publications | Zainab Iftikhar

2024

Therapy as an NLP Task: Psychologists’ Comparison of LLMs and Human Peers in CBT

Zainab Iftikhar, Sean Ransom, Amy Xiao, and Jeff Huang

arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.02244, 2024

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CSCW

Re-imagining Mental Health Access: The Role of Human, AI and Design

Zainab Iftikhar

In Companion Publication of the 2024 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing , 2024

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CHI

Machine and Human Understanding of Empathy in Online Peer Support: A Cognitive Behavioral Approach

Sara Syed*, Zainab Iftikhar*, Amy Wei Xiao, and Jeff Huang

In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2024

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Online peer support provides space for individuals to connect with others and seek support. However, while empathy is critical for effective support, studies have found that highly empathetic support on these platforms can be rare. Using data from online peer support platforms, we conducted a mixed-methods analysis to study the factors that lead to support seekers’ perceived empathy. We found that CBT techniques like active listening and reflective restatements, along with fostering a space for exploration, increase perceived empathy, whereas rigid adherence to structure, misalignment of concerns, and lack of emotional validation can contribute to low perceived empathy. In addition, despite the high levels of empathy reported by most support seekers (85%), computational models reported low averaged empathy (1.69/6). Lastly, we propose that empathy is not a quantifiable metric and that future algorithmic empathy measurements require human perspectives.

2023

CHI

“Together but not together”: Evaluating Typing Indicators for Interaction-Rich Communication

Zainab Iftikhar, Yumeng Ma, and Jeff Huang

In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2023

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Messaging is a ubiquitous digital communication medium. It is also a minimal medium of communication because of its inability to convey immediate feedback, tone, facial expressions, hesitations, and pauses, or follow the train of the other person’s thoughts. This paper combines quantitative and qualitative approaches for analyzing richer forms of typing indicators in messaging interfaces, such as showing text as it is typed. By assessing users’ subjective workload and interpreting these findings in the context of users’ experiences, we found that more expressive typing indicators were perceived as “rich in communication”, as they helped people communicate more allowing for closer connections. These indicators also increased users’ perceived co-presence. In addition, our research suggests there may be benefits of designing customized typing indicators for relationship maintenance and task-based communication.

2021

INTERACT
Designing Parental Monitoring and Control Technology: A Systematic Review

Zainab Iftikhar, Qutaiba Rohan ul Haq, Osama Younus, Taha Sardar, and 3 more authors

In Human-Computer Interaction–INTERACT: 18th IFIP TC 13 International Conference , 2021

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An increasing number of children around the world are spending a significant amount of time online today. Unfiltered access to the Internet exposes them to potential harms, which can have detrimental effects in the crucial stages of their life. Parental control tools play a vital role in empowering parents to regulate their children’s Internet usage. In this work, we present a systematic review of literature on the design of these tools from the last decade, synthesize design guidelines proposed so far, identify gaps in the literature, as well as highlight future opportunities for the HCI community.
@inproceedings{iftikhar2021designing, title = {Designing Parental Monitoring and Control Technology: A Systematic Review}, author = {Iftikhar, Zainab and Haq, Qutaiba Rohan ul and Younus, Osama and Sardar, Taha and Arif, Hammad and Javed, Mobin and Shahid, Suleman}, booktitle = {Human-Computer Interaction--INTERACT: 18th IFIP TC 13 International Conference}, pages = {676--700}, year = {2021}, publisher = {Springer International Publishing}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-85610-6_39}, isbn = {978-3-030-85610-6}, }

JMIR

Technology, privacy, and user opinions of COVID-19 mobile apps for contact tracing: Systematic search and content analysis

Mahmoud Elkhodr, Omar Mubin, Zainab Iftikhar, Maleeha Masood, and 3 more authors

J Med Internet Res, 2021

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@article{elkhodr2021technology,
  title = {Technology, privacy, and user opinions of COVID-19 mobile apps for contact tracing: Systematic search and content analysis},
  author = {Elkhodr, Mahmoud and Mubin, Omar and Iftikhar, Zainab and Masood, Maleeha and Alsinglawi, Belal and Shahid, Suleman and Alnajjar, Fady},
  journal = {J Med Internet Res},
  volume = {23},
  number = {2},
  pages = {e23467},
  year = {2021},
  publisher = {JMIR Publications Toronto, Canada},
  doi = {10.2196/23467},
  selected = true,
  dimensions = {true}
}

IDC

Child-computer interaction in the global south: Designing for children on the margins

Suleman Shahid, Omar Mubin, Abdullah Al Mahmud, Zainab Iftikhar, and 1 more author

In Proceedings of the 20th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference , 2021

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The Global South is a reference to the underdeveloped regions of the world and though it is often synonymous with the marginalisation of people through living standards and access to resources, not everyone falls under this margin. The children in the margins in the Global South encompasses those with little or no access to modern communication, technologies and academic resources. This spectrum also includes children with learning and developmental disabilities, mental and physical health issues and hostile home or school environments. Marginalization in the Global South places a significant portion of the children at an elevated risks of inequality from lack of access, knowledge and training of ICTs to digital exclusion. Moreover, the recent global pandemic has exacerbated these challenges. This workshop aims at tracing research lines and questions around methodological and technological in designing tools to support children on the margins in the Global South.