Universal Accessibility

Universal accessibility focuses on helping various groups of users access information through computers or computer related applications. There are a significant number of users who have difficulty using computers due to physical, perceptual, or cognitive impairments. Research in universal accessibility aims to close this gap and provide more opportunities to these individuals. I have specifically focused on using speech-based approach to help users with spinal cord injuries to interact with computers or computer related systems. My current project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.

Selected publications in this field:

Jinjuan Feng and Andrew Sears (2004) Using Confidence Scores to Improve Hands-Free Speech-Based Navigation in Continuous Dictation Systems. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction. 11(4), 329-356.

Jinjuan Feng, Clare-Marie Karat, and Andrew Sears (2005)  How Productivity Improves in Hands-Free Continuous Dictation Tasks: Lessons Learned from a Longitudinal Study. Interacting with Computers. Vol. 17(3), 265-289.

Andrew Sears, Jinjuan Feng, Kwesi Oseitutu, and Clare-Marie Karat (2003). Speech-Based Navigation during Dictation: Difficulties, Consequences, and Solutions. Human Computer Interaction. 18(3), 229-257.

Information Security and Privacy

Information security and privacy are among the top concerns of the IT industry. As advanced information technology allow tremendous amount of data to be collected and stored at a fairly low cost, and as more and more people are getting online, the protection of personal information has become an urgent problem. Privacy implementation technologies aim to solve this problem. I worked with the privacy group in IBM T. J. Watson Research Center on privacy implementation technologies. My current project in this field focus on multi-factor authentication techniques and more accessible CAPTCHA tools.

Selected publications in this field:

John Karat, Clare-Marie Karat, Carolyn Brodie, and Jinjuan Feng (2005) Privacy in Information Technology: Designing to Enable Privacy Policy Management in Organizations. International Journal of Human Computer Studies. (63) 2005, 153-174.

Carolyn Brodie, Clare-Marie Karat, John Karat, and Jinjuan Feng (2005) Usable Security and Privacy: A Case Study of Developing Privacy Management Tools, Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS, ACM Digital Library, April,  2005.

John Karat, Clare-Marie Karat, Carolyn Brodie, and Jinjuan Feng (2005) Designing Natural Language and Structured Entry Methods for Privacy Policy Authoring. In the Proceedings for the Tenth IFIP TC13 International Conference of Human-Computer Interaction, September, 2005, pp. 671-684.

Online Communication

Thanks to the dramatic development in online collaboration and communication technologies, a large number of people reside in online communities as their second home. People seek information, support, and entertainment in online communities belonging to various domains, such as healthcare, education, and sports. One indispensable prerequisite for effective communication is mutual trust between the parties involved. During face-to-face communications, social cues such as look, dress, impression, and eye contact help people establish trust. Unfortunately, in the online environments, most of these social cues are lost or very difficult to obtain I am interesting in how people establish interpersonal trust in a text-only environment.

Selected publications in this field:

Jinjuan Feng, Jonathan Lazar, and Jenny Preece (2003) Empathy and Online Interpersonal Trust, a Fragile Relationship. Behaviour and Information Technology. 23(2), 97-106.