PhD Candidate
University of Maryland
College of Information
Hi！I am a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland’s College of Information (iSchool), advised by Professor Amanda Lazar at The Health Aging and Technology (THAT) Lab. I expect to receive my PhD in May 2026. My research has appeared at premier HCI venues including ACM CHI, CSCW, ASSETS, and UIST, and has been recognized with a Best Paper Award at CHI 2025 and a Best Paper Honorable Mention at CHI 2026. Prior to my PhD, I earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Virginia Tech, where I worked with Professor Sang Won Lee to design interactive systems that facilitate empathy among users.
My research is in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), drawing on and contributing to CSCW, and focuses on understanding how to best design technologies for groups often overlooked in technology design. In my graduate and undergraduate training, I have largely focused on designing with older adults and people with disabilities such as those with cognitive impairments. In working with this particular group, I found an assets-based perspective especially helpful for showing the research community the strengths that people already bring to technology use.
My research expands our understanding of what technology needs to see about older adults to work in their lives by
1. Challenging deficit-based participation with technology
I study how older adults are not passive users of technology, but actively take on and sustain meaningful roles through technology use.
Dramaturgical Videoconferencing (ASSETS 2024) ·
Sustaining Makerspace (CSCW 2024)
2. Analyzing everyday life to reveal resources
I examine the resources that older adults, especially those experiencing cognitive concerns, already draw upon in their everyday lives, such as routines and objects, that are less recognized and supported in design.
Technology Routines (CHI 2025) ·
Objects Beyond the Interface (CHI 2026)
3. Reframing technology problems as design opportunities
I investigate how technology breakdowns emerge within everyday life and how existing resources can be leveraged to support participation.
Ongoing Project
Specifically, I draw on theories that highlight the skills of typical populations but have rarely been applied to the populations I work with, such as Goffman’s dramaturgy and distributed cognition. Similarly, I adapt methods to make them accessible to people with cognitive impairments. Doing so has informed technology design and, when more appropriate for this population, low-tech solutions such as paper manuals and low-fidelity prototypes.
RECENT UPDATES
Invited panalist for to share experiences in community-based research with graduate students, hosted by Prof. Sheena Erete.
Invited to share my research at Professor Stephanie Valencia²'s lab: “Exploring Capacities of Older Adults and People with Cognitive Impairments in Using Technology.”
🎉 Had two full papers conditionally accepted to CHI 2026!
Invited Panelist for “A Panel on Graduate School” at the University of Maryland, hosted by Prof. Eun Kyoung Choe, sharing PhD experiences with undergraduate students.
Served as Co-Instructor for INST 808: Seminar in Research Methods and Data Analysis at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Headed to Yokohama, Japan for CHI 2025 (April 26 – May 1)! Let’s connect if you’ll be around.
🏆 Received the Best Paper Award at CHI 2025!
🏅 Received the HCIL Maryland Way Award (Honorable Mention for Research Excellence, $250).
🎉 Had two full papers accepted to CHI 2025!
Invited to share my research at Professor Ge Gao's lab: “Supporting Meaningful Activities While Navigating Aging and Cognitive Changes.”
Invited Panelist for INST 802 at the University of Maryland, hosted by Prof. Sheena Erete, discussing academic writing and research development with doctoral students.
Invited to give a talk at Columbia HCI: “Exploring Videoconferencing Technology Use While Navigating Aging and Cognitive Changes.”
Attended ATIA 2025 Pre-Conference in Orlando, FL - such an energizing start to the year!
Presented first-authored paper at CSCW 2024 (San José, Costa Rica): “Sustaining the Usefulness and Appeal of an Older Adult-led Makerspace through Developing and Adapting Resources”
Presented first-authored paper at ASSETS 2024 (St. John’s, Canada): “Exploring Videoconferencing for Older Adults with Cognitive Concerns Using a Dramaturgical Lens.”
🎉 Had VL/HCC full paper accepted (with Daniel Manesh, Marx Wang, Sang Won Lee): “Beyond TAP: Piggybacking on IFTTT to Connect Triggers and Actions with JavaScript.”
🎉 Had one full paper accepted to ASSETS 2024!
🎉 Had one full paper accepted to CSCW 2024!
PUBLICATIONS
Ruipu Hu, Eun Kyoung Choe, and Amanda Lazar. Looking Beyond the Screen to Study the Technology Use of Older People Experiencing Cognitive Concerns. ACM CHI ’26. Condtionally Accepted.
Amanda Lazar, Elissa Carpio, Ruipu Hu, Beth Barnett, Kibron Tesfatsion, and Sheena Erete. Interrogating the “Us” Versus “Them” Dichotomy in Technology Research with Older Adults. ACM CHI ’26. Condtionally Accepted.
Ruipu Hu and Amanda Lazar. Surfacing Technology Routines While Studying Videoconferencing Among Older Adults with Cognitive Concerns. ACM CHI ’25. [PDF]
Amelia Short, Norman Makoto Su, Ruipu Hu, Eun Kyoung Choe, Hernisa Kacorri, Margaret Danilovich, David E. Conroy, Shannon Jette, Beth Barnett, and Amanda Lazar. Tracking and its Potential for Older Adults with Memory Concerns. ACM CHI ’25. [PDF] 🏆 Best Paper Award.
Ajit G. Pillai, Renxuan Liu, Jung-Joo Lee, Janghee Cho, Insun Baek, Adrian Choi, Kevin Doherty, Christopher Ferguson, Ruipu Hu, Sarah Kettley, Seonghoon Kim, Jiashuo Liu, Tse Pei Ng, Adrian Petterson, Matt Ratto, Celeste Seah, Yiming Yao, and Yiying Wu. Speculating and Disentangling the Relationship Between Technology and Care Work. ACM DIS ’25 Companion. [PDF]
Ruipu Hu, Ge Gao, and Amanda Lazar. Exploring Videoconferencing for Older Adults with Cognitive Concerns Using a Dramaturgical Lens. ACM ASSETS ’24. [PDF]
Ruipu Hu, Alisha Pradhan, Elizabeth Bonsignore, and Amanda Lazar. Sustaining the Usefulness and Appeal of an Older Adult-led Makerspace through Developing and Adapting Resources. PACM HCI (CSCW ’24). [PDF]
Daniel Manesh, Marx Boyuan Wang, Ruipu Hu, and Sang Won Lee. Beyond TAP: Piggybacking on IFTTT to Connect Triggers and Actions with JavaScript. IEEE VL/HCC ’24. [PDF]
Ruipu Hu, Nancy Roderer, and Amanda Lazar. Studying Older Adults’ Perceptions on AI Through AI Lectures. MobiCom4AgeTech ’24. [PDF]
Marx Boyuan Wang, Daniel Manesh, Ruipu Hu, and Sang Won Lee. IThem: Programming Internet of Things Beyond Trigger-Action Pattern. UIST ’22 Adjunct. [PDF]
Amber Aftab, Ruipu Hu, and Sang Won Lee. Remo: Generating Interactive Tutorials by Demonstration for Online Tasks. UIST ’20 Adjunct. [PDF]