Understanding the Training Experiences of Competitive Skiers with TetraplegiaAdaptive sports are crucial for the psychological well-being of individuals with tetraplegia---limited motor function in both arms and legs. TetraSki provides these individuals access to extreme adaptive sports through a power-assisted ski instrument, which an athlete can control independently. While athletes in other sporting contexts commonly use technology to improve their performance, no studies have explored how technology might benefit athletes with tetraplegia when training for adaptive competitive sports like TetraSki. We conducted semi-structured interviews with six TetraSki athletes and four tethers who participated in TetraSki Express 2022, the world's first and only adaptive alpine ski competition for athletes with tetraplegia. Our study provides an in-depth understanding of athletes' and tethers' current practices and challenges while working to improve their performance in this competitive environment, and points to opportunities for self-tracking technologies to support their athletic endeavors better.2025TMTamanna Motahar et al.University of Utah, School of ComputingFitness Tracking & Physical Activity MonitoringNotification & Interruption ManagementCHI
Investigating Technology Adoption Soon after Sustaining a Spinal Cord InjuryMotahar 等人研究脊髓损伤患者伤后早期的技术采用行为，分析伤后短期内的技术接受模式及其影响因素，为伤后康复提供参考。2024TMTamanna Motahar et al.Motor Impairment Assistive Input TechnologiesCognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)UbiComp
Reenvisioning Patient Education with Smart Hospital Patient RoomsDawson 等人提出智能医院病房中的患者教育新系统，通过交互界面和实时数据展示提升患者健康素养与治疗依从性，改善医疗服务体验。2024JDJoshua Dawson et al.Intelligent Tutoring Systems & Learning AnalyticsMental Health Apps & Online Support CommunitiesTelemedicine & Remote Patient MonitoringUbiComp
Toward Building Design Empathy for People with Disabilities Using Social Media Data: A New Approach for Novice DesignersDesign empathy is a core HCI concept for understanding user perspectives in design processes. Although researchers advocate for leveraging design empathy in the design of assistive technology, educating novice designers about this is challenging; this is especially true in HCI classrooms when the target population includes people with disabilities, and students who do not have a disability are less aware of the diversity of disability. To help students better understand disability experiences, HCI education often adopts ``be-like'' (mimicking disabled-experience) approaches. However, accessibility researchers advocate adopting the ``be-with'' approach---learning about other's experiences through companionship. To mitigate the logistical challenges of being-with in a classroom setting, we developed a ``be-connected'' approach, which facilitates learning about the disability experience through the narratives of real individuals. Using social media posts from a spinal cord injury subreddit, we developed and deployed an activity aiming to develop design empathy. Our qualitative evaluation showed a notable transformation in students' design thinking process, suggesting an opportunity to leverage social media data to learn about disabled perspectives and develop design empathy.2024TMTamanna Motahar et al.Cognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)Universal & Inclusive DesignCollaborative Learning & Peer TeachingDIS
Hospital Employee Experiences Caring for Patients in Smart Patient RoomsSmart hospital patient rooms integrate smart devices for digital control of both entertainment (e.g., television and sound system) and the environment (e.g., lights, blinds, and temperature). While primarily designed to enhance the patient experience, this technology also impacts the hospital employees who work in these patient rooms. This study explores hospital employee experiences with smart patient rooms. We conducted 23 interviews with rehabilitation healthcare professionals, including nurses, doctors, psychologists, and occupational, physical, and speech therapists, to understand their perspectives on working in smart patient rooms. Drawn from thematic analysis of the interviews, our findings offer insights into employees' current use of the technology, the benefits and drawbacks they encounter, and their suggestions for improving the technology. These findings shed light on the complex problem of building smart patient rooms that simultaneously support the needs of multiple stakeholders, including patients and employees; they also point to important considerations for future designs.2024JDJoshua Dawson et al.University of UtahSmart Home Interaction DesignAging-in-Place Assistance SystemsCHI
A Meta-Synthesis of the Barriers and Facilitators for Personal Informatics Systems"Personal informatics (PI) systems are designed for diverse users in the real world. Even when these systems are usable, people encounter barriers while engaging with them in ways designers cannot anticipate, which impacts the system's effectiveness. Although PI literature extensively reports such barriers, the volume of this information can be overwhelming. Researchers and practitioners often find themselves repeatedly addressing the same challenges since sifting through this enormous volume of knowledge looking for relevant insights is often infeasible. We contribute to alleviating this issue by conducting a meta-synthesis of the PI literature and categorizing people's barriers and facilitators to engagement with PI systems into eight themes. Based on the synthesized knowledge, we discuss specific generalizable barriers and paths for further investigations. This synthesis can serve as an index to identify barriers pertinent to each application domain and possibly to identify barriers from one domain that might apply to a different domain. Finally, to ensure the sustainability of the syntheses, we propose a Design Statements (DS) block for research articles." https://doi.org/10.1145/36108932023KKKazi Sinthia Kabir et al.Privacy by Design & User ControlUbiquitous ComputingUbiComp
Cultivating Altruism Around Computing Resources: Anticipation Work in a Scholarly CommunityUser research for scientific software can inform design and account for the unique concerns of academic researchers. In this study, we explored the user experience on a testbed for cloud computing research, the Cloud Computing Platform (CCP; a pseudonym). Through 15 semi-structured interviews and observation, we observed the importance of time as a resource to system users. We observed CCP users strategically coordinating their time on the platform with other users, navigating the constraints of publication and other academic deadlines. Surprisingly, we found that this coordination may involve altruistic behaviors where users share time on CCP that had been allocated for personal use. In light of prior CSCW literature on how actors seek to harness time, we propose concrete opportunities for design interventions. Our strategy across all possible interventions is to increase users’ awareness of the rhythms affecting their peers’ platform use, allowing coordination based not just on knowledge of CCP reservations but also users' progress toward deadlines. The implications of this work inform the design of other similar cyberinfrastructure systems in science where users independently coordinate use of resources.2023JCJohanna Cohoon et al.Work PracticesCSCW
It Made Me Feel So Much More at Home Here: Patient Perspectives on Smart Home Technology Deployed at Scale in a Rehabilitation HospitalSmart patient rooms are arriving; however, their value has yet to be explored. We interviewed 20 patients in a rehabilitation hospital, which has patient rooms equipped with off-the-shelf smart home technologies, so the entertainment and environment are digitally controllable. This novel implementation supports varying control abilities through touchscreen, voice command, and accessibility controllers. The smart rooms and controls are potentially transformative for patients with reduced motor function, helping them regain lost independence and control of their surroundings. Through semi-structured interviews, we explore how smart home technology deployed in patient rooms: interacts with patients’ needs, presents new challenges, and fits into the hospital context. We identify a range of considerations that inform how hospitals can integrate smart technology into their environment, including technology design considerations and adjustments to how hospital staff supports its use. These results take an important step toward understanding and improving the value of smart patient rooms.2023JDJoshua Dawson et al.University of UtahIntelligent Tutoring Systems & Learning AnalyticsSmart Home Interaction DesignAging-in-Place Assistance SystemsCHI
Adding Domain-Specific Features to a Text-Editor to Support Diverse, Real-World Approaches to Time Management PlanningMany tools are designed to support users in maintaining or developing strong time management practices. Abandonment of these specialized tools is common, in favor of returning to a more general-purpose unstructured tool. How can designs leverage the familiarity of general-purpose tools and the advantages of specialized ones? We explore if applying a time-management-specific understanding of conventions and interactions within unstructured plaintext can be a successful approach to designing support for these tasks. We report the results of two field deployments (combined n=29) of "Plan'' - a mobile application with a notes-application-based interface designed to support the practice of Time Management Planning. We show that modest, domain-specific modifications of general-purpose designs can facilitate users' pre-existing workflows and nudge them towards better practices while leaving interfaces familiar and flexible. However, those with minimal planning experience desired additional structure.2023JWJason Wiese et al.University of UtahKnowledge Worker Tools & WorkflowsNotification & Interruption ManagementCHI
Identifying Factors That Inhibit Self-care Behavior among Individuals with Severe Spinal Cord InjuryIndividuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) need to perform numerous self-care behaviors, some very frequently. Pressure reliefs (PRs), which prevent life-threatening pressure ulcers (PUs), are one such behavior. We conducted a qualitative study with seven individuals with severe SCI—who depend on power wheelchairs—to explore their current PR behavior and the potential for technology to facilitate PR adherence. While our participants were highly motivated to perform PRs because of prior PUs, we found that their understanding of how and when to perform a PR differed by individual, and that while they sometimes forgot to perform PR, in other cases contextual factors made it difficult to perform a PR. Our findings provide insight into the complexity of this design space, identify design considerations for designing technology to facilitate these behaviors, and demonstrate the opportunity for personal informatics to be more inclusive by supporting the needs of this population.2022TMTamanna Motahar et al.University of UtahMotor Impairment Assistive Input TechnologiesCognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)CHI
The Impact of Spinal Cord Injury on Participation in Human-Centered ResearchIndividuals with spinal cord injuries (SCI) can have multiple cognitive and physical disabilities because of their injury. Appropriately-designed technology can be empowering and transformative for this population. Unfortunately, just like most technologies, user-centered research methods do not directly account for differing motor and communication abilities. This paper synthesizes SCI literature and leverages our own experiences in three research projects spanning five years with SCI users to highlight significant challenges that HCI researchers might face while employing user-centered methods with this population; communication disabilities, motor disabilities, and difficult contextual or environmental factors can make it difficult or impossible to use standard HCI methods when working with SCI users. We conclude with a set of guidelines and challenges for the HCI community to consider, which can be used both when evaluating papers that work with this population, and to fuel development of new methods or approaches that better-serve them.2021KKKazi Sinthia Kabir et al.Motor Impairment Assistive Input TechnologiesParticipatory DesignDIS
Less is More: Exploring Support for Time Management PlanningTime management planning (TMP) is a practice where people plan what they intend to accomplish and when in a given day. The literature indicates behaviors associated with TMP, but not how people specifically engage in them or how technology is involved. We examined TMP practices of 19 graduate students, noting their methods and how they engage with tools. Students utilized different combinations of TMP behaviors, both in comparison to each other and within their own experiences. We then asked them to plan following specific guidelines over five days. Participants implemented these guidelines in unique ways using unstructured tools (paper, notes applications). Together, these findings suggest that to be useful, TMP software must not impose a specific structure. We demonstrate opportunities to incorporate these findings through the design of a flexible mobile application based on notes applications to facilitate planning while encouraging, but not requiring, the use of TMP behaviors.2021JLJohn R. Lund et al.Knowledge Worker Tools & WorkflowsNotification & Interruption ManagementPrototyping & User TestingDIS
Experience is not Required: Designing Sailing Experience for Individuals with TetraplegiaSailing has a range of positive impacts on mental and physical health-related quality of life for individuals with tetraplegia. This work describes the iterative design process of creating an adaptive sailing experience that requires minimal training and preparation for individuals with tetraplegia. The Tetra-Sail is an adaptive sailing experience that uses a Shared-Control approach to accept input from both the main user and an experienced adaptive instructor (control partner). This approach was used to create a usable experience for individuals with all types of physical abilities, including participants with high-level and complete spinal cord injuries characterized by loss of sensation and function below their site of injury, with minimal preliminary training. A study of nine participants (five first-time users of Tetra-Sail and four who had used previous iterations) suggested that participants found Tetra-Sail usable and enjoyable. Participants expressed feelings of empowerment, which they attributed to the flexible adaptation to their abilities supported by the implementation of Shared-Control.2020AAAhmad Alsaleem et al.Full-Body Interaction & Embodied InputMotor Impairment Assistive Input TechnologiesDIS
Applying Ability-Based Design Principles to Adaptive Outdoor ActivitiesEffective design is essential to creating adaptive outdoor activities. Ability-Based Design (ABD) is an approach to accessible design in the HCI literature that we found to be most appealing for this endeavour. ABD focuses on making systems adaptable to users’ needs and abilities rather than making the user con-form to system requirements. We explore the principles of ABD in the context of two adaptive outdoor experiences: Tetra-Ski and Tetra-Sail. We found that while the general approach of ABD is useful in this context, some of the basic tenants of ABD can be confounded by: (1) activity risk, (2) dynamic sport environments, and (3) the role of psychological flow during the activity. To accommodate these restrictions on ABD principles and provide a usable experience we developedShared-Control as a collaborative approach to implementation. This paper explores using Shared-Control and ABD principles in the context of these two adaptive recreation systems for individuals with acquired tetraplegia. This perspective reveals tensions between ABD guidelines and designing for adaptive outdoor activities. We reflect on these tensions, potential additions to ABD, and our own usage of Shared-Control as a mechanism for adhering to ABD principles in this context.2020AAAhmad Alsaleem et al.Foot & Wrist InteractionUniversal & Inclusive DesignDIS
Evolving the Ecosystem of Personal Behavioral DataEveryday, people generate lots of personal data. Driven by the increasing use of online services and widespread adoption of smartphones (owned by 68% of U.S. residents; Anderson, 2015), personal data take many forms, including communications (e.g., e-mail, SMS, Facebook), plans and coordination (e.g., calendars, TripIt, to-do lists), entertainment consumption (e.g., YouTube, Spotify, Netflix), finances (e.g., banking, Amazon, eBay), activities (e.g., steps, runs, check-ins), and even health care (e.g., doctor visits, medications, heart rate). Collectively, these data provide a highly detailed description of an individual. Personal data afford the opportunity for many new kinds of applications that might improve people’s lives through deep personalization, tools to manage personal well-being, and services that support identity construction. However, developers currently encounter challenges working with personal data due to its fragmentation across services. This article evaluates the landscape of personal data, including the systemic forces that created current fragmented collections of data and the process required for integrating data from across services into an application. It details challenges the fragmented ecosystem imposes. Finally, it contributes Phenom, an experimental system that addresses these challenges, making it easier to develop applications that access personal data and providing users with greater control over how their data are used.2018JWJason Wiese et al.University of UtahPrivacy by Design & User ControlContext-Aware ComputingCHI