Faculty & Research Highlights, Summer 2026
Guided by a humanity-centered approach to design, Design Lab faculty work within creative, interdisciplinary research groups that apply rigorous design methods and expand design thinking tools to include design-doing—addressing challenges faced by people from all walks of life and across a range of environments.
In 2026, faculty research and public scholarship engaged this approach across the following areas:
✦ Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
✦ Artificial Intelligence and the New Information Age
✦ Health and Healthcare Innovation
✦ Climate Adaptation
✦ City and Regional Futures
✦ Design Education
✦ Social Justice and Equity
✦ Design for Creativity and Media
Faculty shared this work through peer-reviewed publications, books, exhibitions, films, and public lectures, and through presentations at leading venues spanning design, computing, social science, and the humanities—including conferences such as CHI, CSCW, DIS, UIST, HCOMP, SIGCSE, as well as forums in urban studies, public health, environmental research, media arts, and policy. Faculty also curated exhibitions, authored scholarly and public-facing books, and contributed expert perspectives to regional, national, and international policy conversations.
Across these domains, Design Lab researchers applied design-doing to explore responsible technologies, cultural and environmental systems, and new models of care, governance, education, and creative practice—advancing design as both a scholarly and civic endeavor.
This quarter's featured research spans accessible 3D interfaces, AI-powered cursor assistance, cardiovascular health implementation science, the social dynamics of fitness apps, and critical perspectives on technological expansion in postsocialist contexts.
CONFERENCE PAPER · DIS 2026
What if your cursor could think? Fairy Cursor explores AI assistance that stays in the flow of work
Paper: Exploring Fairy Cursor as a Form of AI Agent for In-the-Flow Assistance: Design Opportunities and Challenges
Yining Cao, James D. Hollan, Haijun Xia
The work investigates a new paradigm for AI assistance where the cursor itself becomes an intelligent agent that operates near user actions rather than in separate windows, identifying design opportunities and challenges for lightweight, contextual help that does not interrupt the user's workflow.
JOURNAL ARTICLE · AAG REVIEW OF BOOKS
Silicon Valley Imperialism traces how tech expansion reshapes postsocialist societies
Paper: Silicon Valley Imperialism: Techno Fantasies & Frictions in Postsocialist Times
Megan Ybarra, Desiree Fields, Liviu Chelcea, Margaret Marietta Ramírez, Ananya Roy, Erin McElroy
The article examines how technological expansion by Silicon Valley companies creates both promises and tensions in postsocialist regions, analyzing the collision between techno-utopian narratives and the lived realities of communities navigating rapid technological change in specific geopolitical contexts.
JOURNAL ARTICLE · INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN–COMPUTER INTERACTION
SweeperBot makes three-dimensional web content accessible through automated view analysis
Paper: SweeperBot: Making 3D Browsing Accessible Through View Analysis and Visual Question Answering
Chen Chen, Cuong Nguyen, Alexa Siu, Dingzeyu Li, Nadir Weibel
SweeperBot addresses the accessibility barrier that screen readers cannot navigate interactive 3D content by automatically analyzing camera viewpoints and answering questions about spatial relationships in three-dimensional web environments, enabling blind and low-vision users to explore 3D scenes through natural language interaction.
JOURNAL ARTICLE · COMPUTERS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR REPORTS
Qualitative analysis reveals how mental health surfaces in diet and fitness app communities
Paper: Characterizing mental health discussions in an online diet and fitness app community: A qualitative content analysis of users' posts
Oliver Golden, Elizabeth V. Eikey
Through qualitative content analysis of user-generated posts, the study identifies patterns in how mental health topics emerge and are discussed within diet and fitness app communities, revealing the complex interplay between physical health tracking technologies and users' psychological wellbeing.
JOURNAL ARTICLE · JACC: HEART FAILURE
JACC: Heart Failure examines national impact of optimal heart failure treatment implementation
Paper: National Impact of Optimal Implementation of Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy in Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction
Mohammad Keykhaei, Alexander T. Sandhu, Priscilla Y. Hsue, Stephen J. Greene, Boback Ziaeian, Michelle Kittleson, MaryAnn Villarreal-Gonzalez, Shahin Hallaj, Mattheus Ramsis, Manyoo A. Agarwal, Gregg C. Fonarow
The study models the national-level health outcomes that could be achieved if guideline-directed medical therapies for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction were implemented optimally across the United States patient population, quantifying the gap between current practice and evidence-based care.
EXPLORE FULL FACULTY & RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS SUMMER 2026
The Design Lab launches the Master of Design
The UC San Diego Master of Design is a two-year graduate program for designers ready to move from making things to shaping systems, and from contributing to leading.