Herman Saksono, PhD

My research is in the fields of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Personal Health Informatics, and Digital Health Equity. I’m a postdoctoral fellow at the Center of Research in Computation and Society, Harvard University. I work with Krzsystof Gajos at Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Broadly, the goal of my research is to investigate how to design technologies that help address health disparities. I examine how health technologies can catalyze social interactions that help people to manage their health and wellbeing as collective efforts. In my research, I have been conducting the entire human-centered design process by designing, building, and evaluating novel health technologies in collaboration with local community partners.

I completed my Ph.D. in Computer Science from Northeastern University, where I worked with Andrea G. Parker at the Wellness Technology Lab (now at Georgia Tech). I received a Fulbright scholarship for my Computer Science Master’s program in 2012-2014.

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Selected Publications

A complete list of publications can be viewed here. Note that in computer and information sciences, conferences are top-tier publishing venues, with selectivity and impact often exceeding that of journals. See: portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1743546.1743569.

• StoryMap: Using Social Modeling and Self-Modeling to Support Physical Activity Among Families of Low-SES Backgrounds
  Herman Saksono, Carmen Castaneda-Sceppa, Jessica Hoffman, Magy Seif El-Nasr, Andrea G. Parker. 2021. StoryMap: Using Social Modeling and Self-Modeling to Support Physical Activity Among Low-SES Families. To appear in CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Proceedings (CHI 2021). ACM, New York, NY, USA. (PDF)
  (Honorable Mention, Best Paper Award, top 5% of submissions).
• Storywell: Designing for Family Fitness App Motivation by Using Social Rewards and Reflection
  Herman Saksono, Carmen Castaneda-Sceppa, Jessica Hoffman, Vivien Morris, Magy Seif El-Nasr, Andrea Parker. 2020. Storywell: Designing for Family Fitness App Motivation by Using Social Rewards and Reflection. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Proceedings (CHI 2020), May 4–9, 2019, Honolulu, HI, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 13 pages. (PDF)
• Go&Grow: An Evaluation of a Pervasive Social Exergame for Caregivers of Loved Ones with Dementia
  Xin Yao Lin, Herman Saksono, Elizabeth Stowell, Margie Lachman, Carmen Castaneda-Sceppa, Andrea G. Parker. 2020. Go&Grow: An Evaluation of a Pervasive Social Exergame for Caregivers of Loved Ones with Dementia. In Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 4, CSCW 2, Article 151 (October 2020). (PDF)
• Social Reflections on Fitness Tracking Data: A Study with Families in Low-SES Neighborhoods
  Herman Saksono, Carmen Castaneda-Sceppa, Jessica Hoffman, Magy Seif El-Nasr, Vivien Morris, Andrea Parker. 2019. Social Reflections on Fitness Tracking Data: A Study with Families in Low-SES Neighborhoods. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Proceedings (CHI 2019), May 4–9, 2019, Glasgow, Scotland UK. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 14 pages. (PDF)
• Family Health Promotion in Low-SES Neighborhoods: A Two-Month Study of Wearable Activity Tracking
  Herman Saksono, Carmen Castaneda-Sceppa, Jessica Hoffman, Magy Seif El-Nasr, Vivien Morris, Andrea Parker. 2018. Family Health Promotion in Low-SES Neighborhoods: A Two-Month Study of Wearable Activity Tracking. CHI 2018. ACM. (PDF)
• Designing and Evaluating mHealth Interventions for Vulnerable Populations: A Systematic Review
  Elizabeth Stowell, Mercedes C. Lyson, Herman Saksono, Reneé C. Wurth, Holly Jimison, Misha Pavel, Andrea G. Parker. 2018. Designing and Evaluating mHealth Interventions for Vulnerable Populations: A Systematic Review. CHI 2018. ACM. (PDF)
  (Honorable Mention, Best Paper Award, top 5% of submissions).
• Reflective Informatics Through Family Storytelling: Self-discovering Physical Activity Predictors
  Herman Saksono, Andrea G. Parker. 2017. Reflective Informatics Through Family Storytelling: Self-discovering Physical Activity Predictors. CHI 2017. ACM. (PDF)
• Youth Advocacy in SNAs: Challenges for Addressing Health Disparities
  Farnaz Irannejad Bisafar, Herman Saksono, Priscilla Andrea Baquerizo, Dana Elaine Moore, & Andrea Parker. 2016. Youth Advocacy in SNAs: Challenges for Addressing Health Disparities. CHI 2016, ACM. (PDF)
• Spaceship Launch: Designing a Collaborative Exergame for Families
  Herman Saksono, Ashwini E Ranada, Geeta Kamarthi, Carmen Castaneda-Sceppa, Jessica A Hoffman, Cathy Wirth, and Andrea G. Parker. 2015. Spaceship Launch: Designing a Collaborative Exergame for Families. CSCW 2015, ACM. (PDF)