Mustafa Naseem

Mustafa Naseem is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information. He holds a PhD in Design Science from the University of Michigan, an M.S. in Information and Communication Technologies for Development from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was a Fulbright Scholar, and a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan.

Naseem’s research focuses on how technology can address information inequality for marginalized communities, particularly in South Asia and among refugee populations in the United States. His current work spans three areas: voice-based health systems for low-literate populations, with a focus on engaging men in patriarchal societies to improve maternal and child health outcomes; interventions to combat technology-facilitated gender-based violence, including non-consensual image distribution and AI-driven scams; and community-driven digital literacy programs for displaced and refugee populations. His approach centers local power dynamics and cultural realities, partnering with governments, NGOs, and community organizations to ensure sustainability and policy relevance. Several of his projects have reached tens of thousands of people in Punjab, Pakistan.

His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, UNICEF, and the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, among others. Prior to Michigan, Naseem was the ICTD Expert in Residence at the ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, and directed the Innovations for Poverty Alleviation Lab at Information Technology University, Pakistan. He has taught and led ICT, design, and entrepreneurship programs across six countries in Africa, Asia, and North America.

Pronouns

he/him

Areas of Interest

ICTD, HCI, Digital Health, Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence, Digital Literacy, Refugee and Immigrant Technology Adoption

Education

• PhD in Design Science, College of Engineering, University of Michigan

• MS in Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD), University of Colorado Boulder

• BE in Electrical (Telecom) Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan

Honors and Awards

• Joan Durrance Community Engagement Award, University of Michigan School of Information (2021)

• Diversity and Inclusion Award for “Designing Digital Safe Spaces for Peer Support and Connectivity in Patriarchal Contexts” at the ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (2020)

• Best Paper Honorable Mention for “An Empirical Comparison of Technologically Mediated Advertising in Under-Connected Populations” at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (2020)

• Named among the top-12 finalists for the Rolex Young Laureate Award for Enterprise (2016)

• Fulbright Foreign Student Scholarship, University of Colorado Boulder (2011-2013)

Selected Publications

Dillahunt, T., Shedden, K., Filipof, M., Lee, S., Naseem, M., Toyama, K., & Hui, J. (2025). The Design and Psychometrics for a New Measure of Collective Digital Literacy: Community Digital Capacity. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CSCW), April 2025.

Jamshed, H., Naseem, M., Potluri, V., & Brewer, R. (2025). Rethinking Productivity with GenAI: A Neurodivergent Students’ Perspective. Proceedings of the ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS), 2025.

Batool, A., Naseem, M., & Toyama, K. (2024). Expanding Concepts of Non-Consensual Image-Disclosure Abuse: A Study of NCIDA in Pakistan. Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI).

Batool, A., Dillahunt, T., Hui, J., & Naseem, M. (2024). Lessons from Studying Sociotechnical Adaptation among Afghan Refugees in a Mid-Western US State. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (CSCW).

Raza, A. A., Naseem, M., Hayat Qasmi, N., Randhawa, S., Malik, F., Taimur, B., … & Vashistha, A. (2022). Fostering Engagement of Underserved Communities with Credible Health Information on Social Media. Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference (WWW), 3718–3727.

Naseem, M., Younas, F., & Mustafa, M. (2020). Designing Digital Safe Spaces for Peer Support and Connectivity in Patriarchal Contexts. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 4(CSCW2), 1–24. Diversity and Inclusion Award.

Naseem, M., Saleem, B., St-Onge Ahmad, S., Chen, J., & Raza, A. A. (2020). An Empirical Comparison of Technologically Mediated Advertising in Under-Connected Populations. Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 1–13. Best Paper Honorable Mention.