• Hi! I'm Lynn Kirabo.

    An HCI PhD candidate who passed her dissertation defense (3.20.23) ✨. I am passionate about teaching CS x HCI x A11y courses and researching equity & trust in smart public transit interfaces.

  • I've been rafting on the longest* river in the world. The River Nile. Once in a lifetime is enough. This picture was taken just as we headed into a whirlpool. *Apparently the Nile is 'slightly' longer than the Amazon, but who is counting anyway??? ;).

  • At Transform Africa 2017, I got to meet Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the former Executive Director of UN Women. Such a surreal experience as a former UN Women Tuition Support receipent.

About Me

Who Am I?

Hi! I'm Lynn Kirabo. (or just Kirabo)

My exciting news first... ✨✨ I will be starting as an Assistant Professor of Climate and Computer Science at Harvey Mudd College in the Fall of 2023. 🍁💃🏿 *insert confetti & your favorite dancing gif*

I'm a Ph.D. candidate I passed my dissertation defense (3.20)✨ at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. I am part of the TBD lab at Carnegie Mellon and I'm advised by Aaron Steinfeld. I am also a Siebel Scholar, Class of 2023 – awarded annually for academic excellence and demonstrated leadership to over 90 top students from the world’s leading graduate schools.

I enjoy teaching students classes at the intersection of Intro CS, HCI, and Accessibility. My teaching philosophy is heavily influenced by my experiences as a student and instructor in multiple departments on two different continents. My classes have included a mix of PhD, masters, and undergraduate studentes.

My research focuses on investigating and designing equitable transit solutions in diverse geographical contexts (i.e., North America & East Africa). I enjoy adapting qualitative methods to understand the lived experiences of research populations from diverse backgrounds.

I am also part of initiatives that seek to broaden participation in STEM in Uganda, Rwanda, and the United States. I have done this by being part of organizations such as Women In Technology Uganda (Kampala), InnovateHer Africa (Kampala), OurCS (Pittsburgh), Women in CS (Pittsburgh); and by invitation to events like MissGeek (Kigali), STEMforHER (D.C.) and Women in Data Science (California). I have also co-created and been a part of spaces that foster belonging like AfroGSA, BIPOC in HCI, and Young Researchers in ICTD.

Quick download links: bio | resume.

Past & Current Schooling

Education

Carnegie Mellon University, Aug 2017 - to date
Advisor: Aaron Steinfeld
Thesis Title: Forging a Path Towards Equity in Smart Public Transit Systems
Thesis Committee: Aaron Steinfeld (chair), Jessica Hammer, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Destenie Nock, & Tawanna Dillahunt.

Carnegie Mellon University, May 2022 (Concurrent with PhD)

Carnegie Mellon University, May 2015 (Class Valedictorian)
Courses taken: Computer Science Principles for Engineers, Mobile Social Applications, Java for Smartphone Development, Mobile Service Innovation, Innovation Management, and Designing Human Centered Software.

Makerere University, May 2008 (1st Class Honors)

Teaching

Co-instructor & Teaching Assistant Positions

Download CV

Co-instructor, Transformational Game Design Studio (05-499/899)
Carnegie Mellon University, Aug 2022 - Dec 2022

Description: This studio course will be focused on designing playful experiences around Climate Change. Students will learn how to create games rooted in behaviorial theories.
Skills: Collaboration with course staff, syllabus creation, assignment creation, lecture creation & delivery, and student advising.
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Course Level: Graduate & Undergraduate
Department: Human-Computer Interaction Institute
College: School of Computer Science

Co-instructor, Transformational Game Design Studio (05-499/899)
Carnegie Mellon University, Aug 2021 - Dec 2021

Description: This is a studio course designed for those who want to create games that allow players to pause and reflect. Students completed 3 projects on Climate Change, networking at social events, and doctoral advising.
Skills: Collaboration with course staff, syllabus & assignment creation, lecture creation & delivery, qualitative grading, and student advising.
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Course Level: Graduate & Undergraduate
Department: Human-Computer Interaction Institute
College: School of Computer Science

Teaching Assistant, Programmable User Interfaces (05-430/630)
Carnegie Mellon University, Jan 2021 - May 2021

Description: This is at the intersection of an intensive programming lab and design studio. Students learned to express their interactive ideas in prototypes. Student projects were built using HTML/CSS/JS.
Skills: Collaboration with course staff, lab content creation & delivery, student grading, and student advising.
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Course Level: Graduate & Undergraduate
Department: Human-Computer Interaction Institute
College: School of Computer Science

Teaching Assistant, User-Centered Research & Evaluation (05-410/610)
Carnegie Mellon University, Aug 2020 - Dec 2020

Description: This is an introductory and core course in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute. It equiped students with a systematic approach to design through observation, analysis and empirical evaluation methods.
Skills: Collaborated with course staff, led and facilitated class section, student grading, and student advising.
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Course Level: Graduate & Undergraduate
Department: Human-Computer Interaction Institute
College: School of Computer Science

Teaching Assistant, Java For Smartphone Development (18-641)
Carnegie Mellon University, Jan 2015 - May 2015

Description: This course provided an intensive exploration of object-oriented programming. Students built their final projects using Java/Apache/Android.
Skills: Collaborated on assignment creation, student grading, and student advising.
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Course Level: Graduate
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
College: College of Engineering

Teaching Assistant, Strategic Use of Digital Information (04-611)
Carnegie Mellon University (Africa campus), Aug 2014 - Dec 2014

Description: This course equiped students with knowlegde of a new generation of technologies, that will inturn shape the next generation of businesses.
Skills: Collaborated on assignment creation, student grading, and student advising.
————
Course Level: Graduate
Department: Carnegie Institute of Technology
College: College of Engineering

Publications

Conference & Journal Proceedings

Conference Proceedings (peer reviewed)

[under review] Climate Financing from a Global South Perspective.

Kirabo, L., Carter, E.J., Barry, D., and Steinfeld A. (2021). Priorities, Technology & Power: Co-Designing an Inclusive Transit Agenda in Kampala, Uganda. In 2021 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '21), May 8-13, 2021. Yokohama, Japan. [ACM DL | PDF | Video Presentation]

Kirabo, L., Namara, M., and McNeese, N. (2021). The Power of the Blue Tick: Ugandans' experiences and engagement on Twitter at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 ACM African Human-Computer Interaction Conference (AfriCHI '21), March 8-12, 2021. Maputo, Mozambique. [ACM DL | PDF]

Gleason, C., Valencia, S., Kirabo, L., Wu, J., Guo, A., Carter, E.J., Bigham, J.P., Bennett, C.L., and Pavel, A. (2020). Disability and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Using Twitter to Understand Accessibility during Rapid Societal Transition. ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility. (ASSETS ’20), October 26–28, 2020. Athens, Greece. https://doi.org/10.1145/3373625.3417023. [ACM DL]

Romero, O.J., Haig, A., Kirabo, L., Yang, Q., Zimmerman, J., Tomasic, A., and Steinfeld, A. (2020). A Long-Term Evaluation of Adaptive Interface Design for Mobile Transit Information. In 22nd International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI ’20), October 5–8, 2020. Oldenburg, Germany. https://doi.org/10.1145/3379503.3403536. [ACM DL] {Best Paper Honorable Mention}

Kirabo, L., Carter, E.J., and Steinfeld A. (2020). “You are asking me to pay for my legs”: Exploring the Experiences, Perceptions, and Aspirations of Informal Public Transportation Users in Kampala and Kigali. In ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (COMPASS ’20), June 15–17, 2020. Guayaquil, Ecuador. https://doi.org/10.1145/3378393.34022691. [ACM DL | PDF | Video Presentation]

Journal Publications (non-peer reviewed)

Principe Cruz, E., Kirabo, L., Carrington, P., & Hammer, J. (2021). Building Anti-Racist Futures at the CMU HCII: Recruiting BIPOC Graduate Students: Virtual Recruitment Event Design. (In press). BIPOC Literary Journal: The Colors We Carry.

Workshops (peer reviewed)

Citational Justice Collective, León, G.M., Kirabo, L., Marisol Wong-Villacres, M., Karusala, N., Kumar, N., Bidwell, N., Reynolds-Cuéllar, P., Borah, P.P., Garg, R., Oswal, S.K., Chuanromanee, T., and Sharma, V. (2021). Following the Trail of Citational Justice: Critically Examining Knowledge Production in HCI. In Companion Publication of the 2021 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW '21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 360–363. https://doi.org/10.1145/3462204.3481732 [ACM DL]

HCI Across Borders, (2020). ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Doctoral Consortium

Kirabo, L., "“Our perspective matters.” Using Universal Design Goals to Guide Technology Design in the Global South" ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility. Doctoral Consortium, (2019). [SIGACCESS Newsletter]

Posters

Reig, S., Carter, E.J., Kirabo, L., Fong, T., Steinfeld, A., and Forlizzi, J. (2021). Smart Agents and Devices of Today and Tomorrow: Surveying Use and Desires. In Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction (HAI ’21), November 9–11, 2021, Virtual Event, Japan. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 6 pages. {{Forthcoming}}

Kirabo, L., "HCI4D through the Lens of Assistive Technology Research Concepts" ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies. Poster, (2018).

ACM Articles

Valencia, S. and Kirabo, L.. "Twitter, COVID-19, and disability: what worked and what didn't." XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students 28, no. 2 (Winter 2021), 20–23. [ACM DL]

Kirabo, L., "The one about resilience, energy, culture, and crafting." XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students 26, no. 2 (2019): 60-63. [ACM DL], [PDF]

Kirabo, L., "Global cultures and computing." XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students 26, no. 2 (2019): 8-9. [ACM DL], [PDF]

Work Experience

Industry: Research & SWE

Download CV

UX Researcher Intern, Meta Platforms, Inc. Jun - Aug 2021

Product Team Assignment: Instagram.
I spent the summer working at Instagram as a UX Researcher Intern. I was excited to collaborate and contribute to products that have an impact.

Software Engineer, Fenix International July 2015 - July 2017

Stack used: Python/Django.
Fenix is a venture-funded next-generation energy company that empowers her customers with life-changing energy technology and inclusive financial services.

Research Intern, IBM Research May 2014 - Aug 2014

Mentor: Dr. Kala Fleming
IBM Research Africa is driving innovation by developing commercially-viable solutions to transform lives and spark new business opportunities in key areas such as water, agriculture, transportation, healthcare, financial inclusion, education, energy, security and e-government.

Web Developer Consultant, World Bank Sept 2013 - June 2014

Stack used: HTML, CSS, Wordpress
TerrAfrica is a project that focuses on improving land quality to sustain the performance of African countries.

Digital Media Manager, Hive Colab Mar - Jul 2013

Stack used: HTML, CSS, Wordpress
Hive Colab is an innovation hub and incubator in Kampala, Uganda. The hub also hosts local technology meet up events.

Interactive Coordinator, Watoto Ministries Aug 2007 - Feb 2013

Stack used: HTML, CSS, Wordpress
Watoto is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to rescue the most vulnerable and raise each one as a leader in their sphere of life so that, in turn, they will rebuild their nation.

Service // Invited Talks // Awards

Academic Service & Leadership

Academic Service

  1. Reviewer: Late Breaking Works, ACM CHI 2023
  2. Active Listener Cohort, Parables of AI in/from the Global South (2021). Data & Society
  3. Student Volunteer: CHI 2022
  4. Student Volunteer - Accessibility Taskforce: CHI 2022
  5. Associate Chair: Late Breaking Works, ACM CHI 2020
  6. Program Committee:
    • ACM Conference on Equity and Access in Algorithms, Mechanisms, and Optimization, EAAMO (2021, 2022)
    • Mechanism Design for Social Good, MD4SG (2020)
  7. Reviewer:
    • ACM Conferences: CHI, DIS, AfriCHI
    • Journals: Journal of Reliable Intelligent Environments (Springer)
    • Symposiums: iD4A


Leadership

  1. Guest Playtester at Informal Feedback Session, Design Educational Games (2023)
  2. Student Representative, SCS Student Teaching Awards Committee (2023)
  3. Host, All About Tech Conversations: Applying to Grad School (2021)
  4. Host, All About Tech Conversations: Careers in Tech (2021)
  5. Facilitator, EAAMO’21 Regional socials - Africa (2021)
  6. HCII BLM Subcommittee (2020)
  7. Officer, AfroGSA (2020)
  8. ACM XRDS Guest Editor (2019)
  9. Women in SCS PhD Committee (2019)
  10. OurCS Conference Committee (2019)
  11. HCII Graduate Student Assembly Representative (2018)
  12. HCII TroastMaster (2017 - 2019)
  13. National Technovation Challenge Judge (2016)
  14. InnovateHerAfrica, Founding Member (2016)
  15. Carnegie Mellon Africa, Research & Development Officer (2014)
  16. Y-Save Donations Committee, Secretary (2012 - 2016)
  17. Women of Technology Uganda, Founding Member (2010)


Invited Talks

  1. Panelist: Teaching in Academia & Teaching Job Market, Carnegie Mellon University, 2023
  2. Speaker: Trust & Equity in Public Transit Technologies, Colgate University, 2022
  3. Speaker: Trust & Equity in Public Transit Technologies, Olin College of Engineering, 2022
  4. Speaker: Trust & Equity in Public Transit Technologies - PNC Technology for Social Change series, University of Pittsburgh, 2022
  5. Speaker: Trust & Equity in Public Transit Technologies, Smith College, 2022
  6. Speaker: Learning & Teaching CS-Related Topics: Context Matters, NC State University, 2022
  7. Speaker: Trust & Equity in Public Transit Technologies, Pomona College, 2022
  8. Speaker: Trust & Equity in Public Transit Technologies, Wellesley College, 2022
  9. Speaker: Trust & Equity in Public Transit Technologies, Harvey Mudd College, 2022
  10. Panelist: Pursuing Higher Education in STEM - Fundi Girls Champions Talk Series, 2022
  11. Speaker: Trust & Equity in Public Transit Technologies - Hosted by the Student ACM, Bucknell University, 2022
  12. Guest Lecture: Global Cultures & Computing, 2022. (CSCI 320, Computer Architecture. CS)
  13. Panelist: Instructional Design - Teach the teacher, 2021 (Metatopia 2021)
  14. Guest Lecture: Global Cultures & Computing, 2021. (05-430/05-630, Programming Useable Interfaces. HCII)
  15. Appeared in Best of WiDS session, 2021. (Women in Data Science 2021)
  16. Speaker: Investigating Algorithmic Bias in Sociotechnical Systems, 2020. (STEMforHER Virtual GEM Hunt)
  17. Speaker: Investigating Equitable Mobility, 2020. (Alumni Series, Carnegie Mellon Univeristy-Africa)
  18. Speaker: The Power of Technology in C-19 Pandemic, 2020. (Webinar, Uganda Unites)
  19. Panelist: Ethics in Data Science, 2020 (Women in Data Science 2020 , Stanford University)
  20. Speaker: Investigating Equitable Mobility in Kampala Uganda, 2020. (21st Annual Roundtable on Inclusive Transportation in Developing Countries, TRB Annual Meeting, Washington DC)
  21. Panelist: OurCS Conference 2019 (Carnegie Mellon University)
  22. Panelist: Youth Connekt - Transform Africa Summit, 2017
  23. Panelist: LeO Africa Economic Forum, 2017
  24. Commencement Speaker: National Technovation Challenge, 2017
Photo of me and 3 other panelists at the Women in Data Science Conference Photo of me at the Leo Africa Economic Forum speaking into a microphone, wearing blue dress with pink flowers and
Photo of me and session host at the CMU Africa Alumni session laughing while holding microphone A wide shot of me and 5 panelists at the Youth Connekt session at Transform Africa 2017



Awards

  1. Siebel Scholar, Class of 2023 – awarded annually for academic excellence and demonstrated leadership to over 90 top students from the world’s leading graduate schools
  2. Aspiring PUI Faculty - Inaugural Cohort - 2022
  3. CRA Grad Cohort for Women - 2020
  4. CRA Grad Cohort for URMD - 2020
  5. CRA Grad Cohort for Women - 2019
  6. Facebook Vivid in Research - 2019
  7. LEAP Alliance Fellow - 2018 (formerly FLIP fellow)
  8. Grace Hopper Scholar - 2018
  9. UN Women Scholarship - 2014 to 2015
  10. UN Women Scholarship - 2013 to 2014
Photo of me and 3 other participants at the CRA URMD Grad Cohort A group photo of the Vivid in Research 2019 Cohort standing next to the Instagram logo
Photo of me holding a photo cut out prop (wearing a yellow top with a black jacket and glow in the dark party props) at the CRA Grad cohort for Women 2019 event Photo of me holding a photo cut out prop (wearing a purple top with a multicolored beanie holding multiple prop bags) at the Grace Hopper 2018 event

Fun Projects

Class & Side Projects

Human-Robot Interaction Ethics Integration

I co-designed 7 ethics mini-modules for the HRI course. Our intention was to integrate ethics-type dicussion through out the course to allow students to identify ethical topics in the domain, foster vocabulary and make connections between IRL events and future implications.
[Spring 2021] Class: Ethics and Robotics with Illah Nourbakhsh, Victoria Dean

This is just, More Of The Same

For our futures assignment, I wrote an Afro-Futurist themed Black Mirror Episode. This was particularly fun because I got to fuse cultural legends with present day ethics discussion.
[Spring 2021] Class: Ethics and Robotics with Illah Nourbakhsh, Victoria Dean

UTH, A Transit Audit

I perfomed an audit of transportation interfaces and drafted several design recommendations.
[Spring 2021] Class: Accessibility with Patrick Carrington

Chrome is speaking to me

I wrote a chrome extension that speaks... So. Much. Fun!!!
[Spring 2021] Class: Accessibility with Patrick Carrington

“Can I beat it?” Co-designing Human-Robot Interactions for Public Spaces

I conducted an online user study that was based on a speculative design approach to envisioning new types of interactions with robots at a public transit terminal. The study activity was based on the `The Thing From The Future Game`.
[Fall 2020] Class: Human Robot Interaction with Henny Admoni

Sparky Vibes

I designed a wearable that pulsates to the beat of music playing. It uses a mini vibrator motor, a microphone, a neopixel ring and an Arduino Nano. The purpose of this project was to create a proof of concept that school teachers teaching dance can use to encourage students with disabilities to participate in dance.
[Fall 2019] Class: Gadgets, Sensors and Activity Recognition with Scott Hudson

Design Recommendations for CSCW systems based on Social Capital among Informal Entrepreneurial Networks in the Global South

I explored existing literature to identify the types of social capital that are prevalent/being leveraged by entrepreneurs ininformal economies across multiple domains. I then presented an analysis of the results by looking at commonalities and differences that cut across country and domain, and also identified areas that apply to structural hole theory. Lastly I presented design recommendations for digital technologies that can be used by these communities to enable social capital creation and expansion.
[Spring 2019] Class: Social Perspectives in HCI with Geoff Kaufman

Rootin Around

We designed a game that allowed players to experience the gratification that comes during harvest season. Our team constructed a trellis, that contains fruit and vegetables. Players worked in teams to harvest as much as they can... Blindfolded. Their teammate would pull out a card and describe the fruit or vegetable on it with out using certain terms. Through testing, players noted how fun it was using all their senses and how it also created a sense of trust between the players.
Client: Phipps Conservatory
[Fall 2018] Class: Transformational Game Design Studio with Jess Hammer

Goodnight: Magnetic Fridge Texting

We designed a game that fostered communication between night/swing workers and their family member. The game was designed around a fridge as a central item that most people in a home interacti with. Using a velcro board and emojis, family members leave stories about the hightlights and low points of their day for each other.
Client: Philips
[Fall 2018] Class: Transformational Game Design Studio with Jess Hammer

Code-Breaker

We designed a game that helps players reflect on their personality (i.e., either a collectivist or individualist) as well as identify their implicit biases (if any). Games like these can help group members in organisations understand how to effecitevly communicate with each other.
Client: Group Project
[Fall 2018] Class: Transformational Game Design Studio with Jess Hammer

The Perfect Smoothie

We've all been there, aching to create the perfect smoothie... No? Well, it was a fun thought while it lasted. In this project, we used signal processing to determine when the smoothie was just right. A useful skill for all the smart blenders that will be out there soon
[Fall 2017] Class: Persuasive and Ubiquitous Computing with Mayank Goel