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Human-Centered Computing

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

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Wildlab

The Wildlab explores how technology can be biased against people who are unlike those who created it — and to build systems that help designers, developers, and researchers better support the needs and perspectives of different people.

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Security and Privacy Research Lab

The Security and Privacy Research Lab works on a variety of topics, ranging from studying and addressing security and privacy risks in existing technologies, to anticipating future risks in emerging technologies.


Allen School Faculty

Assistant Teaching Professor

Associate Professor

Professor


Centers & Initiatives

The Institute for Medical Data Science (IMDS) is a joint effort among the Schools of Medicine and Public Health and the College of Engineering, including the Allen School to lead the development and implementation of cutting-edge AI and data science methods in medical data science. By harnessing the power of AI across diverse health determinants, IMDS aims to improve patient health, provider satisfaction, and healthcare operations, particularly in the Pacific Northwest region.

Change is a cross-campus collaboration that explores the challenges of developing technology in the context of positive social change. It seeks to make connections between researchers, outside organizations, and the public to inspire the development of new capabilities aligned with the interests of those most in need.

Highlights


UW News

To help shed light over safety and security concerns with current AI systems, UW News spoke with researchers including professors Franziska Roesner and Noah A. Smith.

Allen School News

In the first installment of a new Q&A series exploring grand challenges in computing, Reinecke and Smith discuss how they and their colleagues aim to answer the question, “How do we design AI in a way that is transparent and equally beneficial to all?”

Allen School News

Allen School faculty recognized 2025 alumni Wei and Zhu for their outstanding doctoral dissertation research identifying new methods for tackling online harassment introducing more secure techniques for generating digital signatures, respectively.