How would you describe your work in 90 seconds?

We try to figure out what and how technologies make people happy but let me unpack that a little bit. We investigate how technologies can improve our well-being, how they can contribute to our health, and how they can help us lead more fruitful lives. That usually means that we talk quite a bit with people, and we try to understand how they use technologies, what makes them happy, and what problems they experience with those technologies. If things go well, we then build prototypes of improved technologies. Sometimes, we have prototypes of technologies that are very cool and refined, and sometimes they are still very rough and crazy. We also research how people react to these technologies and develop theories, models, and frameworks that help us understand what happens within the context of the prototype that we’ve built. These frameworks and models also help us to get an understanding of how to build future systems. This involves all kinds of modalities, like mobile, desktop, etc., but it’s not necessarily only one person who uses these things. That’s why we also research how people collaborate and do things together. People’s lives are also very diverse, and so we often look at specific demographics. That starts with children and ends with older adults or people with specific disabilities or other social constraints.

How did you get in touch with informatics?

Oh, that’s a funny story. Originally, I wanted to be a theatre director. I was very active in a theatre group, and a friend with whom I did theatre is now a professional actor. He went all the way and eventually got into acting school. I decided that since I come from a family of engineers and teachers, I needed to get a proper job before doing theatre. It so happened that around the third year of my studies, I discovered HCI (ed. note: Human-Computer Interaction), and I just stuck with it because it combines interacting with people and computer science, so it was the best of both worlds. It’s definitely not what I expected I would be doing; initially, I did computer science to always have a job, but it became the passion of my life.

Where do you see the connection between your research and everyday life?

Our primary job is understanding technology and context, that is, understanding and contextualizing technologies in our everyday lives. This is also why the more theoretical researchers often find our work strange – we are, per definition, very close to everyday experience. Our work is about understanding how particular things work in everyday life and how to design technologies that support everyday life, that’s usually the starting point of our research. Earlier in my career, I did some studies where I looked at how people use technology for running. I looked into how people press buttons on their smartwatches, which apps they use, and why they pick those apps. Later, we designed new technologies that enhanced people’s running experience; for example, we designed methods for people to talk to the fans while they’re running during a race. We strive to capture the experience of everyday life and current experiences with technology, and we use this as a starting point for inquiry about future technology.

What makes you happy in your work?

Oh, the people, by far. There’s always the intellectual engagement that academic work provides, but for me, the most satisfactory moments and the moments that bring me joy are when I’m enabling others to succeed. Whether it be a bachelor student suddenly discovering that computer science is not only programming, or a PhD student getting a major paper accepted. I do believe that, especially as a professor, one of the main roles is inspiring, facilitating, and making sure that other people reach their potential. I’m very fortunate that I can do this in a context that I also find intellectually attractive. There are days when you aren’t very motivated to go to the office, but it’s so much easier when you know that there are smiling faces waiting for you, to do cool stuff with you, and that’s my main motivator by far.

Why do you think there are still so few women in computer science?

It’s something that I’ve learned is a problem only later in my career, because I work in a subfield of computer science where that often is not an issue. The people that have inspired me early in my career were mainly women. That includes my predecessor in this job, Geraldine Fitzpatrick, and a number of other women with whom I was able to work with throughout my career. But when you reach the faculty level, and you engage in roles that go beyond your sub-area, you understand the more systemic issues. I studied computer science at the electrical engineering faculty, which was extremely male, and extremely conservative. I think (and I know it’s a controversial statement) that given where my roots are, given that we are in Vienna, I kind of blame the Kaiser. If you think of the old nineteenth-century engineering ethos, engineering schools were traditionally tied to the military, and the military was traditionally extremely male because women were perceived as weak. All this, unfortunately, has an aura of male toxicity attached to it. In many cases, and especially in Central European countries, many of the computer science faculties grew out of electrical engineering, and they were traditionally male because electrical engineering was mostly tied to military technologies. So, there are negative historical handicaps that we must overcome. As a European society, we have a good track record of turning things around, so why not do it this time? We just have to deal with the historical baggage, be aware of it, and be champions of change. I am very happy to be in charge of a non-male-dominated Research Group.

Paweł W. Woźniak is Professor and Head of the Research Unit Human Computer Interaction at TU Wien Informatics. Paweł W. Woźniak will hold a joint Inaugural Lecture on November 12, 2024; 17:00 CEST at EI 9, Gußhausstraße together with Jessica Cauchard and Daniel Müller-Gritschneder.

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