Picture of Alisha Pradhan

Email: alishapr[at] terpmail[dot]umd[dot]edu

Linkedin | Twitter | Google Scholar


I received my Ph.D. from the University of Maryland’s Information School, where I worked with Dr. Amanda Lazar at The Health Aging and Technology Lab, and was a student member of Human-computer Interaction Lab and the Trace Center. My research interests lie at the intersection of HCI, aging, accessibility, and technology design for underrepresented populations. 

My research uses qualitative and mixed-method approaches to investigate the design of emerging technologies (such as conversational AI, Internet of Things) for and with older adults. More specifically, I seek to understand the larger socio-material configurations in which older individuals and their technologies participate, and approaches to better include older individuals in designing emerging technologies. 

I completed my Masters in Human-Computer Interaction from the University of Maryland, College Park (thesis advised by Dr. Leah Findlater and Dr. Amanda Lazar) and Bachelors in Industrial Design from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, (India).

Updates

Excited to announce I'll be joining as Assistant Professor in the Department of Informatics at New Jersey Institute of Technology this Fall!

Aug'22: Defended my Ph.D. in Information Studies from University of Maryland, College Park.

April'22: Received Maryland Way Award for research excellence from the University of Maryland's Human-computer Interaction Lab.

Jan'22: Received ACM TOCHI's 2020 best paper award for our paper on Older adults' Use of Voice Assistants

Jul'21: Received honorable mention at CUI'21 for our provocation paper on Persona and Personality of conversational AI agents.