Shiroq B. Email & Phone Number

Cambridge, United States

• Designed and executed a multi-method (focus groups, interviews, diary studies, and social media qualitative assessment) design ethnography of the lived experiences and unmet needs of family caregivers in two cultural contexts with 30+ participants (US and Saudi Arabia). • Examined the bidirectional relationship between avatars and users in social media through two studies (30 and 124 participants) using interviews, observations, and surveys to examine the user experience of designing and using an avatar.• Designed and conducted two design workshops with (33 and 46 participants) to explore the impact of simulating disability on design outcomes in different cultural contexts (Saudi Arabia and India).• Mapped the design signature of 9 entrepreneurial teams developing assistive technologies to explore team dynamics and activities. • Instructed 19 mechanical engineering students in the Introduction to Design (2.00) course in two user-centered design projects in 2019 and 2021; trained undergraduate research students in conducting interviews, observing participants, and synthesizing those findings; mentored 9 Saudi elementary female students during their week-long visit to MIT’s Edgerton Center. • Developed and presented two guest lectures on Interaction Design to graduate students at MIT’s Integrated Design Management (IDM) master's program.

• Characterized the landscape of assistive technology (AT) innovation in Saudi Arabia to identify useful and usable strategies and processes for the AT innovation space, which led to the development of the Humanistic Co-Design Process. The process extends contemporary design approaches and emphasizes the mutual engagement of peers (extreme users and otherwise) with complementary experiences and expertise. • Founded a startup which focuses on the teaching of the Humanistic Co-Design Process and mentoring of assistive technology startups in Saudi Arabia in collaboration with local and international entities. • Formulated the company’s vision, goal, and objectives; hired and trained 5 employees and 14 experience experts (people with disabilities and 18 mentors; recruited 183 participants (fellows and interns) in 28 AT projects.• Created and presented 26 presentations and workshops on user research, patenting, design, and writing. • Developed and facilitated 2 three-day workshops and 2 national conference experiences, including digital and print conference guides, using design thinking principles. • Adapted the Humanistic Co-Design Process for Alfaisal University’s Software Practices and Society course (SE117); onboarded 9 students as interns for COOP training for summer 2021. • Facilitated the publishing of 6 industrial designs (32 pending), 25 publications, 20 brands, 14 ATs, and $80,000 worth of project awards. • Designed and executed a multi-method (qualitative and quantitative; journey mapping, interviews, and surveys) study to improve the onboarding of interns which improved retention by 26%.• Communicated findings concisely and persuasively using storytelling and visualizations to non-academic audiences resulting in sponsorship by industry and government.

Riyadh

• Developed the curriculum for the ABET accredited Human-Computer Interaction and User Experience (IT443 - undergraduate) and the Usability and User Experience in Information Technology (IT543 - graduate) courses using dual subject- and problem-centered development models. This included identifying key issues and trends and developing objectives based on students' needs and current trends, identifying resources, collecting and devising materials from course implementation, developing and identifying assessment items and instruments to measure students' progress, implementing the program with 134 students in 2017 and 2018, and evaluating and updating the curriculum. • Designed and executed multi-method research projects exploring predictive modeling for smartwatches and smartphones for users who are blind; producing model extensions to accommodate changes.• Trained and visualized nature-inspired models (honey bee foraging and bacteria foraging) for unmanned-vehicle task allocation in search and rescue missions. • Collected and analyzed learning behaviors of children who are deaf or hard of hearing from the children themselves (observations), parents (surveys), and teachers (interviews), which led to the development of an Augmented Reality Application for children’s Arabic literacy.• Developed and provided research mentorship in human-computer interaction for 12 undergraduates and 2 graduate students within the Information Technology department. • Chaired workshop panels, co-authored, and presented academic papers at international conferences with the Smart Distributed Systems Lab @ KSU and the HCI Design Lab @ King Abdullah City for Science and Technology. • Successfully proposed and obtained research funding as a new faculty in 2017; only 7 are chosen each year out of 200+ applicants.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Computer Science

Master Of Science (Msc), Computer Science

Bsc, Information Technology