Technology Use to Support Birth Choices and Information Access
This study investigates information seeking in pregnancy and delivery choices in Brazil, emphasizing the role of technology and
communication with peers to overcome misinformation and fight obstetric violence. Partnering with a non-governamental organization,
this study focuses on two complimentary aspects: (i) how activists use different technologies to reach pregnant individuals and support their
information needs, and (ii) how pregnant individuals seek information to support their delivery choices, using technology or not.
Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash
Investigating Individuals' Perceptions of Direct-to-consumer AI
This study explores the design of fertility apps aiming to provide direct insights for future app design. Using a fertility app
prototype in a simulated experiment, we investigate how users understand and trust the feedback provided by fertility
technologies, particularly algorithmic predictions for periods, ovulation, and fertile window. This study will provide an understanding
of how users perceive fertility algorithms and the role technology plays in balancing their expectations.
Investigating such aspects is critical to design and develop technologies that can truly empower individuals,
avoid reinforcing negative social pressures, and support positive attitudes toward fertility.
Publications: [CSCW Workshop 2019]
Understanding (In)Fertility Experiences
This project focuses on investigating people’s relationships with data, aiming to understand how patients experience
fertility self-tracking with the goal of conceiving. To do so, the project encompasses semi-structured interviews with
patients, partners, and healthcare providers. The main goal is to provide a holistic view of (in)fertility experiences,
including patients long-term experience with fertility self-tracking, how tracking involves their partners, how it impacts
their daily lives and emotional experiences, and how healthcare providers (e.g., fertility doctors) assess the increasing
use of fertility self-tracked data.
Publications: [CSCW 2020] [CHI 2021 Pre-print]
Analyzing Fertility App Support
This study focused on obtaining a comprehensive view of the support offered by commercial fertility technologies.
Fertility apps are a very popular means of collecting, analyzing, and using personal fertility-related data.
Their design may influence people’s data practices by suggesting what, how, and how often to track, and emphasizing
certain data through their feedback. I conducted a systematic analysis of 31 popular fertility apps.
The findings show that most apps aim to support data practices for specific fertility-related goals, offering extensive
data collection options, but fewer options for feedback. However, many app users want to use fertility apps for holistic
analyses, encompassing changing goals, life-events and stages, and transitions between them, suggesting people’s data
practices are broader than what apps support.
Publications: [ASRM 2020] [JAMIA Open 2021]
Understanding Fertility Self-Tracking Through Online Health Communities
This study consisted of a qualitative analysis of patient-generated content from an online health community (OHC) dedicated to infertility.
Through the results, I discuss how a complex, knowledge-intensive, and highly personalized context such as fertility
contributes to pressure and emotional burden on individuals trying to conceive, as well as how OHC users turn self-tracking into a collaborative sensemaking process.
I also identify five different types of engagement with data (i.e., positive, burdened, obsessive, trapped, and abandoning),
discussing how they are composed of tracking activities and emotional experience, how these components are intertwined and
mutually dependent, and how the types of engagement are embedded in the self-tracking culture.
Publications: [CSCW 2017] [CSCW 2018]
