Call for Research Assistantship Positions in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)

Keyword: Health, Personal Informatics, Mixed-methods design, Visualization, HCI.

Openings: 2 graduate students & 2 undergraduate students

About the positions

The PI (Prof. Eun Kyoung Choe) is looking for research assistants for NSF-funded projects starting in the Fall semester. The graduate positions (MS or PhD students) are for 1 year with a possibility of renewing for more years. The undergraduate positions are for up to 6 months. Please read the descriptions and necessary skillsets of the two projects below. Applicants are encouraged to specify which projects they are interested in; if not, they will be considered for both projects. Review of applications will begin ASAP and continue until the positions are filled.

Project 1: Enhancing Patient-Clinician Communication through Self-Monitoring Data Sharing

Sharing self-monitoring data between patients and clinicians can help them better communicate health-related concerns and identify actionable insights. It can also engage and empower patients, and can inform clinicians to provide better care, which have significant impact on patient health outcomes. In this project, we aim to support patients and clinicians to leverage patient-generated data in clinical settings. We will design, develop, and evaluate a tablet-based visualization system to help patients and clinicians share data and make collaborative medical decisions.

Related published papers from this project include the following:

Zhu, H., Luo, Y., Choe, E.K. (2017).
Making Space for the Quality Care: Opportunities for Technology in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia.
Proc. ACM Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '17). [PDF]
Choe, E.K., Lee, B., Zhu, H., Riche, N.H., Baur, D. (2017).
Understanding Self-Reflection: How People Reflect on Personal Data Through Visual Data Exploration.
Proc. EAI International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare (PervasiveHealth '17).
[PDF]
Zhu, H., Colgan, J., Reddy, M., Choe, E.K. (2016).
Sharing Patient-Generated Data in Clinical Practices: An Interview Study.
Proc. American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA '16).
Distinguished Paper Award Nominee. [PDF]

Project 2: Advancing Personal Informatics through Semi-Automated and Collaborative Tracking

Semi-automated tracking encompasses a broad spectrum of designs between the extremes of fully manual or fully automated tracking, ranging from the mostly manual tracking to mostly automated tracking. This research examines a way to leverage semi-automated tracking to help people easily engage with a rich set of personal data, such as weight, activities, sleep pattern, and medication use. In this project, we aim to use the semi-tracking approach to design, develop, and evaluate patient-centered interventions to help various clinical populations, including insomnia patients, surgical patients, and older adults.

Related published papers from this project include the following:

Kim, Y-H., Jeon, J.H., Lee, B., Choe, E.K., Seo, J. (2017).
A Flexible Self-Tracking Approach Leveraging Semi-Automated Tracking.
Proc. ACM Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT). [PDF] To appear.
Choe, E.K., Abdullah, S., Rabbi, M., Thomaz, E., Epstein, D.A., Kay, M., Cordeiro, F., Abowd, G.D., Choudhury, T., Fogarty, J., Lee, B., Matthews, M., Kientz., J.A. (2017).
Semi-Automated Tracking: A Balanced Approach for Self-Monitoring Applications.
IEEE Pervasive Computing. [IEEE Link] [PDF]

Requirements and Skills:

The candidates will closely work with the PI and other team members, carrying out the human-centered design process, including interviews with patients, online and offline surveys, observations of clinical contexts, participatory design with clinicians and patients, design and prototyping, technology implementation, in-lab and deployment studies, and paper writing. They are expected to have great communication and organizational skills and enjoy working with people. I prefer strong candidates with the following technical skills:

Project 1: Web-based visualization (d3, javascript or typescript, etc.)

Project 2: Mobile application (Android programming or iPhone programming)

However, both projects have many opportunities to conduct formative studies and design prototypes and systems, so I welcome students with design skills and qualitative research skills who have strong interests in the subject matter.

Applying:

Interested candidates should email choe@umd.edu with the following information:

- A cover letter and a CV (or resume)

- Two names of references and their email addresses

- (optional) A link to your website or portfolio that can demonstrate your work and skills

Notes for undergraduate applicants:

Because of the nature of the funding (Research Experiences for Undergraduates, or REU), candidates must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States.