LATEST PUBLICATIONS

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  • Access InContext: Futuring Accessible Prototyping Tools and Methods
  • Patricia Piedade, Peter Hayton, Cynthia Bennett, et al. 2025. Access InContext: Futuring Accessible Prototyping Tools and Methods. Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Association for Computing Machinery.
  • [ABSTRACT] [PDF]

  The popularity of accessibility research has grown recently, improving digital inclusion for people with disabilities. However, re- searchers, including those who have disabilities, have attempted to include people with disabilities in all aspects of design, and they have identified a myriad of practical accessibility barriers posed by tools and methods leveraged by human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers during prototyping. To build a more inclusive technological landscape, we must question the effectiveness of existing prototyping tools and methods, repurpose/retrofit existing resources, and build new tools and methods to support the participation of both researchers and people with disabilities within the prototyping design process of novel technologies. This full-day workshop at CHI 2025 will provide a platform for HCI researchers, designers, and practitioners to discuss barriers and opportunities for creating accessible prototyping and promote hands-on ideation and fabrication exercises aimed at futuring accessible prototyping.
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  • Reimagining Multidisciplinary Teams: Challenges and Opportunities for LLMs in Cancer MDTs
  • Soraia Paulo, Isabel Neto, Nuno Figueiredo, Daniel Lopes, and Hugo Nicolau. 2025. Reimagining Multidisciplinary Teams: Challenges and Opportunities for LLMs in Cancer MDTs. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact.
  • [ABSTRACT] [PDF]

  Multidisciplinary teams are crucial in tailoring cancer care through collaborative decision-making involving several clinical specialties. The inherent complexity of clinical cases, the increasing abundance of unstructured textual data, and the time restrictions of professionals pose significant challenges to team coordination and patient care. This creates an opportunity for generative AI technologies, such as LLMs, to enhance collaborative work. Despite the growing interest in HCI research to explore LLMs in healthcare, we have yet to understand clinicians’ perspectives on this emerging technology in multidisciplinary teams. Our work investigates the challenges, expectations and opportunities for LLMs in this context through a speculative approach. We leveraged the Futures Cone framework and conducted a qualitative study with 11 physicians from different cancer multidisciplinary teams. We contribute with an analysis of themes that emerged from individual interviews and a focus group, highlighting LLMs’ potential to enhance and reshape multidisciplinary teams’ practices. In addition, we uncover concerns and coping strategies related to LLMs’ adoption and provide a set of design opportunities to inform the development of technologies for LLM-enhanced multidisciplinary teams.
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  • Investigating Social Sensemaking Technologies for Emotional Wellbeing of Stroke Survivors and Caregivers
  • Ines Silva, Soraia Paulo, Luisa Soares, and Hugo Nicolau. 2025. Investigating Social Sensemaking Technologies for Emotional Wellbeing of Stroke Survivors and Caregivers. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact.
  • [ABSTRACT] [PDF]

  Stroke survivors experience a wide range of sequelae that significantly change their lives and those of their caregivers. These changes affect relationships, professional life, and daily routines, leading to emotional distress for both. However, existing research in HCI has predominantly focused on physical and cognitive rehabilitation, neglecting the impact of stroke on emotional wellbeing. Our work explores the potential of social sensemaking technologies to support wellbeing awareness and reflection of stroke survivors and their caregivers. We developed Emotions2Us, an interactive ambient display designed to foster interdependent communication, expression, support, and reflection on emotional wellbeing among dyads. We contribute with qualitative findings from a four-week field deployment (N=8). We present an analysis of the themes that emerged from interviews with stroke survivors and caregivers, highlighting the impact of Emotions2Us on wellbeing practices and reflecting on the challenges, benefits, and opportunities of designing for social sensemaking following a stroke.
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  • Exploring Collaboration in Programming Activities with Children with Visual Impairments: a 10-Session Study in a School Setting
  • Filipa Rocha, David Goncalves, Ana Pires, Hugo Nicolau, and Tiago Guerreiro. 2025. Exploring Collaboration in Programming Activities with Children with Visual Impairments: a 10-Session Study in a School Setting.
  • [ABSTRACT] [PDF]

  Introductory coding environments have been used in early education to promote computational thinking, supporting the development of cognitive, critical, and social skills. Many environments focus on individual use, which has limited benefits compared to collaborative learning. In this paper, we present the results of a 10-session study at a local primary school engaging eleven children with visual impairments and three inclusive education teachers in collaborative programming activities. Based on participants’ behavior, reactions, and feedback, we contribute an improved understanding of collaborative design in educational settings, focusing on the impact of Goals, Workspace, Interdependence, and Shared Awareness. Our main findings outline how collaboration dynamics can be shaped by asymmetric tasks, workspace proximity, and group awareness. We further discuss factors that led to a lack of investment in the shared goal and instances of unbalanced collaboration, reflecting on challenges and opportunities for designing collaborative inclusive coding kits.
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  • Investigating crossmodal correspondences between vibrotactile stimuli, colour, and emotions
  • Isabel Neto, Isabel Soares, Ana Paiva, and Hugo Nicolau. 2025. Investigating crossmodal correspondences between vibrotactile stimuli, colour, and emotions. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 197: 103459. http://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103459
  • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

  There is an increasing interest in Human–computer Interaction in multisensory interactive systems, creating a need to deepen our understanding of how multiple sensory modalities relate to and affect each other. We extend prior research on crossmodal correspondences by investigating colour and emotional associations with pure vibrotactile stimuli. We asked 32 participants to assign colour properties (hue and brightness) and emotional categories (pleasure, arousal, and dominance) to stimuli of varying amplitude and angular frequency. We found that perceptions of pleasure and arousal increased with amplitude and angular frequency, but negative and relaxing emotional states were not able to convey. We also found associations between vibrotactile stimuli and colour properties. High amplitude stimuli were linked to warm colours and darker shades, while low amplitude was associated with brighter shades and greater variance in hue. We finish by discussing the causal mechanisms of crossmodal correspondences and contribute a design space for creating multisensory experiences.
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  • A Feminist Care Ethics Toolkit for Community-Based Design: Bridging Theory and Practice Honourable Mention
  • Ana Henriques, Anna Carter, Beatriz Severes, et al. 2025. A Feminist Care Ethics Toolkit for Community-Based Design: Bridging Theory and Practice. Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Association for Computing Machinery.
  • [ABSTRACT] [PDF]

  Existing ethics frameworks for participatory engagement in HCI often overlook the nuanced ethical challenges of dynamic community-based contexts given the latter’s relational nature. We hope tobridge this gap by grounding feminist care ethics in actionable tools for community-based projects to enhance ethical engagement in these settings. Prior research advocates for adaptable, context-sensitive ethics in participatory research, informed by feminist care ethics. To address this need, we developed and iteratively refined a toolkit embodying the underlying principles of feminist care ethics through workshops with participants working in academic and non-academic community-based settings. Our findings suggest that the toolkit fosters ethical reflection aligned with the feminist care ethics ethos while facilitating meaningful experiences for participants. This work contributes to the field by offering a practical design artefact that not only embodies feminist care ethics but also supports researchers and communities in navigating complex ethical landscapes in participatory engagements, together or independently.
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  • Towards Neuroqueer Spatial Justice: A Critical Literature Review of Public Space Technologies for Neurodivergent Populations Honourable Mention
  • Patricia Piedade, Anna Carter, Rui Prada, and Hugo Nicolau. 2025. Towards Neuroqueer Spatial Justice: A Critical Literature Review of Public Space Technologies for Neurodivergent Populations. Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Association for Computing Machinery.
  • [ABSTRACT] [PDF]

  Access to public spaces is of the utmost importance for social cohesion, inclusion, and civic engagement. Nevertheless, a large majority of public spaces remain incredibly uncomfortable environments for neurodivergent individuals due to, for instance, the unpredictability of such spaces and the sensory stimuli within them. Smart City technologies present an exciting opportunity to improve the accessibility and enjoyment of the spaces where they are deployed by, for instance, offering users the ability to customise a space to their specific sensory needs. However, the research topic of public space technologies for neurodivergent individuals remains scattered and sparsely documented. This critical review analyses the existing domains of inquiry, contributing a theoretical framework based on Spatial Justice and Neuroqueer Technoscience and suggests future research avenues informed by this framework. We advocate for the participatory co-creation of a neurodivergent-affirming land- scape of public space technologies that both support neurodivergent needs and promote neurodivergent joy.