UX Research Intern, Facebook Starting Summer 2021
I just accepted an internship offer from the UX research team at Facebook. I'm super excited to collaborate, initiate, and contribute to products that have an impact.
TL;DR: I'm a 4th year HCI PhD student interested in UX research opportunities (e.g., internships and collaborations). I describe myself as a qualitative researcher with multi-disciplinary influences (i.e., I love working in the doorways connecting different domains & methods).
--- Now, onto all the details ---
Hi! I'm Lynn Kirabo (or just Kirabo)
I'm a PhD Student 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, Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon Univeristy.
My research interest is understanding the impact of context in technology design & adoption. My current projects include:
Carnegie Mellon University (Aug 2017 - to date)
Carnegie Mellon University (July 2013 - May 2015)
Graduated: Class Valedictorian.
Makerere University (Aug 2005 - May 2008)
Graduated: 1st Class Honors.
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. {Forthcoming}
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. {Forthcoming}
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]
Workshops (Peer-Reviewed)HCI Across Borders, (2020). ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Doctoral ConsortiumKirabo, 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]
PosterKirabo, L., "HCI4D through the Lens of Assistive Technology Research Concepts" ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies. Poster, (2018).
Kirabo, L., "Global cultures and computing." XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students 26, no. 2 (2019): 8-9. [ACM DL], [PDF]
I just accepted an internship offer from the UX research team at Facebook. I'm super excited to collaborate, initiate, and contribute to products that have an impact.
Collaborate on and initiate research projects: currently working on exploring public transit in developing countries and data logs from a transit app deployed in the United States (Tiramisu).
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.
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.
Stack used: HTML, CSS, Wordpress
TerrAfrica is a project that focuses on improving land quality to sustain the performance of African countries.
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.
Course: Programmable User Interfaces, PUI (05-430)
Department: Human Computer Interaction Institute
Course Level: Graduate & Undergraduate
Stack: HTML/CSS/JS
This is a programming lab and design studio designed for those who want to express their interactive ideas in working prototypes.
Course: User-Centered Research & Evaluation, UCRE (05-410/05-610)
Department: Human Computer Interaction Institute
Course Level: Graduate & Undergraduate
This is an introductory course to Human-Computer Interaction. It equips students with a systematic approach to design through observation, analysis and empirical evaluation methods.
Course: Java For Smartphone Development (18-641)
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Course Level: Graduate
Stack: Java/Apache/Android
This course provides an intensive exploration of object-oriented programming using Java as well as Smartphone development on the Android platform.
Course: Strategic Use of Digital Information (04-611)
Department: Carnegie Mellon, Africa
Course Level: Graduate
Course discipline: Business
This course equips students with knowlegde of a new generation of technologies, that will inturn shape the next generation of businesses.
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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
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
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
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
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
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
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