The Equity and Sustainability in Computing (ESCape) Lab, is a research group in Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing, directed by Shaowen Bardzell. We are a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Interaction Design research lab that brings humanistic thinking to the design of interactive technologies; critiques interactive technologies with regard to their sociocultural impacts; and investigates users, use situations, and technologies where culture is strongly implicated in the success of the technology.

Past and active HCI research topics include feminist HCI, care ethics and feminist utopian futuiring, women’s health, sustainable agriculture, ecological and environmental justice, aesthetic interaction, craft/DIY/hacking, creativity support, bottom-up innovation and tech entrepreneurship, research through design, critical design, design activism, design theory, domestic technology design, HCI for development (HCI4D), intimate and sexual interaction, virtual world collaboration, and queer HCI, among others.

Methodologically, we deploy a critical-empirical design research approach. That is, where possible, we collect empirical data using established social scientific methodologies, including content analysis, ethnography, lab-based experimental studies, feminist methodology, and interview studies. We also make use of critical-interpretative strategies from the humanities, including discourse analysis, conceptual analysis, close reading, and social/ideological critique (e.g., feminist, Marxist, postmodernist). Both scientific and critical forms of knowledge production—used together in the same project where possible—-are leveraged for design insights, either to support the design of new systems and interaction or as critical design, probe, and/or research through design initiatives. 

APR 2025 

1 full paper was accepted for Aarhus ’25     

• Whose, Which, and What Crisis? A Critical Analysis in Computing Supply Chains.

Cindy Kaiying Lin, Lynn Dombrowski, Shaowen Bardzell. 

JAN 2025 

3 full papers were conditionally accepted for CHI ’25     

• Architecting Utopias: How AI in Healthcare Envisions Societal Ideals and Human Flourishing. 

Catherine Wieczorek, Heidi Biggs, Kamala Payyapilly Thiruvenkatanathan, Shaowen Bardzell. 

• Digital Legacy Systems for Young Adults: Emphasizing Relationship-Oriented Perspectives and Physical Artifacts in Death Preparation. 

Soonho Kwon, Hyunah Jo, Sohee Ryu, Jihwan Ryan Do, HwaJung Lee, JooHyun Lee, Keeheon Lee, Younah Kang. 

• Translating HCI Research to Broader Audiences: Motivation, Inspiration, and Critical Factors on Alternative Research Outcomes.

MinYoung Yoo, Sophia Ppali, William Odom, Yumeng Zhuang, Kritika Kritika, Wyatt Olson, Catherine Wieczorek, Heidi Biggs, Arne Berger, Audrey Desjardins, Ron Wakkary, Kathryn E. Ringland. 

DEC 2024 

2 workshop proposals were accepted for CHI ’25     

• Resisting AI Solutionism: Where Do We Go from Here?  

Gisela Reyes-Cruz, Velvet Spors, Michael Muller, Marianela Ciolfi Felice, Shaowen Bardzell, Rua Mae Williams, Karin Hansson, Ivana Feldfeber. 

• Advancing Post-Growth HCI. 

Vishal Sharma, Hongjin Lin, Asra Sakeen Wani, Jared Lee Katzman, Anupriya Tuli, Naveen Karusala, Shaowen Bardzell, Christoph Becker, Martin Tomitsch, Neha Kumar. 

NOV 2024 

1 full paper was accpeted for CSCW ’25 

• Making Sense of Trauma Over Time: Interweaving Feminist Temporalities to Understand Histories.

Catherine Wieczorek, Cindy Kaiying Lin, Shaowen Bardzell.