Dr Tracey Booth

Overview

Tracey arrived at City in 2011, with the goal of acquiring a MSc in Human-Centred Systems (awarded with Distinction), and hasn't quite managed to leave.

She is currently a Lecturer on the MSc in Human-Computer Interaction Design course, teaching Information Architecture, and the evaluation of interactive systems.

Her PhD in Human-Computer Interaction investigated the challenges encountered by end user developers when constructing and programming physical computing devices with platforms such as Arduino, with a view to finding ways to support them. Informed by initial empirical work, and inspired by popular creativity support card decks, she designed and developed a novel, physical card-based tool to support novices in troubleshooting / debugging. The topic of her PhD was inspired by her MSc dissertation, which researched the potential benefits of visual (graphical) programming languages for novice end user developers programming Arduino.

After completing her MSc, Tracey joined the Centre for HCI Design (HCID) as a Research Fellow on the award-winning EVA project, investigating the potential of multi-user virtual environments for improving the communication skills, and reducing social isolation, of people who have aphasia following a stroke. Through a co-design process involving 5 people who have moderate aphasia and researchers from both HCID and the Division of Language and Communication Science, Tracey developed EVA Park, a private virtual world that has been used in a number of experimental trials.

With one foot in academia and the other in professional practice, Tracey also works as a UX consultant, including for City Interaction Lab.

Before joining City, University of London, Tracey spent a decade working on technology projects in the Voluntary Sector.

Qualifications

• PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, City, University of London, United Kingdom
• MSc (with Distinction), City University London, London, United Kingdom

Employment

• Lecturer in Computer Science (HCI), City, University of London, 2022 – present
• Visiting Lecturer (HCI), City, University of London, 2018 – 2019
• Research Fellow, City, University of London, 2012 – 2015

Research keywords

- User-centred design, Inclusive design
- End-user programming / End-user development
- Usability of programming languages and environments
- Physical computing
- Tinkering
- Multi-user virtual environments
- Novel interaction technologies

Publications by category