UXP2 Lab
During my time at the UXP2 Lab, I worked closely with Dr. Colin M. Gray as well as Dr. Sai Shruthi Chivukula. I played a key role in multiple NSF-funded projects by executing comprehensive research methodologies and conducting in-depth data analysis. My research focus was the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction, Design Practice, and Design Ethics. My publications are presented in the sections below.
Project Duration & Type
2 Years, NSF-funded Research Projects
My Contributions
Ethnographic Research, Thematic Analysis
Advisor
Dr. Colin M. Gray
End User Accounts of Dark Patterns as Felt Manipulation
Abstract
Manipulation defines many of our experiences as a consumer, including subtle nudges and overt advertising campaigns that seek to gain our attention and money. With the advent of digital services that can continuously optimize online experiences to favor stakeholder requirements, increasingly designers and developers make use of "dark patterns"-forms of manipulation that prey on human psychology-to encourage certain behaviors and discourage others in ways that present unequal value to the end user. In this paper, we provide an account of end user perceptions of manipulation that builds on and extends notions of dark patterns. We report on the results of a survey of users conducted in English and Mandarin Chinese (n=169), including follow-up interviews from nine survey respondents. We used a card sorting method to support thematic analysis of responses from each cultural context, identifying both qualitatively-supported insights to describe end users' felt experiences of manipulative products and a continuum of manipulation. We further support this analysis through a descriptive analysis of survey results and the presentation of examples from the interviews. We conclude with implications for future research, considerations for public policy, and guidance on how to further empower and give users autonomy in their experiences with digital services.
Citation
Colin M Gray, Jingle Chen, Shruthi Sai Chivukula, and Liyang Qu. 2021. End User Accounts of Dark Patterns as Felt Manipulation. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5, CSCW2(2021), Article 372. https://doi.org/10.1145/3479516
Identity Claims that Underlie Ethical Awareness and Action
Abstract
HCI and STS researchers have previously described the ethical complexity of practice, drawing together aspects of organizational complexity, design knowledge, and ethical frameworks. Building on this work, we investigate the identity claims and beliefs that impact practitioners’ ability to recognize and act upon ethical concerns in a range of technology-focused disciplines. In this paper, we report results from an interview study with 12 practitioners, identifying and describing their identity claims related to ethical awareness and action. We conducted a critically-focused thematic analysis to identify eight distinct claims representing roles relating to learning, educating, following policies, feeling a sense of responsibility, being a member of a profession, a translator, an activist, and deliberative. Based on our findings, we demonstrate how the claims foreground building competence in relation to ethical practice. We highlight the dynamic interplay among these claims and point towards implications for identity work in socio-technical contexts.
Citation
Shruthi Sai Chivukula, Aiza Hasib, Ziqing Li, Jingle Chen, and Colin M Gray. 2021. Identity Claims that Underlie Ethical Awareness and Action. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems(CHI’21). https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445375
Dimensions of UX Practice that Shape Ethical Awareness
Abstract
HCI researchers are increasingly interested in describing the complexity of design practice, including ethical, organizational, and societal concerns. Recent studies have identified individual practitioners as key actors in driving the design process and culture within their respective organizations, and we build upon these efforts to reveal practitioner concerns regarding ethics on their own terms. In this paper, we report on the results of an interview study with eleven UX practitioners, capturing their experiences that highlight dimensions of design practice that impact ethical awareness and action. Using a bottom-up thematic analysis, we identified five dimensions of design complexity that influence ethical outcomes and span individual, collaborative, and methodological framing of UX activity. Based on these findings, we propose a set of implications for the creation of ethically-centered design methods that resonate with this complexity and inform the education of future UX practitioners.
Citation
Shruthi Sai Chivukula, Chris Rhys Watkins, Rhea Manocha, Jingle Chen, and Colin M Gray. 2020. Dimensions of UX Practice that Shape Ethical Awareness. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Honolulu, HI, USA) (CHI ’20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376459
