Shuhao Ma
HCI and Design Researcher
Interest: Design, HCI, RtD, Labor Design, Social Justice, Sustainability
Contact:
Hi, I am Shuhao, a PhD candidate in Digital Media (waiting for defense) at the Interactive Technologies Institute, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa), Portugal, and an affiliated PhD student at CMU/HCII within the scope of CMU Portugal. My PhD research examines the evolving relationship between design activities and labor. On one hand, I investigate the gig economy and platform work through ethnographic methods, aiming to identify, interpret, and critically discuss the central role of workers and labor within design processes. On the other hand, I explore how design strategies can improve the lived experiences of marginalized working communities, as well as how designers navigate corporate environments to advocate for worker justice. I am an interdisciplinary design researcher who develops flexible design approaches to pragmatically navigate the power dynamics that designers encounter within real-world organizational settings while addressing issues of social justice and sustainability.
I am currently supervised by Prof. Nuno Jardim Nunes (University of Lisbon) and co-supervised by Prof. John Zimmerman (Carnegie Mellon University) and Prof. Valentina Nisi (University of Lisbon). My dissertation committee includes Prof. Paul Hekkert (TU Delft), Prof. Min Kyung Lee (UT Austin), and Prof. Ana Viseu (NOVA). Before pursuing my PhD, I worked as a service and interaction designer, holding a master's degree in design from Tongji University. I keep a keen interest in sustainability and have previously engaged in projects related to sustainability and digital social innovation, collaborating with Prof. Francesca Valsecchi (Tongji Ecology and Cultures Innovation Lab).
