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iSchool’s Hiniker honored for societal impact at SIGCHI conference

By Curran Nielsen Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Human-computer interaction (HCI) researcher and iSchool Ph.D chair Alexis Hiniker has been honored with the prestigious Societal Impact Award at this year’s ACM SIGCHI conference.

The Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI) gathered this year in Yokohama, Japan from May 25 to May 28, 2025. The largest group of professionals in the world of HCI, the conference is a moment to celebrate the work of technology designed to transform lives.

Four other UW faculty members were celebrated for their contributions in research at this year’s conference. Among them are Allen School Professor James Fogarty and HCDE Professor Kate Starbird, who are being inducted into the CHI Academy, recognized as the highest honor in HCI research. iSchool professors Batya Friedman and Jacob O. Wobbrock were inducted in 2019, and Amy J. Ko was honored in 2022.

“There are so many people now in the field of human-computer interaction that are just doing a lot of really impactful, meaningful work to make the world a better place,” Hiniker said. “I’m super grateful to all the people who've come before, and all the mentors who have paved the way for me to do this kind of work and who have made UW such a hotbed of HCI research.”

The SIGCHI Societal Impact Award is given to HCI professionals who promote its application to pressing social needs. Hiniker has been a leader in designing technology centered around youth and families. Her research in HCI examines how consumer-facing technologies influence all audiences, but specifically children.

At a time when commercial technologies have put profit ahead of children and families, Hiniker’s research emphasizes the potential for systems that enrich lives.

“We're just trying to move away from designs that are exploitative designs that help people thrive,” she said.

Hiniker’s interdisciplinary approach is reflected in her multiple academic appointments across the UW. She is an associate professor in the Information School and an adjunct professor for the Department of Human-Centered Design and Engineering and the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering. 

A part of the team of iSchool researchers focusing on digital youth, she is working with her colleagues to empower the populations they are studying. One of her favorite projects was a version of YouTube she and her team created.

“We saw that if you took out some of the gimmicky attention-grabbing designs like autoplay and recommended videos … kids as young as 3 were perfectly capable of regulating their own use,” she said. “So I really love that project.”

Hiniker’s other work includes building a Twitter (now X) client that helps people stay on task and not go down a distracting “rabbit hole” online as well as a conversational agent that was built to teach siblings the practice of positive self talk.

“We get kind of the best of everything, a little bit of technology and a lot about people,” she said. “We get to work on problems that really matter.”

To HCI researchers looking to make an impact with their work, she emphasizes moving away from engagement-oriented success metrics for products. She also said to focus on making forward progress even during those “brick wall” moments, a challenge even for herself at times. 

While Hiniker has been honored at this year’s SIGCHI, she recognizes the community of researchers that have pushed her to make the impact that she has today.

“It's really an honor to be part of such a thriving HCI community at UW, and I think that larger group has really elevated my work in ways that just wouldn't have been possible,” Hiniker said.