The Cultural Research in Technology (CRIT) Lab, co-directed by Jeffrey Bardzell and Shaowen Bardzell, researches and advances computing and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) scholarship leveraging critical and humanistic theory, methodology, and practice. CRIT Lab brings humanistic and design thinking to the design of interactive technologies; critiques interactive technologies with regard to their sociocultural impacts; and investigates users, use-situations, and technologies where culture is strongly implicated in the success of the technology.
Active and past HCI research topics include sustainable and computational agriculture, environmental justice, women's health, Feminist HCI, aesthetic interaction, craft/DIY/hacking, creativity support, bottom-up innovation and tech entrepreneurship, research through design, critical design, design activism, design theory, domestic technology design, intimate and sexual interaction, and virtual world collaboration, among others.