I am a HCI researcher, Technology consultant, and 5th year Phd candidate at Northwestern University.
Curriculum Vitae (CV) | Google Scholar
As a human-computer interaction (HCI) researcher, I use participatory and community-based research methods to co-design technologies that support frontline workers / healthcare providers & promote positive health outcomes for all. I am a Google PhD Research Fellow and advised by Maia Jacobs in the Personalized & Adaptive Technology for Health (NU-PATH) Lab.
As a technology consultant, I lead strategic training and research to understand and address technology-facilitated abuse (TFA), particularly for survivors of domestic violence. I work closely with The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence to build Illinois’ capacity to increase digital safety practices, trauma-informed care, and support within local communities.
Email at: [ conniewchau@u.northwestern.edu ] / conniewchau [@] u [dot] northwestern [dot] edu.
Publications
[P5] “‘All Day, Every Day, Listening to Trauma’: Investigating Features of Digital Interventions for Empathy-based Stress and Burnout”. CHI 2025. [🏆 Best Paper Honorable Mention Award | PDF]
Connie W. Chau, Colleen Norton, Kaylee Kruzan, Maia Jacobs.[P4] “Envisioning the Future of Burnout Support: Understanding Frontline Workers' Experiences in Nonprofit Gender-Based Violence Organizations”. CSCW 2024. [PDF]
Connie W. Chau, Hannah Studd, Denise Huang, Colleen Norton, Kaylee Kruzan, Maia Jacobs.[P3] “On Hackathons: A Multi disciplinary Literature Review”. CHI 2023. [PDF]
Connie W. Chau and Elizabeth M. Gerber.[P2] “Equityware: Co-designing with and for low-SES communities.” CHI 2023. [PDF]
Stefany Cruz, Alexander Redding, Connie W. Chau, Claire Lu, Josiah Hester, Maia Jacobs.[P1] “Part of the Conversation: Workforce Professionals’ Perspectives on the Roles and Impacts of Workforce Technologies”. CSCW 2022. [PDF]
Connie W. Chau, Kenneth Holstein, and Michael Madaio.“Preliminary Feasibility of Using Crowdworkers to Identify Visual Triggers for Photosensitive Epilepsy in Digital Media”. CHI EA 2025. [PDF]
Angela Davis, Connie W. Chau, Maia Jacobs“Towards trauma-informed interventions with & for secondary traumatic stress (STS) for advocates in gender-based violence”. Workshop on Trauma-Informed Design: A Collaborative Approach to Building Safer Online Spaces at CSCW ‘23. [Workshop Paper]
Connie W. Chau, Hannah Studd, Kaylee Kruzan, Maia Jacobs.“From self to community care: The need for multilevel interventions to address advocate burnout in gender-based violence”. Workgroup on Interactive Systems in Healthcare (WISH) at CHI ‘23. [Workshop Paper]
Connie W. Chau, Hannah Studd, Kaylee P. Kruzan, Maia Jacobs.
Updates & News
July 2026 - Selected to give an oral presentation at the inaugural ACM Interactive Health Conference in Porto, Portugal
June 2026 - Will present “Technology x Relationship Violence” at GirlCon 2026 in Chicago.
May 2026 - Started working with Nicki Dell at Cornell Tech 🌟 Will be presenting “Digital Literacy, AI, and Tech Safety for Domestic Violence Advocates & Survivors” at The Network’s annual conference.
April 2026 - Awarded for my service as a Day Captain Student Volunteer at CHI 2026 and attended the Workshop on Social & Emotional Uses of AI
Feb 2026 - Selected to attend & present at the CRA-WP Grad Cohort Workshops in Seattle, WA and Tech for Good Conference hosted by the University of Chicago
Jan 2026 - 👩🏻🏫 Taught as instructor-on-record the project-based HCI Studio course at Northwestern University for undergraduate & Masters computer science students
Oct 2025 - 🎉 Awarded the Google PhD Fellowship
Sept 2025 - Named a 🎉 Rising Star in EECS for 2025 + I co-led a social media campaign for TFA (check out The Network’s instagram). I also organized & facilitated a digital safety course with a grant from Cyber Collective for service providers and a virtual expert panel event for Illinois community members to ask their questions about TFA