December 15, 2021
Faculty Feature: Denae Ford Robinson
Denae Ford Robinson
Denae Ford Robinson is an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Human Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) and Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research. Her research focuses on cognitive and social barriers to participation in online socio-technical ecosystems. She is best known for her research on just-in-time mentorship as a mode to empower welcoming engagement in collaborative Q&A for online programming communities including open-source software and work to empower marginalized software developers in online communities. She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from North Carolina State University and has been a member of the UW community since 2019.
What is a socio-technical ecosystem and what are some of the ways your work addresses barriers to participation in these ecosystems?
The term socio-technical ecosystem is a system where both social and technical communication become essential to professional work. This term has been adapted to “ecosystem” from “system” as the sustainability of the community relies on reinforcement of consistent social and technical dialogue from members. What makes these communities an ecosystem is the many types of members, how their actions can impact each other, and how they develop niches. These factors also present four fundamental problems of socio-technical ecosystems: architecture, business opportunities, coordination, and governance. In my work I tackle the issues of architecture and governance to increase participation in online programming communities.
My work addresses barriers by understanding the status of community member participation, diving deep into what approaches some are taking to overcome those challenges, and finally using what I learned helps some to determine what can be built as embedded interventions.
How did you first become interested in this area of study?
I first became interested in this area from my early research as an undergraduate understanding how people learned to code. At the time my research mentor was using multimodal interactions to measure how novices to software development were getting stuck with new programming concepts and overcoming them. This work launched my interest into how people not only learn to code but how they overcome barriers to continue their journey into software development with a community of others. These interests launched me into my PhD in Computer Science program at North Carolina State University and later my graduate minor in Cognitive Science where I investigated how the dynamics of communities of practice can be used as support networks for software developers and other knowledge workers..
What do you hope to achieve through your research/teaching?
My goals are to continue executing and contributing to research that supports the next generation of software developers. While at UW, I am focused on deepening interactions with my HCDE department and building meaningful connections with students.
What is one “little known” fact or interesting aspect of your work that you think people may find surprising or unexpected?
A little known fact that people may not know about me is that I am fascinated by the final frontier of the human mind. More specifically, I am interested in how cognition impacts how software developers work. I was so interested that I made it my mission to pursue a Graduate Minor in Cognitive Science back in my PhD. Although I have not been able to investigate research questions in this area lately, I have a plethora of research questions unpacking how people share their technical knowledge (which can include sharing how they wrote code or came to a technical decision) by measuring brain activity.
What are some examples of your research/ what aspects of your work are you most excited about right now?
A project that I have previously kept close to my chest is the project centered around how Black (and ally) technologists have been building tools to support the Black Lived Experience. This fits into a broader theme of my work of supporting the Next Generation of Software Developers—which includes developers who have a keen interest in using their technical skills to support a greater good.
This project presents an opportunity to support and highlight the Black software developers and technologists doing amazing work to create, curate, or build for the Black community—despite the fact that it is not their job to build these systems. I talked a bit about this critical perspective in the ACM Interactions article on Designing for the Black Experience.
More on the Tech 4 Black Lives project can be found here: http://go.gmu.edu/Tech4BlackLives
How does the UW Community support your work/research? What has been most helpful?
The UW community has been supportive of my research by being a helpful community of collaborators. I have found that giving lectures in my colleagues’ courses, participating in research meetings, and pitching research ideas has been helpful in executing my research agenda and identifying collaborators.
How do the UW Libraries support your research?
Visibility of research, even in its early stages, can be valuable for gaining collaborators and also putting yourself out there. By highlighting my research in this interview and other’s work across disciplines, the Libraries is helping to increase visibility of our research. The Libraries also conducts its own research (i.e. Library Impact Research Report: Understanding and Communicating Research Impact: The Needs of STEM and Health Sciences Faculty and Postdoctoral Researchers) and programs specifically focused on helping researchers increase visibility of their work including Libraries Research Data Services, Open Scholarship Commons with tools and training to support researchers at all stages of the research cycle, especially helpful to those who are early on in their research.
What advice would you give to new faculty coming to campus for the first time this fall?
I would recommend that they do their best to step outside of their comfort zone! You are beginning a new chapter of your career at a stellar institution. You are now surrounded by world-renowned experts (including yourself) so don’t be afraid to collaborate and lean on their expertise.
This new chapter also presents a new opportunity to challenge yourself–so why not take a leap into a new direction you have always been curious about. After all, what do you have to lose?
Representation matters.
Students, faculty, staff and community members from diverse backgrounds thrive when we create and maintain inclusive research, learning and working environments. As part of our strategic commitments, UW Libraries seeks to elevate the voices of historically underrepresented communities at UW and in the Pacific Northwest by partnering to create, preserve and increase access to culturally-relevant information resources.
If you would like to submit/suggest ideas for a future spotlights highlighting the work of Black students and faculty, please contact uwlib-openscholarship@uw.edu or uwlib-comm@uw.edu.
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