Projects

a baby sleeping on a woman's chest

Technology Use to Support Birth Choices and Information Access

This study investigates information seeking in pregnancy and delivery choices in Brazil, emphasizing the role of technology and communication with peers to overcome misinformation and fight obstetric violence. Partnering with a non-governamental organization, this study focuses on two complimentary aspects: (i) how activists use different technologies to reach pregnant individuals and support their information needs, and (ii) how pregnant individuals seek information to support their delivery choices, using technology or not. Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

fertility app prototype

Investigating Individuals' Perceptions of Direct-to-consumer AI

This study explores the design of fertility apps aiming to provide direct insights for future app design. Using a fertility app prototype in a simulated experiment, we investigate how users understand and trust the feedback provided by fertility technologies, particularly algorithmic predictions for periods, ovulation, and fertile window. This study will provide an understanding of how users perceive fertility algorithms and the role technology plays in balancing their expectations. Investigating such aspects is critical to design and develop technologies that can truly empower individuals, avoid reinforcing negative social pressures, and support positive attitudes toward fertility.

Publications: [CSCW Workshop 2019]

fertility trajectories

Understanding (In)Fertility Experiences

This project focuses on investigating people’s relationships with data, aiming to understand how patients experience fertility self-tracking with the goal of conceiving. To do so, the project encompasses semi-structured interviews with patients, partners, and healthcare providers. The main goal is to provide a holistic view of (in)fertility experiences, including patients long-term experience with fertility self-tracking, how tracking involves their partners, how it impacts their daily lives and emotional experiences, and how healthcare providers (e.g., fertility doctors) assess the increasing use of fertility self-tracked data.

Publications: [CSCW 2020] [CHI 2021 Pre-print]

icons of many fertility apps from the google play store

Analyzing Fertility App Support

This study focused on obtaining a comprehensive view of the support offered by commercial fertility technologies. Fertility apps are a very popular means of collecting, analyzing, and using personal fertility-related data. Their design may influence people’s data practices by suggesting what, how, and how often to track, and emphasizing certain data through their feedback. I conducted a systematic analysis of 31 popular fertility apps. The findings show that most apps aim to support data practices for specific fertility-related goals, offering extensive data collection options, but fewer options for feedback. However, many app users want to use fertility apps for holistic analyses, encompassing changing goals, life-events and stages, and transitions between them, suggesting people’s data practices are broader than what apps support.

Publications: [ASRM 2020] [JAMIA Open 2021]

application of the personal informatics model to the fertility cycle

Understanding Fertility Self-Tracking Through Online Health Communities

This study consisted of a qualitative analysis of patient-generated content from an online health community (OHC) dedicated to infertility. Through the results, I discuss how a complex, knowledge-intensive, and highly personalized context such as fertility contributes to pressure and emotional burden on individuals trying to conceive, as well as how OHC users turn self-tracking into a collaborative sensemaking process. I also identify five different types of engagement with data (i.e., positive, burdened, obsessive, trapped, and abandoning), discussing how they are composed of tracking activities and emotional experience, how these components are intertwined and mutually dependent, and how the types of engagement are embedded in the self-tracking culture.

Publications: [CSCW 2017] [CSCW 2018]

Other Projects

Strong Heart Researcher Needs Study (2019)

Role: data collection (semi-structured interviews)

iCONCUR: Informed Consent for Clinical Data and Bio-Sample Use for Research (2018)

Role: recruitment and data analysis (R)

Identifying Patient Needs in Hepatic Encephalopathy (2018)

Role: project conceptualization and development of IRB materials

Design of Software Architecture in Distributed Software Development (2007-2011)

Role: main researcher (master thesis)