Esme Xu

B. Publications

• 1. Dillahunt, T.R., Simioni, S., Xu, X. (2019). Online grocery delivery services: An opportunity to address food disparities in transportation-scarce areas. ACM CHI’19. *Best Paper Award*
• TL'DR:
  
  ‍This project marks the first time I stepped onto the land of human-computer interaction and user experience. Using the digital product as a proxy, this study uncovers the unique challenges that underserved urban communities face in the increasingly digital age, the power of digital products such as online grocery delivery models in shaping the shopping habits, and the implications of addressing food disparities from both a technological and a political angle.
  
  To learn more about my processes and learnings from this project, check out the specific project page here.
• 2. Xu, X., Yan, X., and Dillahunt, T. (2019). Reaching Hard-To-Reach Populations: an Analysis of Survey Recruitment Methods. In ACM CSCW ’19.
• TL'DR:
  ‍
  My goal in this study was to examine the effectiveness of different recruitment methods in reaching specific audiences. For hard-to-reach communities, in-person channels such as going to specific locations (supermarkets, bus stops, libraries, etc.) are more effective for reasons including low digital literacy, lack of access to the internet, and other barriers that are unique to these communities.
  
  This project really shows the importance of understanding the participants whom we work with as researchers. Learning about their lifestyles, needs, and challenges not only extends the depth of research insights, it can also help with the recruitment process and our ability to access the right set of population.
• 3. Lu, J., Xu, X. (2020). “Learning for the Rise of China”: Exploring Uses and Gratifications of State-Owned Online Platform. In ACM CSCW’20.
• TL'DR:
  
  This research project centers around the phenomenon of a nationally-owned Chinese mobile application, XueXi. To answer research questions around how the content, design, and policies around this app shape and influence user behaviors, I conducted a qualitative study with 28 active XueXi users to investigate the their usage using the Uses and Gratifications framework.
  
  As the 2nd author of the paper, I collaborated with the principal investigator, Alex Lu, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Michigan, in designing study protocols, leading recruitment, and executing the interviews themselves. I learned a great deal in conducting cross-cultural research in terms of localizing interview language, working with sensitive topics, and establishing trust with participants.