Actively seeking a UX Research and Research Scientist internship for Spring/Summer/Fall 2027. I'd appreciate your reaching out if you have any opportunities or would like to connect! 😉

About Me

Chengzhi ("chen-jeh") * Zhang 章程之 is an HCI researcher, originally from the picturesque city of Hangzhou in China, which proudly boasts three UNESCO World Heritage sites. But, due to a random walk, she is now a PhD student at Georgia Tech advised by Professor Brian Magerko at the Expressive Machinery Lab. Her work is supported by the Creative Impact Scholarship and National Science Foundation. Before PhD, she received M.S. in Computational Design from Carnegie Mellon University , and Bachelor's in Industrial Design from Hunan University, China.
In her freetime, she loves to study/work at local ☕️ cafes, listen to 🎧 podcastsone of her favorites: 8fenban, learn languagesnow learning 📚Japanese, take 🎞️ film photos, and play with 🐱 her (no doubt!) cutest cat .

• Designing and developing interactive experiences that enhance public understanding of AI in informal learning environments, with a focus on generative AI systems like ChatGPT.
• Investigating novel embodied and tangible ways of interacting and improvising with AI.
• Exploring methods to better leverage AI for enhancing user experience, especially for professionals like UX designers and artists.

* If you want to best pronounce "zhi", please refer to this YouTube link. However, the "zhi" sound is a voiceless retroflex affricate, a sound not typically found in English.

Publications

Conference full papers

Designing and Evaluating Museum Exhibit Prototypes to Foster Middle Schoolers’ AI Literacy through Creativity and Embodiment
Hasti Darabipourshiraz, Sophie Rollins, Milka Trajkova, Chengzhi Zhang, Yasmine Belghith, Tom McKlin, Jessica Roberts, Brian Magerko, Duri Long
→DOI →PDF ACM International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (ACM TEI 2026)

"Jaw Dropping" Sound Clouds: Exploring the Role of Awe in Ambient Computational Systems through Installation Art
Dashiel Carrera, Jasmine Kaur, Daksh Kapoor, Chengzhi Zhang, Jisu Kim, Brian Magerko
→DOI →PDF ACM International Conference on Creativity and Cognition (ACM C&C 2026)

Arxiv Pre-prints

Exploring the Affordances of Generative Image AI for Supporting Early-stage Architect-client Communication
Chengzhi Zhang and Weijie Wang
→Arxiv arXiv preprint arXiv:2609.34118

Generative AI Literacy: A Comprehensive Framework for Literacy and Responsible Use
Chengzhi Zhang and Brian Magerko
→Arxiv arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.19038

AI assistance for UX: A literature review through human-centered AI
Yuwen Lu, Yuewen Yang, Qingyi Zhao, Chengzhi Zhang, Toby Jia-Jun Li
→Arxiv arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.06089

Conference short papers

Bridging the Gap between UX Practitioners’ Work Practices and AI-Enabled Design Tools
Yuwen Lu, Chengzhi Zhang, Iris Zhang, Toby Jia-Jun Li
→DOI →PDF CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts, 1-7 (ACM CHI LBW 2022)

Generative image AI using design sketches as input: Opportunities and challenges
Chengzhi Zhang, Weijie Wang, Paul Pangaro, Nikolas Martelaro, Daragh Byrne
→DOI →PDF Proceedings of the 15th Conference on Creativity and Cognition, 254-261 (ACM C&C 2023)

Fostering AI Literacy with LuminAI through Embodiment and Creativity in Informal Learning Spaces
Chengzhi Zhang, Chelsi Cocking, Milka Trajkova, Zoe Mock, Gemma Tate, Cassandra Monden, Brian Magerko
→DOI →PDF Proceedings of the 16th Conference on Creativity & Cognition, 476-481 (ACM C&C 2024)

Sound Clouds: Exploring ambient intelligence in public spaces to elicit deep human experience of awe, wonder, and beauty
Chengzhi Zhang, Dashiel Carrera, Daksh Kapoor, Jasmine Kaur, Jisu Kim, Brian Magerko
→DOI →3-min Video NeurIPS Creative AI Track 2025

Designing for Public Enlightenment: Enhancing Generative AI Literacy on Socio-technical Aspects in Informal Learning Spaces
Chengzhi Zhang
→PDF →DOI ACM International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (ACM TEI 2026)

Conference workshop papers

UI Layout Generation with LLMs Guided by UI Grammar
Yuwen Lu, Ziang Tong, Qinyi Zhao, Chengzhi Zhang, Toby Jia-Jun Li
→Arxiv ICML 2023 Workshop on AI and HCI

Service

Review: ACM CHI Late Breaking Work (2023, 2024), ACM CSCW (2024), ACM DIS (2025), ACM IDC (2025)
Student Volunteer: ACM CHI 2024 @ Honolulu, Hawaii