Human-Centered Data Science Lab

SCC Lab Director and HCDE Professor Cecilia Aragon and collaborators at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab recently received a $300K award from the US Department of Energy to research and develop tools for improving scientific workflows and the use of massive supercomputers. The project, Usable Data Abstractions for Next-Generation Scientific Workflows, will utilize user-centered design processes and an ethnographic approach to study the hardware and software tools used to harness large scale scientific data. The project will initially focus on the climate sciences and combustion physics.

A further description of the project can be found on the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab website.

HCDE PhD student and SCCL member Daniel Perry led an afternoon workshop titled “Game Design for Science Learning” for students as part of the first STARS engineering program in mid-September. The STARS program provides a specialized first-year engineering-focused curriculum for highly motivated Pell-Grant-eligible students from high-needs high schools. The workshop introduced students to the science learning game MAX5, and provided techniques for designing, building, and evaluating their own science-themed video games. Human centered game design techniques were discussed and applied in smaller groups, and rapid prototyping methods were used by students for their own designs.

We extend a warm welcome to Brittany Fiore-Silfvast, who joins the SCCL as a postdoctoral fellow. Brittany joins the lab as a fellow with the Moore/Sloan Foundation Data Science Environment grant, working as a data science ethnographer. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Washington and an M.A. in Anthropology from Columbia University. Her research focuses on the social and organizational dimensions of data-intensive transformations in arenas such as scientific research, healthcare, global development, design and construction, and warfare. We’re excited to have Brittany on board!