Jin Kang

Carleton University · School of Information Technology

Music can be a catalyst for self-development, creative expression, and community building for blind or low vision (BLV) individuals. However, BLV music learners face complex obstacles in learning music. They are highly reliant on their learning environment and music teachers for accommodations and flexibility. Prior research identified the challeng...

Maintaining satisfying close relationships is important for individuals’ well-being. In the digital age, artificial intelligence (AI) has growing applications for relationship maintenance and thus implications for relational well-being. We hypothesize that although using AI to help with relational maintenance may reduce an individual’s effort, thei...

The inaccessibility of rulebooks hinders the rule learning experience of board game players who are blind or have low vision (BLV). We conducted two qualitative studies to explore the design of conversational agents (CAs) that can support BLV players' learning and provide companionship. In Study 1, we recruited 14 BLV participants and identified th...

This paper describes a training program designed to increase accessibility competencies in graduate students of interdisciplinary backgrounds, including those in computing education, and presents a longitudinal study that examined the program's effectiveness. We surveyed two graduate student cohorts in the program at multiple periods over eight mon...

Relationship maintenance needs sincere efforts made by both self and relational partners. Yet, technological development provides people with convenient access to help from external sources-other people online, or even tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI)-when performing certain relational activities. By reducing personal effort, receiving...

Experiential learning techniques employed to teach human computer interaction and computing students about user experience (UX) fall into two categories: course-based project learning (industry/community research projects) or outside-of-course training (a UX consultancy). We sought to diversify the latter category by describing an independent UX tr...

This position paper aims to initiate a dialogue about the potential of a conversational agent in improving the board gaming experience for players who are blind or low vision. We present a view that a conversational agent can achieve the goal by acting as (1) an accessible tool to communicate board game rules to players who are blind or low vision...

Objectives . Internships can bring a host of professional and academic benefits to students. Then, how do User Experience (UX) internships influence Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) graduate students’ professional and academic growth? What are the challenges experienced by HCI graduate students during internships? We explored these two research que...

Experiential learning is an effective method to teach User Experience (UX) to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) students. Despite its popularity, there seems to be no comprehensive overview on (1) the current use of experiential learning in UX education at universities and (2) student learning outcomes and benefits resulting from the use of experien...

Gaming accessibility research for blind or low vision (BLV) commu- nities largely focuses on digital games. There is a need for designers to understand BLV’s experience with tabletop games that involve the player’s physical interaction. In this study, we investigate BLV individuals’ experience with the accessibility of tabletop games. We conducted...

Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as a rapidly advancing technology with substantial attention from scientific disciplines including Psychology and Human-Computer Interaction. It has become an attractive tool that can offer healthcare support. Marginalized groups like lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, two-spirit, intersex, and...

There is a growing emphasis to educate STEM students about accessibility, so that they can become accessibility advocates. We introduce a community-based accessibility training program that brings together graduate students in STEM and related fields, called the Research and Education in Accessibility, Design, and Innovation (READi). Going beyond a...

There exists discrepancy between the skills possessed by Human Computer Interaction (HCI) students and the expectations of user experience (UX) industry. This skill gap lowers HCI students’ successful transition from academia to the field of UX. To reduce the skill gap, HCI educators have started to integrate experiential learning techniques into t...

In this workshop paper, we present an innovative training program—Research and Education in Accessibility, Design, and Innovation (READi)—dedicated to prepare graduate students of diverse disciplines for employment in the growing number of markets defined by accessibility requirements. The program has strategically designed five training components...

More than 1 in 5 Canadians are immigrants. While industries and public services in the country interact with users of diverse backgrounds, it is unclear how the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of users influence their perceived usability of services. We conducted a usability test of the website of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IR...

Continuous tracking of information is critical for meaningful self-reflection and self-monitoring, but people often forget to log their information in tracking devices. Research indicates that tracking reminders can successfully remind people to log their information, yet, little is known about what make reminders (in)effective. We extend prior wor...

This position paper aims to initiate a dialogue among HCI researchers about the current research and future directions on anthropomorphism in implementing health virtual coaches. We summarize key research trends on anthropomorphized virtual coaches and present three future directions on this area that expand on and address gaps from previous studie...

How would human users react to social robots that possess a theory of mind (ToM)? Would robots that can infer their users’ cognitions and emotions threaten their sense of uniqueness and evoke other negative reactions because ToM is a uniquely human trait? If so, can we alleviate these negative user reactions by framing robots as members of our ingr...

Upward social comparison on social networking sites (SNSs) makes SNS users feel bad about themselves. Would emphasizing overall similarity between SNS users and the upward comparison targets make them feel good about themselves (i.e., assimilation)? We examined this question using a 3 (overall similarity: zero vs. moderate vs. high) × 2 (comparison...

Targeted advertising promises to increase relevance to consumers , but risks backfiring if it seems overly intrusive. In the present study, we examined whether personalizing online advertisements based on one's autobiographical memory can foster positive reactions toward the advertisement. In two experiments, participants went through a fictitious...

Instagram users can create two types of account to manage their self-presentation strategically. On a real Instagram account (known as Rinsta), users highlight flattering aspects of self, whereas on a fake Instagram account (known as Finsta), users show unflattering aspects of self. We conducted an online survey with college Instagram users who use...

Do users’ general social support preference influence their satisfaction with embodied conversational agents’ (ECAs) social support? We examined this research question by conducting a 2 (an agent’s social support: informational vs. emotional) x 2 (a user’s general social support needs: informational vs. emotional) between-subjects online experiment...

This study examined the effect of adding an emotion regulation feature into fitness trackers. Applying the theoretical framework of emotion regulation, we argue that such feature can mitigate tracker users’ downward emotions due to failure to meet their fitness goals, and as such, the users would be continuously motivated to meet their fitness goal...

Immersive journalism in the form of virtual reality (VR) headsets and 360°-video is becoming more mainstream and is much touted for inducing greater "presence" than traditional text. But, does this presence influence psychological outcomes of reading news, such as memory for story content, perceptions of credibility, and empathy felt toward story c...

Despite numerous health advantages wearable health trackers could offer, tracker users often abandon their devices after a short period of time. One reason for abandonment is users' lack of identification of their trackers as an accurate reflection of who and what they are (i.e., sense of identity). In this study, we examine the role of cosmetic cu...

SNS users can define their communication context by manipulating a message’s publicness and directedness, leaving behavioral traces for observers to interpret. This study investigated how publicness and directedness of a Facebook self-disclosure post influence observers’ attributions and perceptions of the message and the message sender. With an on...