University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI) faculty and students will present 25 papers at the 2022 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) Nov. 8-22. 

These papers help illustrate the breadth and depth of topics information scientists are currently studying, including: women’s perspectives on harm and justice associated with online harassment; parents’ information needs while navigating change; social media’s role during major life events; QAnon disinformation infrastructure; and caste dynamics among Indian politicians on Twitter. 

See the complete list of all UMSI participation in CSCW 2022 here.

PhD candidate Lei Zhang achieved a Best Paper Award for “Auggie: Encouraging Effortful Communication through Handcrafted Digital Experiences.” The research team evaluates their iOs app, Auggie, which they designed “to encourage partners to create digitally handcrafted augmented reality experiences for each other,” reads the abstract. 

Thirty participants (15 pairs) in the two-week study used Auggie with their partners. The app is “centered around crafting a 3D character with photos, animated movements, drawings and audio for someone else.”

UMSI research fellow Shruti Sannon earned an honorable mention for “Privacy Research with Marginalized Groups: What We Know, What's Needed, and What's Next.” The literature review investigates the current state of research at the intersection of privacy and marginalization. 

“People who are marginalized experience disproportionate harms when their privacy is violated,” write Sannon and co-author Andrea Forte of Drexel University. 

“What topics have been examined, and how? What are the key findings and recommendations? And, crucially, where do we go from here?”

Sannon also earned a diversity award with co-author Dan Cosley of the National Science Foundation for “Toward a More Inclusive Gig Economy: Risks and Opportunities for Workers with Disabilities.” 

“Through interviews with 24 workers and observational fieldwork, we present a rich, in-depth picture of the opportunities and challenges presented by four main types of gig work (ridesharing, delivery, crowdwork and freelancing) for workers with a wide range of disabilities,” they write. 

Associate professor Joyojeet Pal earned a diversity award for "Counting to be Counted: Anganwadi Workers and Digital Infrastructures of Ambivalent Care."

“Anganwadi workers, widely seen as daycare providers and community health workers, are increasingly being asked to exclusively serve as collectors of data on the population,” writes Pal and co-authors Azhagu Meena SP of Microsoft Research India and Palashi V of Cornell University. Of that system, the research team asks: “Cui bono?”

CSCW is the leading conference for presenting research in the design and use of technologies that affect groups, organizations and communities. The conference brings together top researchers and practitioners from academia and industry who are interested in both the technical and social aspects of collaboration. 

This year’s conference will be held virtually.

See the complete list of all UMSI participation in CSCW 2022 here.

— Martha Spall, UMSI writer