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HELLO
I'M MENGKE
I'm an HCI/UX researcher with design expertise, focusing on user agency and creativity support in human-AI teaming. I study how people perceive, collaborate with, and are impacted by intelligent systems, and how system functions, interface designs, and communication strategies shape their sensemaking, decision-making, and trust. Using mixed methods and design-led inquiry, I bridge conceptual models with practical design interventions to enhance trust, usability, and meaningful behavior change, thereby supporting informed calibration and sustained engagement across human-AI ecosystems.
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Prior to my research career, I completed an M.S. in Integrated Design & Management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an M.S. in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University. I also worked professionally as a designer for three years, leading projects across scales from large urban design initiatives to human-centered UX projects.
SELECTED RESEARCH
Here is a selected list of my work, see my cv for a completed list of publications.
Rethinking User Empowerment in AI Recommender System: Innovating Transparency and Control Interfaces
Mengke Wu, Weizi Liu, Yanyun Wang, Weiyu Ding, Mike Yao. 2026.
[Under Review] CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Addressing limited user agency in recommender systems by designing and evaluating new transparency and control features over data management, content discovery, and context-based recommending modes, studying their effects on users' perception, trust, and sense of agency towards the system, and identifying strategies to boost feature adoption and agency awareness.
Kexin Quan, Mengke Wu*, Dina Albassam*, Zijian Ding, Jessie Chin. 2026.[Under Review] CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Introducing a multi-agent system that enables AI agents to act as colleagues to converse, exchange ideas, and collaborate with users in ideation while identifying challenges and opportunities to improve human-AI teaming.
Mengke Wu, Kexin Quan, Weizi Liu, Mike Yao, Jessie Chin. 2026.
[Under Review] CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
A project examining how personality influences human-AI teaming in writing, using participatory design and prototype evaluation to identify different writers' preferences and guide the creation of adaptive companions.
Mengke Wu, Weizi Liu, Yanyun Wang, Mike Yao. 2025.
Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Presentation at the International Communication Association (ICA) Conference
Given user agency concerns about algorithms’ inherent opacity (information asymmetry) and one-way outputs (power asymmetry), this study introduces a dual-control mechanism to empower management on both data collection and the degree of algorithmically tailored content they receive.
Mengke Wu, Kexin Quan, Weizi Liu, Mike Yao, Jessie Chin. 2025.
Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Using co-design workshops to map how different personality profiles envision the desired functions, interaction dynamics, and visual embodiments of AI writing companions, guiding the design of future adaptive systems.
Yiliu Tang, Jason Situ, Andrea Yaoyun Cui, Mengke Wu, Yun Huang. 2025.
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
A systematic review that shows how XR and LLMs jointly augment human awareness (spatial, situational, social, and self) and shape applications, interaction paradigms, integration practices, and evaluation strategies.
Mengke Wu, Ewa Maslowska, Mike Yao. 2025.
International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction
A multi-phase study using Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis to model how combinations of e-commerce interface cues (e.g., promotions, ratings, and scarcity indicators) collectively impact online shopping decision-making.
Shabnam FakhrHosseini, Lauren Cerino, Lisa D'Ambrosio, Lexi Balmuth, Chaiwoo Lee, Mengke Wu, Joseph Coughlin. 2024.
Robotics Journal
A study with 20 caregiving dyads that explores how older adults aged 65+ with dementia and their primary caregivers evaluate VGo, a telepresence social robot intended to assist with daily caregiving needs.
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