The User Empowerment Lab
Past Research Groups
Apps for Preschoolers
Fall 2017-Spring 2018
We will be examining two educational apps for preschoolers: a highly structured game designed to support the development of executive function skills, and an exploratory app that encourages pretend play. We will evaluate design choices in each interface, examine preschoolers' and parents' reactions to the apps, and evaluate these apps with families in the U.S., China, and Taiwan.
Smartphone Checking Habits
Fall 2017-Spring 2018
How do young adults engage with their phones? What do they value about these experiences and what do they wish they could change? How has this changed as they've grown? We'll be conducting user-centered design work with high school and college students to understand how designers can support them in developing technology usage habits they feel good about.
Microphone Security
Fall 2017-Spring 2018
If you give an app on your Android phone permission to use the microphone, you may be giving it access to listen in more often than you realize. This group will explore what users believe their apps are capable of, how they think about device security, and how the platform might make users less vulnerable to malicious audio recording.
