will be a reception to follow.
April 2024
With the explosion of AI platforms, what is the future of work? Will we need “humans in the loop”?
Although these platforms are still in the early stages, implications are broadly significant. In this dialogue, we bring together researchers with distinct perspectives to discuss approaches for designing a desirable future of work for everyone. Tackling questions related to ethics, governance, and competition, this dialog will highlight the role of thoughtful design in achieving the vision of a desirable future of work for everyone.
April 2024
Interdisciplinary faculty and PhD students collaborate to push the boundaries of human computer interaction and design research.
March 2024
Join AI@NU for a conversation with innovative startup Phont on Friday, April 12 from 10-11am!
March 2024
Rather than treating social impact as a box to be checked to fulfill grant requirements (broader impact statements, anyone?), or community engagement only to inform policymakers' technocratic decisions, Lu and her coauthors argue that communities should be the ones exercising power in scientific decision making and participating as experts in the scientific process, in authentic and reciprocal partnerships with researchers.
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Journal of Science Policy & Governance
March 2024
Incoming Faculty Karan Ahuja Wins ACM SIGCHI Dissertation Award
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Northwestern Engineering
February 2024
Students learned the basics of soldering before building their own DIY contact and coil mics, learning about how to use them, and taking their own out for a spin.
February 2024
TSB Faculty Ágnes Horvát acts as a guest editor for a special issue on gender gaps in digital spaces in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
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Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
February 2024
Scholars of computer science, history, and law consider human-centered approaches to AI and the sound arts
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Northwestern Engineering
January 2024
The Technology & Social Behavior Ph.D. Program is excited to welcome Professor Chenhao Tan of University of Chicago to campus.
Professor Tan will give a talk entitled “Towards Human-centered AI: How to Generate Useful Explanations for Human-AI Decision Making” that will take place Thursday, February 8th from 4:00pm-5:00pm, with a reception to follow, in the Human-Computer Interaction + Design Center (Frances Searle Building, Room 1-122).
We welcome you to join!
January 2024
Author and educator Lesley-Ann Noel breaks down her book, "Design Social Change," for Northwestern students.
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Segal Design Institute
June 2023
Phones. Tablets. Cars. We are constantly interacting with computers, yet few of us get to participate in designing the systems and interfaces that increasingly mediate our everyday lives. This is because computing education has historically focused on training a select few to become professional software developers. However as computing is increasingly viewed as a core literacy that has value for all learners, this landscape is changing. In this dialog, we bring together researchers with distinct perspectives to discuss approaches for designing computing learning experiences for everyone. We ask: how can we design tools, curricula, and learning communities to foster interest, engagement, and broad participation in computing education? Tackling questions related to equity, scale, and context across K-12 and higher education, this dialog will highlight the role of thoughtful design in achieving the vision of computing education for everyone.
April 2023
Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere, but most people have limited understanding of how the technologies work. Researchers are working to bridge that divide.
January 2023
In December 2022 the Office of Undergraduate Research recognized undergraduate students for their research projects during their Fletcher Awards.
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Northwestern Now
November 2022
The two-day Lambert conference hosted by the Human-Computer Interaction + Design center explores the future of human and computer interaction.
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Northwestern Engineering
November 2022
Technology and Social Behavior PhD student Ryan Louie earned a 2022 Google PhD Fellowship in Human Computer Interaction
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Northwestern Engineering
November 2022
TEAMuP received a $1.8 million Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier award from NSF
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McCormick School of Engineering
October 2022
Join Northwestern’s Center for Human-Computer Interaction + Design (HCI+D) on October 24 and 25 for an engaging conference on how technology will influence the way we live, work, and play.
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Center for Human-Computer Interaction + Design
September 2022
Ryan Louie (TSB) awarded Google PhD Fellowship
June 2022
Michael Horn's Newly Published Book: Introduction to Digital Music with Python Programming
June 2022
Patricia Bao’s commitment is largest ever for Northwestern’s Center for Human-Computer Interaction and Design
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Northwestern Now
June 2022
Can regular users wield the value of their contributions as leverage against Big Tech?
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Northwestern Now
May 2022
DTR students Cindy Hu, Fardeem Munir, and Roxanna Wilcox earned top awards in the Undergraduate Category at the CHI 2022 Student Research Competition.
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Northwestern Engineering
May 2022
Premiere party for Forward, a documentary short film following Northwestern University’s Design, Technology, and Research (DTR) program led by associate professor Haoqi Zhang
May 2022
TSB is organizing a virtual panel on the topic of Tech, Media & Democracy, featuring Chris Bail (Duke), Mor Naaman (Cornell Tech) and Rebekah Tromble (George Washington) in conversation with our own Ágnes Horvát, and in collaboration with our partners at the Center for HCI+D and the Center for Communication and Public Policy.
May 2022
Join the Center for Robotics and Biosystems and the Center for Human-Computer Interaction + Design for a Seminar with Dean Kamen.
April 2022
Making Art with AI: Tool, Collaborator, or Competitor?
April 2022
Technology and Social Behavior Speaker Series
April 2022
A list of all the papers with Northwestern authors from the CHI 2022 conference.
March 2022
Speaker Kate Bergeron VP of Hardware Engineering
February 2022
Gregory D. Abowd presents their talk: The Internet of Materials: The next logical step or a paradigm shift?
November 2021
Panelists discussed systemic obstacles and shared perspectives on their transition from academia to industry
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Northwestern Engineering
September 2021
Center for Human Computer Interaction + Design Annual Report 2020-2021
May 2021
The award will support the improvement of learning and retention in introductory computer science courses
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Northwestern Engineering
December 2020
Northwestern’s Center for Human-Computer Interaction + Design hosted a virtual roundtable on December 4
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Northwestern Engineering
November 2020
Join Northwestern’s Center for Human-Computer Interaction + Design (HCI+D) for an engaging conversation about the past, present, and future of design on December 4, 1-2 p.m., CST (via Zoom)
September 2020
Center to develop the future of human and computer interaction
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Northwestern Engineering
November 2019
Noshir Contractor's team investigates how to self-assemble effective student- and faculty-based teams based on criteria such as learning, cohesiveness, and final performance.
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MyDreamTeam (MDT)
November 2019
Professor Brent Hecht finds that “protest users” are motivated by concerns about business models that profit from user data and privacy. Common tactics including stopping use and leveraging ad blockers.
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ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing
October 2019
Jessica Hullman’s Scientific American article weighs pros and cons of common data visualizations.
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Northwestern Computer Science
June 2019
Professor Nicholas Diakopoulos writes about AI enhanced journalism and the future of the knowledge economy.
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The Conversation
