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Katta Spiel

Assistant Prof. Dr.x techn. / BSc B.A. MSc

Research Focus

  • Visual Computing and Human-Centered Technology: 100%

Research Areas

  • Gender Studies, Cultural Studies, Technology Assessment, Participatory Design, Access & Accessibility, Disability Studies, Textile Technologies
Katta Spiel

About

I research marginalised perspectives on embodied computing through a lens of Critical Access. My work informs design and engineering supporting the development of technologies that account for the diverse realities they operate in. In my interdisciplinary collaborations with neurodivergent and/or nonbinary peers, I conduct explorations of novel potentials for designs, methodologies and innovative technological artefacts.

Roles

  • Assistant Professor
    Human Computer Interaction, E193-05
  • Faculty Council
    Substitute Member
  • Curriculum Commission for Informatics
    Principal Member

Contact

2025W

2026S

 

2026

  • Revisiting Disability Studies in HCI: From Access to Justice through Artistic Practices / Jain, P., Spiel, K., & Salter, C. (2026). Revisiting Disability Studies in HCI: From Access to Justice through Artistic Practices. In AlpCHI ’26: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in the Alps. 1st International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in the Alps (AlpCHI ’26), Switzerland. Association for Computing Machinery. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/228206
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • Wheeling the Outdoors in Austria: Challenges not Imposed by Nature but by a Dispersed Information Landscape / Fussenegger, F. A., & Spiel, K. (2026). Wheeling the Outdoors in Austria: Challenges not Imposed by Nature but by a Dispersed Information Landscape. In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in the Alps (pp. 114–120). The Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3780045.3780057
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • Disability, Differences, and Diversity: Revisiting Inclusive Design and Access / Verma, H., Barbareschi, G., Ppali, S., Gerling, K., De Meulder, M., Good, J., Singh, J., Spiel, K., El Ali, A., Constantinides, M., Matera, M., Perusquia-Hernandez, M., Alavi, H., Cesar, P., & Bozzon, A. (2026). Disability, Differences, and Diversity: Revisiting Inclusive Design and Access. In N. Oliver, D. A. Shamma, H. C. Candello, P. Cesar, P. Lopes, V. Artizzu, F. Draxler, G. López, A. V. Reinschluessel, X. Tong, & P. O. Toups Dugas (Eds.), CHI EA ’26: Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–4). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3778798
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • „Was haben sie denn alle immer nur mit dem Geschlecht?“ (Nicht-)Binär in binären Welten / Spiel, K. (2026). „Was haben sie denn alle immer nur mit dem Geschlecht?“ (Nicht-)Binär in binären Welten. In G. Ludwig, S. Rief, V. Spark, & J. Tschuggnall (Eds.), Soziodigitale Transformationen : Perspektiven der interdisziplinären Geschlechterforschung (Vol. 3, pp. 75–99). innsbruck university press • iup. https://doi.org/10.15203/99106-188-5-03
    Project: Exceptional Norms (2020–2023)

2025

  • "It only needs to work for one of us": Rethinking DIY Deaf Tech Through Situated Co-Design / Huffman, S., Angelini, R., Kushalnagar, R., & Spiel, K. (2025). “It only needs to work for one of us”: Rethinking DIY Deaf Tech Through Situated Co-Design. In S. Kane, K. Shinohara, C. Bennett, & M. Mott (Eds.), ASSETS 2025 : Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (pp. 1–7). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). https://doi.org/10.1145/3663547.3749828
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • Access Nature / Fussenegger, F. A., & Spiel, K. (2025, July 8). Access Nature [Conference Presentation]. 13th ALTER Conference: Transformations, Innsbruck, Austria.
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • Towards Use-Based Ethics Audits of LLM-Based Advice-Chatbots / Christoph, T., van Berkel, K., & Spiel, K. (2025, April 26). Towards Use-Based Ethics Audits of LLM-Based Advice-Chatbots [Presentation]. HEAL @ CHI 2025 : Human-centered Evaluation and Auditing of Language Models, Yokohama, Japan. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/222851
  • A Critical Review of Sexuality, Technology and Disability / Patel, D., Osipova, E., Spiel, K., & Barbareschi, G. (2025). A Critical Review of Sexuality, Technology and Disability. In CHI ’25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2025 CHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Yokohama, Japan. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713994
    Download: PDF (1.23 MB)
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • Body Politics: Unpacking Tensions and Future Perspectives for Body-Centric Design Research in HCI / Tsaknaki, V., Fdili Alaoui, S., Homewood, S., Fritsch, J., Brynskov, A., Núñez-Pacheco, C., Carlson, K., Spiel, K., Gillies, M. F. P., & Harrington, C. (2025). Body Politics: Unpacking Tensions and Future Perspectives for Body-Centric Design Research in HCI. In CHI EA ’25: Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–7). https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3706710
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • Sexy and We Know It: Exploring Sexistemologies for HCI / Osipova, E., Kender, K., & Spiel, K. (2025). Sexy and We Know It: Exploring Sexistemologies for HCI. In CHI EA ’25: Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Yokohama, Japan. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3716228
    Download: PDF (7.94 MB)
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • From Participation to Solidarity: A Case Study on Access of Maker Spaces from Deaf and Hearing Perspectives / Suchanek, O., Meissner, J. L., Angelini, R., & Spiel, K. (2025). From Participation to Solidarity: A Case Study on Access of Maker Spaces from Deaf and Hearing Perspectives. In CHI ’25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–15). https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713202
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • Social Media as Marginalisation Machine: The Trans Desire for Solidarity Spaces / Kender, K., & Spiel, K. (2025). Social Media as Marginalisation Machine: The Trans Desire for Solidarity Spaces. In CHI ’25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–17). https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713136
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • Speculating Deaf Tech: Reimagining Technologies Centering Deaf People / Angelini, R., Spiel, K., & De Meulder, M. (2025). Speculating Deaf Tech: Reimagining Technologies Centering Deaf People. In CHI ’25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–18). https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713238
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • „Zwei Welten in einer Person vereint“ : Zur Verschränktheit von queerer und tauber Identität / Spiel, K. (2025). „Zwei Welten in einer Person vereint“ : Zur Verschränktheit von queerer und tauber Identität. Das Zeichen : Zeitschrift für Sprache und Kultur Gehörloser, 39(124). http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/216926
    Download: PDF (184 KB)
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • Building Solidarity Amid Hostility: Experiences of Fat People in Online Communities / Payne, B. H., Taylor, J., Spiel, K., & Fiesler, C. (2025). Building Solidarity Amid Hostility: Experiences of Fat People in Online Communities. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 9(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1145/3701186
    Projects: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029) / Exceptional Norms (2020–2023)
  • Disability Intimacy in HCI: Defining a Community-Driven Research Agenda / Osipova, E., Rodolitz, J., Crawford, K. A., Kender, K., Henriques, A. O., Park, C., Piedade, P., Wood, R. E., & Spiel, K. (2025). Disability Intimacy in HCI: Defining a Community-Driven Research Agenda. In S. Kane, K. Shinohara, C. Bennett, & M. Mott (Eds.), ASSETS 2025 : Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). https://doi.org/10.1145/3663547.3748640
    Download: PDF (681 KB)
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • FDG '25: Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games / Pirker, J., Kayali, F., Spiel, K., Harrer, S., Khalifa, A., & Barros, G. (Eds.). (2025). FDG ’25: Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games. Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3723498
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)
  • Access InContext: Futuring Accessible Prototyping Tools and Methods / Piedade, P., Hayton, P. A., Bennett, C. L., Carter, A. R. L., Crivellaro, C., Dix, A., McGowan, J., Spiel, K., Sturdee, M., Tigwell, G. W., & Nicolau, H. (2025). Access InContext: Futuring Accessible Prototyping Tools and Methods. In CHI EA ’25: Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–7). https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3706716
    Project: ACCESSTECH (2024–2029)

2024

2023

  • Tackling the Lack of a Practical Guide in Disability-Centered Research / McDonnell, E. J., Mack, K. A., Gerling, K., Spiel, K., Bennett, C. L., Brewer, R. N., Williams, R. M., & Tigwell, G. W. (2023). Tackling the Lack of a Practical Guide in Disability-Centered Research. In ASSETS ’23: Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (pp. 1–5). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3597638.3615650
  • How to Ethically Engage Fat People in HCI Research / Payne, B. H., Taylor, J., Spiel, K., & Fiesler, C. (2023). How to Ethically Engage Fat People in HCI Research. In C. Fiesler, L. Terveen, & M. Ames (Eds.), CSCW ’23 Companion: Companion Publication of the 2023 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (pp. 117–121). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3584931.3606987
  • Banal Autistic Social Media: A Found Footage Autoethnography / Kender, K., & Spiel, K. (2023). Banal Autistic Social Media: A Found Footage Autoethnography. In ASSETS ’23: Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (pp. 1–7). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3597638.3614552
  • Criptopias: Speculative Stories Exploring Worlds Worth Wanting / Angelini, R., Burtscher, S., Fussenegger, F., Kender, K., Spiel, K., Steinbrecher, F., & Suchanek, O. (2023). Criptopias: Speculative Stories Exploring Worlds Worth Wanting. In CHI’23. Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–10). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). https://doi.org/10.1145/3544549.3582743
    Download: PDF (11.3 MB)
    Project: Exceptional Norms (2020–2023)
  • Tackling Discrimination in Tech: The Anti-Bias Cards (ABC) in Use / Burtscher, S., & Spiel, K. (2023). Tackling Discrimination in Tech: The Anti-Bias Cards (ABC) in Use. In A. Schmidt, K. Väänänen, T. Goyal, P. O. Kristensson, & A. N. Peters (Eds.), CHI EA ’23: Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–6). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544549.3585592
    Project: Exceptional Norms (2020–2023)
  • Participatory Research as a Path to Community-Informed, Gender-Fair Machine Translation / Gromann, D., Lardelli, M., Spiel, K., Burtscher, S. M., Klausner, L. D., Mettinger, A., Miladinovic, I., Schefer-Wenzel, S., Duh, D., & Bühn, K. (2023). Participatory Research as a Path to Community-Informed, Gender-Fair Machine Translation. In Proceedings of the First Workshop on Gender-Inclusive Translation Technologies (pp. 49–59). European Association for Machine Translation. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/191180
  • Designing Technology for Neurodivergent Self-determination: Challenges and Opportunities / Gollasch, D., Branig, M., Gerling, K., Gulliksen, J., Metatla, O., Spiel, K., & Weber, G. (2023). Designing Technology for Neurodivergent Self-determination: Challenges and Opportunities. In J. Abdelnour Nocera, M. Larusdottir, H. Petrie, A. Piccinno, & M. Winckler (Eds.), Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2023 : 19th IFIP TC13 International Conference, York, UK, August 28 – September 1, 2023, Proceedings, Part IV (pp. 621–626). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42293-5_83
  • How can we can create an equitable CHI / Grady, S., Bauer, C., Wehbe, R., Spiel, K., Muller, M., & Harrington, C. (2023). How can we can create an equitable CHI. In Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–3). https://doi.org/10.1145/3544549.3583746
  • Practicing Humility: Design as Response, Not as Solution / Spiel, K. (2023). Practicing Humility: Design as Response, Not as Solution. Postdigital Science and Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-023-00436-2
    Download: PDF (527 KB)
  • Complex Dynamics: Disability, Assistive Technology, and the LGBTQIA+ Community Center Experience in the United States / Crawford, K. A., Spiel, K., & Hamidi, F. (2023). Complex Dynamics: Disability, Assistive Technology, and the LGBTQIA+ Community Center Experience in the United States. In ASSETS ’23: Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (pp. 427–441). https://doi.org/10.34726/5232
    Download: paper (684 KB)

2022

  • Reflections on Ableism in Participatory Technology Design / Gerling, K., Kender, S.-K., Spiel, K., Van der Oord, S., Bayens, D., Depoortere, A., & Aufheimer, M. (2022). Reflections on Ableism in Participatory Technology Design. In K. Marky, U. Grünefeld, & T. Kosch (Eds.), Mensch und Computer 2022 - Workshopband. Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. https://doi.org/10.18420/muc2022-mci-ws02-224
  • FaceSavr™: Designing Technologies with Allistic Adults to Battle Emotion Echolalia / Kender, K., & Spiel, K. (2022). FaceSavrTM: Designing Technologies with Allistic Adults to Battle Emotion Echolalia. In CHI EA ’22: Extended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–8). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491101.3516383
    Project: Exceptional Norms (2020–2023)

2021

2020

  • This is not the new normal / Sabie, A.-C., Brunnmayr, K., Weinberger, K., Singer, R. S., Vrecar, R., & Spiel, K. (2020, July). This is not the new normal. Interactions, 27(4), 12–15. https://doi.org/10.1145/3406111
  • Desiging Social Play Things / Frauenberger, C., Kender, S.-K., Scheepmaker, L., Werner, K., & Spiel, K. (2020). Desiging Social Play Things. In NordiCHI ’20: Proceedings of the 11th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Shaping Experiences, Shaping Society (pp. 1–12). ACM. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/58435

2019

2018

2017

  • Critical Experience: Evaluating (with) Autistic Children and Technologies / Spiel, K. (2017). Critical Experience: Evaluating (with) Autistic Children and Technologies. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017), Denver, CO, United States of America (the). https://doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3027118
    Project: OutsideTheBox (2014–2017)
  • When Empathy Is Not Enough : Assessing the Experiences of Autistic Children with Technologies / Spiel, K., Frauenberger, C., Hornecker, E., & Fitzpatrick, G. (2017). When Empathy Is Not Enough : Assessing the Experiences of Autistic Children with Technologies. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017), Denver, CO, United States of America (the). ACM Press. https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025785
    Project: OutsideTheBox (2014–2017)
  • Blending Methods : Developing Participatory Design Sessions for Autistic Children / Frauenberger, C., Makhaeva, J., & Spiel, K. (2017). Blending Methods : Developing Participatory Design Sessions for Autistic Children. In Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children. International Conference for Interaction Design and Children (IDC), Tampere, Finland. ACM Press. https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3079727
    Project: OutsideTheBox (2014–2017)
  • Eluding Experiences - The Broken Promises of Player Experience Questionnaires / Spiel, K. (2017). Eluding Experiences - The Broken Promises of Player Experience Questionnaires. Seminar Series of the HCI Games Group, Waterloo, Canada. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/86555
  • Not another Z piece!" - Adaptive Difficulty inTETRIS / Spiel, K., Bertel, S., & Kayali, F. (2017). Not another Z piece!" - Adaptive Difficulty inTETRIS. In Proceedings of the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems CHI 2017 (pp. 5126–5131). http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/56954
  • Participatory Evaluation with Autistic Children / Spiel, K., Malinverni, L., Good, J., & Frauenberger, C. (2017). Participatory Evaluation with Autistic Children. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017), Denver, CO, United States of America (the). ACM Press. https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025851
    Project: OutsideTheBox (2014–2017)
  • Beyond Empathy - Including Marginalised Users in Participatory Research / Spiel, K. (2017). Beyond Empathy - Including Marginalised Users in Participatory Research. Beyond Empathy - Including Marginalised Users in Participatory Research, Brighton, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the). http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/86510
    Project: OutsideTheBox (2014–2017)
  • Verschränkte Spielwelten / Spiel, K., & Horvath, L. (2017). Verschränkte Spielwelten. Privacy Week 2017, Volkskundemuseum, Wien, Austria. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/86554
    Project: OutsideTheBox (2014–2017)
  • Demo Hour / Bengler, B., Martin, F., Bryan-Kinns, N., Frauenberger, C., Makhaeva, J., Spiel, K., Vishkaie, R., & Jones, L. (2017). Demo Hour. Interactions, 25(1), 8–11. https://doi.org/10.1145/3162013
  • Experiences of Autistic Children with Technologies / Spiel, K., Frauenberger, C., & Fitzpatrick, G. (2017). Experiences of Autistic Children with Technologies. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 11, 50–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2016.10.007
    Project: OutsideTheBox (2014–2017)
  • Just Don't Make It Too Predictable: Structuring Academic Work with ADHD / Spiel, K. (2017). Just Don’t Make It Too Predictable: Structuring Academic Work with ADHD. The Sociological Review -- Blog, HTTPS://WWW.THESOCIOLOGICALREVIEW.COM/BLOG/JUST-DON-T-MAKE-IT-TOO-PREDICTABLE-STRUCTURING-ACADEMIC-WORK-WITH-ADHD.HTML. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/147804
  • Creating Community Fountains by (Re-)Designing the Digital Layer of Way-finding Pillars / Spiel, K., Werner, K., Hödl, O., Ehrenstrasser, E., & Fitzpatrick, G. (2017). Creating Community Fountains by (Re-)Designing the Digital Layer of Way-finding Pillars. In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services. 19th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services -- MobileHCI 2017, Wien, Austria. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/56931
    Project: ILUM (2014–2016)

2016

2015

 

  • Best Paper Award
    2025 / Paper: Speculating Deaf Tech: Reimagining Technologies Centering Deaf People / Japan
  • Best Poster Award
    2023 / CSCW 2023 / USA
  • Pride Biz Award 2022
    2022 / Pride Biz / Austria
  • Förderungspreis der Stadt Wien in der Sparte Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaft, Technik
    2022 / Stadt Wien / Austria
  • Best Paper Honourable Mention Award
    2022 / Mensch und Computer 2022 / Germany
  • Best Paper Award
    2022 / Mensch und Computer 2022 / Germany
  • Best Paper 2020
    2021 / International Journal of Human-Computer Studies / USA
  • Best Paper Award & Diversity and Inclusion Award
    2021 / SIGCHI Designing Interactive Systems / USA
  • Best Pictorial Award
    2021 / SIGCHI Creativity & Cognition / USA
  • Diversity and Inclusion Award
    2021 / SIGCHI Conference on Tangible Embodied and Embedded Interaction / USA
  • Best Paper Honorable Mention Award
    2020 / Mensch und Computer / Germany
  • Exceptional Norms
    2020 / Firnberg-Programm / Austria
  • Evaluating the Experiences of Autistic Children with Technologies in Co-Design
    2020 / SIGCHI Outstanding Dissertation Award / USA
  • Best Paper Honorable Mention Award
    2019 / SIGCHI CHIPLAY / USA
  • Diversity & Inclusion Award
    2019 / Communities & Technologies / USA
  • Best Paper Honourable Mention Award
    2018 / Foundations of Digital Games Conference / USA

Soon, this page will include additional information such as reference projects, activities as journal reviewer and editor, memberships in councils and committees, and other research activities.

Until then, please visit Katta Spiel’s research profile in TISS .