Our work in human-centered computing explores and enhances the ways in which people and communities engage with and experience technology.
Our research considers the personal, educational, cultural, and ethical implications of innovation. Drawing upon techniques from human-computer interaction, learning sciences, sensing and more, we aim to maximize the potential benefits of technology while minimizing potential harms to individuals, groups and society.
Groups & Labs
Make4all Group
Make4all Group creates solutions that empower people with disabilities to accomplish their goals, applying technologies such as 3D printing, knitting and other fabrication technologies to improve inclusion in and accessibility of our digital future.
Interactive Data Lab
The Interactive Data Lab aims to enhance people’s ability to understand and communicate data through the design of new interactive systems for data visualization and analysis.
Faculty Members
Centers & Initiatives
The Tech Policy Lab is a unique, interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Washington that aims to enhance technology policy through research, education, and thought leadership. Founded in 2013 by faculty from the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, Information School, and School of Law, the Lab aims to bridge the gap between technologists and policymakers and to help generate wiser, more inclusive tech policy.
The mission of the UW Center for Research and Education on Accessible Technology and Experiences (CREATE) is to make technology accessible and the world accessible through technology. By bringing together researchers from across the campus, CREATE harnesses the diverse expertise necessary to realize a more just and equitable technological future, one that overcomes existing barriers and ensures new ones do not arise.
Highlights
UW News
The prototype from researchers in the Mobile Systems Lab led by Allen School professor Shyam Gollakota detects the cadence of a conversation and automatically tracks participants’ voices for the wearer while muting the rest.
Allen School News
In a Q&A, professor Kurtis Heimerl and postdoc Esther Han Beol Jang (Ph.D., ‘24) discuss their work with residents of two Seattle tiny house villages on how they can leverage smart technologies to improve living conditions, balanced against concerns such as cost and continuity of deployment.
Allen School News
To help make datasets easier to explore, in 2015, a team of researchers led by Heer introduced Voyager, a system that automatically generates and recommends charts and visualizations based on statistical and perceptual measures — which earned the InfoVis 10-Year Test of Time Award at IEEE VIS 2025.