About
I am an incoming Assistant Professor at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in Fall 2026. I earned my Ph.D. in Information Studies from the University of Maryland, where I worked with Dr. Ge Gao in the Human–Computer Interaction Lab.
Previously, I received my B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, where I was advised by Dr. Lana Yarosh and Dr. Haiyi Zhu in the GroupLens Research.
During my doctoral studies, I completed UX research internships at Meta and eBay. At eBay, I worked with Dr. Pernilla Qvarfordt on the research and development of an LLM-enabled messaging feature designed to support communication between buyers and sellers.
Research
My research interests lie in the areas of human–computer interaction and computer-supported cooperative work. I apply mixed methods to design and evaluate emerging AI-powered language technologies that support people’s communication, collaboration, and access to information across diverse contexts.
My work is organized around two research threads:
Designing Conversational AI to Support Immigrant Adaptation
My dissertation examines how immigrants seek and use information while adapting to a new society. Unfamiliar information environments and limited access to local knowledge can make it difficult to find, evaluate, and utilize information in everyday life.
Focusing on immigrants' everyday news consumption, I conduct controlled experiments and participatory co-design workshops with immigrants, journalists, and other stakeholders to explore how technology can better support immigrant readers. This work develops design guidelines for conversational AI systems that make news more comprehensible, relevant, and actionable. Related publications: iConference ’24 · CHI ’25 · CHI ’26.
Rethinking Translation Support for Global Team Collaboration
Global teams often struggle to share local knowledge and context across language and geographic boundaries. Although AI translation can help bridge these gaps, its effectiveness depends on when, how, and where translations are presented—especially under real-world constraints such as limited computational resources.
Through a series of controlled experiments, I investigate how translation interfaces shape team communication and collaboration. By exploring approaches such as asynchronous translation and selective keywords, this work informs the design of more effective and context-aware translation tools for global teams. Related publications: CSCW ’22 · CHI EA ’21.
Teaching
I have supported students in User Experience, Information Science, and Computer Science across courses in user-centered design, statistics, programming, and senior capstone projects. I have also mentored undergraduate and graduate students on research projects and organized career development Q&A sessions focused on UX career pathways. Courses I am offering at MSOE include:
- Fall 2026
UXD 2010 Inclusive Design
This course introduces two key dimensions of inclusive design: accessibility and designing for international users. Students examine accessibility evaluation, cultural dimensions, emerging markets, localization, writing for global audiences, and design for social impact.
- Fall 2026
UXD 2020 Interaction Design
This course guides students through the goal-directed design process and develops their skills in designing interactive experiences for web and mobile applications. Students create user flows, responsive interfaces, and dynamic prototypes using Figma, JavaScript, and AI-assisted design and coding tools.
Contact
You can reach out to me at zhangy [at] msoe [dot] eduCheck my publications on Google Scholar