Dr. Katharina Reinecke

Biography

Katharina Reinecke is a Professor and Associate Director of Research Communication at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, where she directs Wildlab and the Center for Globally Beneficial AI. Her work focuses on Human-Computer Interaction, particularly on developing digital technologies that are equally usable and useful for everyone. The lab explores technology bias among users worldwide, addressing how technology designed by a small group can create barriers for diverse populations. Her research has demonstrated that commonly used technologies are often not accessible or comprehensible to non-Western users, varying by values, language, age, education level, and abilities compared to the average developer in Western technology hubs. She and her colleagues utilize a virtual lab, LabintheWild, to study these issues at scale and to create systems that support the needs of diverse users. Reinecke's research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Microsoft, Google, Adobe, and Facebook (Meta). She has received several awards including the NSF CAREER award and the Swiss Computer Science Challenge Award, as well as multiple Paper Honorable Mentions at CHI, CSCW, and ASSETS conferences. Reinecke holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Zurich, where she was advised by Avi Bernstein. Before joining the University of Washington, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan.

Research Interests