NEWS
01/26
"IER," "EvaluAId," and "Narrix" conditionally accepted to CHI '26.
01/26
Serving as an AC for IDC '26.
01/26
Joining Google DeepMind as a student researcher in Mountain View.
07/25
"Synthia: Visually Interpreting and Synthesizing Feedback for Writing Revision" conditionally accepted to UIST '25.
06/25
"Hey Curio, Can You Tell Me More?": Children's Information-Seeking and Trust in AI" won Best Short Paper Award at IDC '25.
05/25
Joining Adobe Research as a research intern in San Jose.
05/25
"Navigating the Fog: How University Students Recalibrate Sensemaking Practices to Address Plausible Falsehoods in LLM Outputs" accepted to CUI '25.
03/25
Joining Microsoft Office of Applied Research as a research intern remotely.
01/25
"Friction: Deciphering Writing Feedback into Writing Revisions through LLM-Assisted Reflection" conditionally accepted to CHI '25.
01/25
Three papers "BrickSmart", "CharacterCritique", and "DiSandbox" conditionally accepted to CHI '25.
11/24
"From Awareness to Action: Exploring End-User Empowerment Interventions for Dark Patterns in UX" won CSCW '24 Best Paper Award.
07/24
Built a tool with Dr. David Mimno to compare LLM vocabularies. Check it out at token-board.chaozhang.design
06/24
"See, Hear, Touch, Smell, and,...Eat." by my mentees won IDC '24 Best Short Paper Award.
05/24
Attending CHI '24.
01/24
"Mathemyths" and "Wrist-bound Guanxi, Jiazu, and Kuolie" conditionally accepted to CHI '24.
09/23
"From Awareness to Action: Exploring End-User Empowerment Interventions for Dark Patterns in UX" accepted to CSCW '24.
06/23
Starting my Ph.D. at Cornell this fall.
03/23
"Observe It, Draw It: Scaffolding Children's Observations of Plant Biodiversity with an Interactive Drawing Tool" accepted to IDC '23.
01/23
"What Makes Creators Engage with Online Critiques? Understanding the Role of Artifacts' Creation Stage, Characteristics of Community Comments, and their Interactions" accepted to CHI '23.
01/23
"MathKingdom: Teaching Children Mathematical Language Through Speaking at Home via a Voice-Guided Game" accepted to CHI '23.
01/23
"MechCircuit: Augmenting Laser-Cut Objects with Integrated Electronics, Mechanical Structures and Magnets" accepted to CHI '23.
08/22
"SSpoon: A Shape-changing Spoon That Optimizes Bite Size For Eating Rate Regulation" accepted to IMWUT '22.
07/22
Started research internship in HCI group @ HKUST with Prof. Xiaojuan Ma.
06/22
Working with Prof. Toby Jia-jun Li in SaNDwich Lab @ NDCSE.
03/22
Presented "StoryDrawer: A Child-AI Collaborative Drawing System to Support Children's Creative Visual Storytelling" at CHI '22.
11/22
First first-authored paper "StoryDrawer: A Child-AI Collaborative Drawing System to Support Children's Creative Visual Storytelling" conditionally accepted at CHI '22.
11/22
Design works "Silent Delivery" and "To Life" exhibited @ Global Grad Show, Dubai Design Week.
Chao Zhang
Ph.D. Student (he/him/his) @ Cornell
I am a third-year Ph.D. student in Information Science at Cornell University and a student researcher at Google DeepMind. At Cornell, I am fortunate to be advised by Professors Abe Davis and Jeff Rzeszotarski. Earlier in my Ph.D., I interned at Adobe Research and Microsoft Research. Before Cornell, I earned a master’s degree in Design Engineering from Zhejiang University and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Jiangnan University.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
As a technical systems researcher in Human-Computer Interaction and Human-Centered AI, I study, design, and build human-AI systems that augment human thinking in creative activities—that is, helping people think better with AI. I believe future AI should not only help people produce higher-quality artifacts more easily, but also help them become better thinkers and more capable creators—and ultimately, better versions of themselves.
My work has been published in top-tier Human-Computer Interaction venues, including CHI, UIST, CSCW, and IDC. This includes five award-winning papers: a Best Paper at CSCW ’24, two Best Short Papers at IDC ’24 and ’25, and two Best Paper Honorable Mentions at CHI ’25. My projects have also been recognized with international design awards and competitions, such as Red Dot Award, iF Design Award, A’ Design Award, and James Dyson Award, and have been featured at notable events, including Dubai Design Week and China Design Exhibition.
NEWS
01/26
"IER," "EvaluAId," and "Narrix" conditionally accepted to CHI '26.
01/26
Serving as an AC for IDC '26.
01/26
Joining Google DeepMind as a student researcher in Mountain View.
07/25
"Synthia: Visually Interpreting and Synthesizing Feedback for Writing Revision" conditionally accepted to UIST '25.
06/25
"Hey Curio, Can You Tell Me More?": Children's Information-Seeking and Trust in AI" won Best Short Paper Award at IDC '25.
05/25
Joining Adobe Research as a research intern in San Jose.
05/25
"Navigating the Fog: How University Students Recalibrate Sensemaking Practices to Address Plausible Falsehoods in LLM Outputs" accepted to CUI '25.
03/25
Joining Microsoft Office of Applied Research as a research intern remotely.
01/25
"Friction: Deciphering Writing Feedback into Writing Revisions through LLM-Assisted Reflection" conditionally accepted to CHI '25.
01/25
Three papers "BrickSmart", "CharacterCritique", and "DiSandbox" conditionally accepted to CHI '25.
11/24
"From Awareness to Action: Exploring End-User Empowerment Interventions for Dark Patterns in UX" won CSCW '24 Best Paper Award.
07/24
Built a tool with Dr. David Mimno to compare LLM vocabularies. Check it out at token-board.chaozhang.design
06/24
"See, Hear, Touch, Smell, and,...Eat." by my mentees won IDC '24 Best Short Paper Award.
05/24
Attending CHI '24.
01/24
"Mathemyths" and "Wrist-bound Guanxi, Jiazu, and Kuolie" conditionally accepted to CHI '24.
09/23
"From Awareness to Action: Exploring End-User Empowerment Interventions for Dark Patterns in UX" accepted to CSCW '24.
06/23
Starting my Ph.D. at Cornell this fall.
03/23
"Observe It, Draw It: Scaffolding Children's Observations of Plant Biodiversity with an Interactive Drawing Tool" accepted to IDC '23.
01/23
"What Makes Creators Engage with Online Critiques? Understanding the Role of Artifacts' Creation Stage, Characteristics of Community Comments, and their Interactions" accepted to CHI '23.
01/23
"MathKingdom: Teaching Children Mathematical Language Through Speaking at Home via a Voice-Guided Game" accepted to CHI '23.
01/23
"MechCircuit: Augmenting Laser-Cut Objects with Integrated Electronics, Mechanical Structures and Magnets" accepted to CHI '23.
08/22
"SSpoon: A Shape-changing Spoon That Optimizes Bite Size For Eating Rate Regulation" accepted to IMWUT '22.
07/22
Started research internship in HCI group @ HKUST with Prof. Xiaojuan Ma.
06/22
Working with Prof. Toby Jia-jun Li in SaNDwich Lab @ NDCSE.
03/22
Presented "StoryDrawer: A Child-AI Collaborative Drawing System to Support Children's Creative Visual Storytelling" at CHI '22.
11/22
First first-authored paper "StoryDrawer: A Child-AI Collaborative Drawing System to Support Children's Creative Visual Storytelling" conditionally accepted at CHI '22.
11/22
Design works "Silent Delivery" and "To Life" exhibited @ Global Grad Show, Dubai Design Week.
Publication
* denotes equal contribution
