About Our Lab
Tech Solidarity Lab seeks to open new opportunities for community-driven technology development and extend theoretical frameworks that further our understanding of design, politics, and justice. We draw together techniques of design inquiry and participatory research to respond to systemic inequities embedded in emerging technologies and collectively imagine more accountable and liberatory alternatives.
The Tech Solidarity Lab is a part of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.
Our Work
Futures of Work
Our work investigates the social, political, and material conditions driving the deployment of AI and automation technologies within essential sectors (waste, care, hospitality, and transportation), with a focus on how such decisions affect frontline staff.
Emergent Mobilities
We examine the impacts of emergent mobility technologies on sidewalks and public transit, and contribute to the design of community-driven transportation systems infused with access and equity.
Community Governance of Tech
Public technology cannot be designed or implemented in a way that is purposeful and ethical without meaningful community involvement. Our work seeks to define design and regulatory strategies that ensure equitable outcomes over the long term.
Futures of Work
Our work investigates the social, political, and material conditions driving the deployment of AI and automation technologies within essential sectors (waste, care, hospitality, and transportation), with a focus on how such decisions affect frontline staff.
Emergent Mobilities
We examine the impacts of emergent mobility technologies on sidewalks and public transit, and contribute to the design of community-driven transportation systems infused with access and equity.
Community Governance of Tech
Public technology cannot be designed or implemented in a way that is purposeful and ethical without meaningful community involvement. Our work seeks to define design and regulatory strategies that ensure equitable outcomes over the long term.
Recent Publications
- Akridge, H. et al. "“The Bus is Nothing Without Us”: Making Visible the Labor of Bus Operators amid the Ongoing Push Towards Transit Automation" ACM CHI’24.
- Taylor, J. et al. "Cruising Queer HCI on the DL: A Literature Review of LGBTQ+ People in HCI" ACM CHI’24.
- Taylor, J. et al. "Mitigating Epistemic Injustice: The Online Construction of a Bisexual Culture" ACM TOCHI.
- Spektor, F. et al. “Designing for Wellbeing: Worker-Generated Ideas on Adapting Algorithmic Management in the Hospitality Industry.” ACM DIS’23.
- Sum, C. et al. “Translation as (Re)mediation: How Ethnic Community-Based Organizations Negotiate Legitimacy.” ACM CHI’23.
- Spektor, F. et al. “Charting the Automation of Hospitality: An interdisciplinary literature review examining the evolution of frontline service work in the face of algorithmic management.” ACM CSCW’23.
- Fox, S. et al., “Patchwork: The Hidden, Human Labor of AI Integration within Essential Work.” ACM CSCW’23.
- Kang, E. and Fox, S. "Stories from the Frontline: Recuperating Essential Worker Accounts of AI Integration." ACM DIS’22.
- Fan, B. and Fox, S. "Access Under Duress: Pandemic-Era Lessons on Digital Participation and Datafication in Civic Engagement." ACM GROUP’22.
Team
Sarah Fox | Lab Director
Esther Kang | PhD Student, Design
Franchesca Spektor | PhD Student, HCII
Cella Sum | PhD Student, HCII
Jordan Taylor | PhD Student, HCII
Shivani Kapania | PhD Student, HCII
Hunter Akridge | Research Associate, HCII
Sarah Fox | Lab Director
Esther Kang | PhD Student, Design
Franchesca Spektor | PhD Student, HCII
Cella Sum | PhD Student, HCII
Jordan Taylor | PhD Student, HCII
Shivani Kapania | PhD Student, HCII
Hunter Akridge | Research Associate, HCII
Alumni
Bonnie Fan | PhD Student, HCII
Bea Maggipinto | PhD Student, HCII
Chinar Mehta | Fulbright Fellow
Bonnie Fan | PhD Student, HCII
Bea Maggipinto | PhD Student, HCII
Chinar Mehta | Fulbright Fellow
Work With Us
If you are interested in a research position:
If you are a current student at CMU, you can apply to the lab via this form. If you are interested in a PhD with us, please apply to CMU.
If you are interested in partnering in research:
Please reach out if you have ideas on how our team could contribute research expertise to local grassroots initiatives or broader coalitions promoting more equitable, just, and accessible futures.
If you are interested in a research position:
If you are a current student at CMU, you can apply to the lab via this form. If you are interested in a PhD with us, please apply to CMU.
If you are interested in partnering in research:
Please reach out if you have ideas on how our team could contribute research expertise to local grassroots initiatives or broader coalitions promoting more equitable, just, and accessible futures.