SusBench: An Online Benchmark for Evaluating Dark Pattern Susceptibility of Computer-Use Agents
Proceedings of the 31st International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI 2026). Acceptance rate: 20%.
Publications
The papers listed here are archival, peer-reviewed journal and conference publications. In computing-related disciplines, conferences are premiere publication venues with selectivity and impact matching or exceeding that of journals. If you are looking for a workshop or panel submission or another juried or lightly reviewed publication by members of the User Empowerment Lab, please reach out to uelab@uw.edu; we are always excited to share our work with interested readers.
2026
Quantifying the Novelty Bias when Evaluating Interactive Prototypes
Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2026). Acceptance rate: 25%.
Best paper honorable mention (top 5%)
Mobile Gambling: Unexplored Risks to Children and Families
Pediatrics, 157(3):e2025073040, 2026.
Decoupling of Usefulness and Novelty: Evaluating the Impact of Generative AI on Design Outputs and Designers' Creative Thinking
Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2026). Acceptance rate: 25%.
Do Attachment Styles Shape ChatGPT Usage?
Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT 2026).
Ability Heuristics for Conducting Accessibility Inspections
Proceedings of the 44th annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2026). Acceptance rate: 25%.
The Engagement-Prolonging Designs Teens Encounter on Very Large Online Platforms
Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2026). Acceptance rate: 25%.
Risks and Consequences of Children's Use of Social AI
Pediatrics (in press).
2025
Understanding Privacy Norms Around LLM-Based Chatbots: A Contextual Integrity Perspective
Proceedings of the 2025 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES 2025). Acceptance rate: 32%.
Trust-Enabled Privacy: Social Media Designs to Support Adolescent User Boundary Regulation
Proceedings of the 21st Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS 2025).
Using Screenshot Data to Examine the Phone Use People Regret
Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2025). Acceptance rate: 25%.
Problematic Media Use as a Content-Neutral, Enforceable Harm
The Journal of Online Trust and Safety (JOTS), 3(1), 2025.
Privacy as Social Norm: Systematically Empowering Teen Privacy Management on Social Media
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CSCW), 9(2):CSCW151, 2025.
Toward Nonviolent Design: Co-Designing a Human-Centered Framework for AI-Mediated Communication
Proceedings of the 2025 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES 2025). Acceptance rate: 32%.
You Go Through So Many Emotions Scrolling Through Instagram: How Teens Use Instagram to Regulate Their Emotions
Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2025). Acceptance rate: 25%.
Should ChatGPT Write Your Breakup Text? Exploring the Role of AI in Relationship Dissolution
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CSCW), 9(7):1-31, 2025.
Building the Beloved Community: Designing Technologies for Neighborhood Safety
Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2025). Acceptance rate: 25%.
Best paper honorable mention (top 5%)
Moving Toward the Metaverse: Children’s Avatar Making in Online Social Games
Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2025). Acceptance rate: 25%.
2024
A Temporal Model for Supporting Hard Conversations Online Through Design
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CSCW), 8(CSCW2):1-22, 2024.
Investigating Attention and Normative Dissociation in Children's Online Social Games
Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (IDC 2024). Acceptance rate: 29%.
'I Just Don’t Care Enough To Be Interested': Teens’ Moment-By-Moment Experiences on Instagram
In Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (IDC 2024). Acceptance rate: 29%.
Tuning into the World: Designing Community Safety Technologies to Reduce Dysfunctional Fear of Crime
In Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS 2024). Acceptance rate: 27%.
Aligned Co-Design: An Interdependent, Multi-Modal Method for People with Motor and Communication Disabilities
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction (IJHCI), 41(17):1-19, 2024.
From Text to Self: Users' Perception of AIMC Tools on Interpersonal Communication and Self
Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2024). Acceptance rate: 26%.
Best paper award (top 1%)
Representation Bias of Adolescents in AI: A Bilingual, Bicultural Study
Proceedings of the 2024 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES 2024). Acceptance rate: 38%.
ML-EAT: A Multilevel Embedding Association Test for Interpretable and Transparent Social Science
Proceedings of the 2024 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES 2024). Acceptance rate: 38%.
Dataset Scale and Societal Consistency Mediate Facial Impression Bias in Vision-Language AI
Proceedings of the 2024 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES 2024). Acceptance rate: 38%.
Sharing, Not Showing Off: How BeReal Approaches Authentic Self-Presentation on Social Media Through Its Design
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CSCW), 8(CSCW2):1-32, 2024.
2023
Self-Talk with Superhero Zip: Supporting Children’s Socioemotional Learning with Conversational Agents
In Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (IDC 2023). Acceptance rate: 29%.
Let Kids Wonder, Question and Make Mistakes: How the Designers of Children’s Technology Think about Child Well-being
Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (IDC 2023). Acceptance rate: 29%.
SwitchTube: A Proof-of-Concept System Introducing 'Adaptable Commitment Interfaces' as a Tool for Digital Wellbeing.
Proceedings of the 2023 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2023). Acceptance rate: 27.6%.
Best paper honorable mention (top 5%)
Deceptive Design Patterns in Safety Technologies: A Case Study of the Citizen App
Proceedings of the 2023 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2023).
Best paper award (top 1%)
Parents' Ontological Beliefs Regarding the Use of Conversational Agents at Home: Resisting the Neoliberal Discourse
Learning, Media and Technology, 49(2):290–305, 2023.
2022
Shame on Who? Experimentally Reducing Shame During Political Arguments on Twitter
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 6(CSCW2):1-18, 2022.
Social Emotional Learning with Conversational Agents: Reviewing Current Designs and Probing Parents' Ideas for Future Ones
Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), 6(2):1-23, 2022.
Reclaiming Attention: Christianity and HCI
Interactions, 29(4):40-44, 2022.
'I Don’t Even Remember What I Read': How Design Influences Dissociation on Social Media
Proceedings of the 2022 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2022). Acceptance rate: 24.7%.
Monitoring Screen Time or Redesigning It? Two Approaches to Supporting Intentional Social Media Use
Proceedings of the 2022 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2022). Acceptance rate: 24.7%.
Prevalence and Characteristics of Manipulative Design in Mobile Applications Used by Children
JAMA Network Open, 5(6):e221764, 2022.
Examining Voice Assistants in the Context of Children’s Speech
International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction (IJCCI), 34(100540), 2022.
2021
How the Design of YouTube Influences User Sense of Agency
Proceedings of the 2021 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2021). Acceptance rate: 26%.
Someone is Wrong on the Internet: Having Hard Conversations in Online Spaces
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 5(CSCW1):1-22, 2021.
Parenting in a Pandemic: Juggling Multiple Roles and Managing Technology Use in Family Life During COVID-19 in the United States
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 5(CSCW2):1-39, 2021.
When Screen Time Isn’t Screen Time: Tensions and Needs Among Tweens and Their Parents During Nature-Based Exploration
Proceedings of the 2021 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2021). Acceptance rate: 26%.
Is Someone Listening? Audio Related Privacy Perceptions and Design Recommendations from Guardians, Pragmatists, and Cynics
Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), 5(3):1-23, 2021.
Understanding Blind Screen Reader Users' Experiences of Digital Artboards
Proceedings of the 2021 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2021). Acceptance rate: 26%.
Would You Rather: A Focus Group Method for Eliciting and Discussing Formative Design Insights with Children
Proceedings of the 20th annual ACM conference on interaction design and children (IDC 2021). Acceptance rate: 36%.
From Moral Panic to Systemic Change: Making Child-Centered Design the Default
International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, Special Issue in Review Articles in Child-Computer Interaction Research (IJCCI), 31(100351), 2021.
Can Conversational Agents Change the Way Children Talk to People?
Proceedings of the 20th annual ACM conference on interaction design and children (IDC 2021).
2020
A Privacy-Focused Systematic Analysis of Online Status Indicators
Proceedings on 20th annual Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PoPETS), 2020(3):384-403. Acceptance rate: 19%.
'Otter this World': Can a Mobile Application Promote Children’s Connectedness to Nature?
Proceedings of the 19th annual ACM conference on interaction design and children (IDC 2020). Acceptance rate: 31%.
User Experiences with Online Status Indicators
Proceedings of the 2020 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2020). Acceptance rate: 24%.
From Ancient Contemplative Practice to the App Store: Designing a Digital Container for Mindfulness
Proceedings of the ACM conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS 2020). Acceptance rate: 24%.
Parenting with Alexa: Exploring the Introduction of Smart Speakers on Family Dynamics
Proceedings of the 2020 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2020). Acceptance rate: 24%.
Assumptions Checked: How Families Learn About and Use the Echo Dot
Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), 4(1):1-23, 2020.
2019
Intentional Technology Use in Early Childhood Education
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, CSCW, 3:78(1-22), 2019.
No Touch Pig! Investigating Child-Parent Use of a System for Training Executive Function
Proceedings of the 18th annual ACM conference on interaction design and children (IDC 2019). Acceptance rate: 31%.
Lights, Music, Stamps! Evaluating Mealtime Tangibles for Preschoolers
Proceedings of the 13th annual ACM conference on tangible, embedded, and embodied interactions (TEI 2019). Acceptance rate: 34%.
Understanding Parents’ Perspectives on Mealtime Technology
Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), 3(1):5, 1-19, 2019.
'Everything's the Phone': Understanding the Phone’s Supercharged Role in Parent-Teen Relationships
Proceedings of the 2019 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2019). Acceptance rate: 23%.
Modeling the Engagement-Disengagement Cycle of Compulsive Phone Use
Proceedings of the 2019 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2019). Acceptance rate: 23%.
Laughing is Scary, but Farting is Cute: A Conceptual Model of Children’s Perspectives of Creepy Technologies
Proceedings of the 2019 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI ’19), 73:1-15. Acceptance rate: 23%.
Communication Breakdowns Between Families and Alexa
Proceedings of the 2019 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2019). Acceptance rate: 23%.
Anchored Audio Sampling: A Seamless Method for Exploring Children’s Thoughts and Reactions During Deployment Studies
Proceedings of the 2019 ACM conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI 2019). Acceptance rate: 23%.
Best paper award (top 1%)
2018
Let's Play! Digital and Analog Play Patterns between Preschoolers and Parents
Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2018). Acceptance rate: 25.7%.
The Stamp Plate and the Kicking Chair: Playful Productivity for Mealtime in Preschools
Proceedings of the 19th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (IDC 2018). Acceptance rate: 29%.
Why Doesn't It Work? Voice-Driven Interfaces and Young Children's Communication Repair Strategies
Proceedings of the 19th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (IDC 2018). Acceptance rate: 29%.
What Makes Smartphone Use Meaningful or Meaningless?
Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), 2(1):1-26, 2018.
Joint Media Engagement between Parents and Preschoolers in the U.S., China, and Taiwan
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, CSCW, 2(192):1-19, 2018.
Coco’s Videos: An Empirical Investigation of Video-Player Design Features and Children's Media Use
Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2018). Acceptance rate: 25.7%.
Best paper honorable mention (top 5%)
2017
Co-Designing with Preschoolers Using Fictional Inquiry and Comicboarding
Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017). Acceptance rate: 25%.
It wasn't really about the Pokémon: Parents' Perspectives on a Location-Based Mobile Game
Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017). Acceptance rate: 25%.
Plan & Play: Supporting Intentional Media Use in Early Childhood
Proceedings of the 18th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (IDC 2017). Acceptance rate: 21%.
Best paper honorable mention (top three papers)
Toward the Operationalization of Visual Metaphor
Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), 68(10):2338-2349, 2017.
Evaluating an iPad Game to Address Overselectivity in Preliterate AAC Users with Minimal Verbal Behavior
Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2017). Acceptance rate: 22%.
Best paper honorable mention (top seven papers)
2016
Why Would You Do That? Predicting the Uses and Gratifications Behind Smartphone-Usage Behaviors
Proceedings of the 2016 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp 2016). Acceptance rate: 26%.
Screen Time Tantrums: How Families Manage Screen Media Experiences for Young Children
Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2016). Acceptance rate: 23%.
Best paper honorable mention (top 5%)
MyTime: Interventions to Support Intentional Smartphone Use
Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2016). Acceptance rate: 23%.
Hidden Symbols: How Informal Symbolism in Digital Interfaces Disrupts Usability for Preschoolers
International Journal of Human Computer Studies (IJHCS), 90:53-67, 2016.
Not at the Dinner Table: Parents' and Children's Perspectives on Family Technology Rules
Proceedings of the 19th Annual ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW 2016). Acceptance rate: 25%.
2015
Touchscreen Prompts for Preschoolers: Designing Developmentally Appropriate Techniques for Teaching Young Children to Perform Gestures
Proceedings of the 16th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (IDC 2015). Acceptance rate: 23%.
Texting While Parenting: How Adults Use Mobile Phones When Caring for Children at the Playground
Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2015). Acceptance rate: 25%.
Contributions of Symbolic and Non-symbolic Number Sense to Mathematical Ability in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Journal of Autism and Development Disorders (JADD), 46(4):1268-1281, 2015.
2014
@BabySteps: Design and Evaluation of a System for Using Twitter for Tracking Children's Developmental Milestones
Proceedings of the 2014 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2014). Acceptance rate: 23%.
2013
Go Go Games: Therapeutic Video Games for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Proceedings of the 14th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (IDC 2013). Acceptance rate: 33%.