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C. Zaga PhD (Cristina)

Assistant Professor

About Me

Dr. ir. Cristina Zaga is an assistant professor at Human-Centred Design Group (Design and Production Management department) and a researcher at the  The DesignLab at the University of Twente.

At the Human-Centred Design group, she contributes to teaching and research, specifically focusing design methods for embodied AI and interactive agency. Cristina interests lay in the interaction design and related methodologies for technological products and systems that aim at social good, especially physically embodied AI-driven systems (e.g., robots, IoTs).

At the DesignLab, she investigates methodologies, methods, tools, and techniques to connect science, technology, and society through responsible design.

Previously, Cristina has worked at the Human-Media Interaction Group (University of Twente) and the Robots in Groups Lab (Cornell University, USA) on her doctoral research about robothings”, everyday robotic objects and toys, to promote children’s prosocial behaviors in collaborative play.   Cristina teaches about Interaction Design, Human-Robot and Human-Computer Interaction with a special focus on design/research methods and prototyping.  For three years, she coordinated a course on Communication Technologies for Global Work together with prof. Vanessa Evers and Stanford University.   

Her award-winning work in Human-Robot Interaction has received many accolades. She is regularly invited as a speaker at events (e.g., TEDx), symposia, and conferences. Cristina regularly publishes in top tier conference venues (CHI conference, HRI conference, CSCW conference) and is heavily involved in academic service for ACM SIGCH. Cristina was selected as Google Women TechMaker Scholar 2018 for her research quality and her support to empower women and children in STEM.

Publications

Recent
Zaga, C., Lupetti, M. L., Cila, N., Lee, M., Huisman, G. , Fosch Villaronga, E., & Arzberger, A. (2023). Towards Transdisciplinary and Futuring Tools for DEI and Social Justice in HRI. In DEI HRI Workshop - ACM/IEEE HRI Conference (pp. 1). ACM SigCHI.
Lupetti, M. L. , Zaga, C., Cila, N., Luria, M., Hoggenmuller, M., & Jung, M. F. (2022). 2ndInternational Workshop on Designerly HRI Knowledge: Reflecting on HRI practices through Annotated Portfolios of Robotic Artefacts. In 2022 17th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) (pp. 1269-1271). (ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction; Vol. 2022-March). IEEE Computer Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/HRI53351.2022.9889569
Mohan, M., Neerincx, A. , Zaga, C., & Fitter, N. T. (2022). Workshop YOUR study design! Participatory critique and refinement of participants' studies. In 2022 17th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) (pp. 1281-1283). (ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction; Vol. 2022-March). IEEE Computer Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/HRI53351.2022.9889396
Lee, M., Noortman, R. , Zaga, C., Starke, A. , Huisman, G., & Andersen, K. (2021). Conversational futures: Emancipating conversational interactions for futures worth wanting. In CHI 2021 - Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems: Making Waves, Combining Strengths [298] Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445244
Lupetti, M. L. , Zaga, C., & Cila, N. (2021). Designerly ways of knowing in HRI: Broadening the scope of design-oriented HRI through the concept of intermediate-level knowledge. In HRI 2021 - Proceedings of the 2021 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (pp. 389-398). [3444668] (ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction). IEEE Computer Society. https://doi.org/10.1145/3434073.3444668
Cila, N. , Zaga, C., & Lupetti, M. L. (2021). Learning from robotic artefacts: A quest for strong concepts in Human-Robot Interaction. In DIS 2021 - Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference: Nowhere and Everywhere (pp. 1356-1365). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3461778.3462095
Cheon, E. J. , Zaga, C., Lee, H. R., Lupetti, M. L., Dombrowski, L., & Jung, M. F. (2021). Human-Machine Partnerships in the Future of Work: Exploring the Role of Emerging Technologies in Future Workplaces. In CSCW 2021 - Conference Companion Publication of the 2021 Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (pp. 323-326). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3462204.3481726
Lee, M., De Castro Leal, D., Krüger, M., Strohmayer, A. , & Zaga, C. (2021). Activated: Decentering activism in and with academia. In CSCW 2021 - Conference Companion Publication of the 2021 Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (pp. 343-346). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3462204.3481723
Vroon, J., Kortuem, G. , Zaga, C., Rozendaal, M., Lupetti, M. L., & Van Beek, E. (2020). Expressive/Sensitive: Full day workshop at DIS 2020. In DIS 2020 Companion - Companion Publication of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (pp. 421-424). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3393914.3395919
Eggink, W. , Ozkaramanli, D. , Zaga, C. , & Liberati, N. (2020). Setting the Stage for Responsible Design. In S. Moes, M. Cheung, & R. Cain (Eds.), Proceedings of DRS 2020: Volume 2: Synergy (pp. 713-730). Design Research Society. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2020.116
Lee, H. R., Cheon, E. , De Graaf, M., Alves-Oliveira, P. , Zaga, C., & Young, J. (2019). Robots for Social Good: Exploring Critical Design for HRI. In 14th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) (pp. 681-682). [8673130] IEEE Computer Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/HRI.2019.8673130
Lee, W. Y., Hou, Y. T. Y. , Zaga, C., & Jung, M. (2019). Design for Serendipitous Interaction: BubbleBot - Bringing People Together with Bubbles. In 14th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) (pp. 759-760). [8673265] IEEE Computer Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/HRI.2019.8673265

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Finished Projects

  • Squirrel

    (Clearing Clutter Bit by Bit)

Contact Details

Visiting Address

University of Twente
Faculty of Engineering Technology
Gallery (building no. 17)
Hengelosestraat 500
7521AN  Enschede
The Netherlands

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University of Twente
Faculty of Engineering Technology
Horst Complex (building no. 20), room W254
De Horst 2
7522LW  Enschede
The Netherlands

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Mailing Address

University of Twente
Faculty of Engineering Technology
Horst Complex  W254
P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
The Netherlands

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