CV
Updated March 2014
Research Interests
Social media, psychological well-being, Human-computer interaction (HCI).
Education
Cornell University, Faculty of Computer & Information Science
PhD Candidate (expected Summer 2014)
- Program: Information Science, Human-computer Interaction concentration
- Doctoral Minor: Communication
- Committee: Daniel Cosley (Chair), Jeffrey Hancock, Lee Humphreys
Cornell University, Faculty of Computer & Information Science
Master of Science (2013)
- Program: Information Science
University of Pennsylvania, School of Engineering & Applied Science
Bachelor of Applied Science (2009)
- Major: Computer and Cognitive Science
- Advisor: Mitchell Marcus
University of Pennsylvania, School of Arts & Sciences
Bachelor of Arts (2009)
- Major: Psychology
- Minor: Fine Arts
Work Experience
Cornell University, Computer & Information Science
Graduate Research Assistant (August 2009 - present)
- Research with Dr. Dan Cosley
- Study how social media can support relationship maintenance and psychological well-being
Freelance Web Designer and Developer (September 2007 - present)
- Design, code and maintain dynamic, functional and aesthetically pleasing websites using HTML, CSS, Flash, Javascript and PHP/MySQL
- Clientele include established corporations, start-up companies, and individuals, and span a broad range of businesses and industries
Google
User Experience Research Intern, Geo Team (June 2013 - September 2013)
- Worked with Dr. David Huffaker and Dr. Gueorgi Kossinets
- Collected and analyzed data to answer key questions informing the design of Geo Consumer products
- Developed methodological framework illustrating best practices for using Google Consumer Surveys in a lightweight manner to quickly answer key questions that influence product design decisions
Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)
Research Intern (March 2013 - June 2013), (June 2013 - September 2013)
- Research with Dr. Victoria Bellotti
- Studied how mobile technology and social behavior change techniques can help support people in reducing perceived stress
- Developed methodological framework illustrating best practices for using Google Consumer Surveys in a lightweight manner to quickly answer key questions that influence product design decisions
Rosetta
User Experience Designer, Junior Associate (May 2012 - August 2012)
- Provided interactive marketing solutions to clients primarily in the healthcare field
- Created wireframes detailing information architecture and functionality for websites and mobile applications
University of Pennsylvania, Computer & Information Science Department
Research Assistant (January 2008 - August 2009)
- Worked with Dr. Mitchell Marcus on the SUBTLE project funded by the ARO MURI program
- Studied how robots and humans can communicate using natural language to complete complex search and rescue tasks
University of Pennsylvania, Psychology Department
Student Researcher (January 2008 - May 2009)
- Worked with Dr. John Trueswell and Dr. Ann Bunger
- Used empirical methods to study the interaction between animacy and role cues in children's categorization of event participants
- Developed an online system to conduct positive psychology experiments and studied its usability using the cognitive walkthrough technique
University of Pennsylvania, Legal Studies & Business Ethics Department
Web Developer (August 2007 - May 2009)
- Developed dynamic and functional web applications to allow departmental processes to be managed online
Universal Solutions, Inc.
Information Technology Intern (May 2006 - August 2007)
- Was responsible for system administration for client Special Olympics New Jersey
Publications
Journal Articles
J.3
Sosik, V.S., & Cosley, D. (forthcoming). Leveraging Social Media Content to Support Engagement in Positive Interventions. Journal of Positive Psychology.
J.2
Sosik, V.S., & Bazarova, N. N. (2014). Relational Maintenance on Social Network Sites: How Facebook Communication Predicts Relational Escalation. Computers in Human Behavior, 35, 124–131.
J.1
Cosley, D., Sosik, V.S., Schultz, J., Peesapati, S.T., Lee, S. (2012). Experiences with designing tools for everyday reminiscing. Human-Computer Interaction, 27, 1-2: 175-198.
Conference Papers
C.9
Baumer, E., Khovanskaya, V., Matthews, M., Reynolds, L., Sosik, V. S., Gay, G. (2014). Reviewing
Reflection: On the Use of Reflection in Interactive System Design. To appear in Proceedings of
Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '14). Vancouver, Canada. June 21–25, 2014.
C.8
Reynolds, L., Sosik, V. S., & Cosley, D. (2013). When Wii Doesn't Fit: How Non-Beginners React
to Wii Fit's Gamification. In Proceedings of Gamification 2013. Waterloo, Canada. Oct 2–4, 2013.
C.7
Baumer, E., Adams, P., Khovanskaya, V., Liao, T., Smith, M., Sosik, V. S., & Williams, K. (2013).
Limiting, Leaving, and (re)Lapsing: A Survey of Facebook Non-Use Practice and Experiences. In
Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems (CHI '13). Paris,
France. April 27–May 2, 2013.
C.6
Zhao, X., Sosik, V.S., Cosley, D. (2012). It's Complicated: How Romantic Partners Use Facebook. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '12). Austin, TX. May 5-10, 2012.
C.5
Sosik, V., Zhao, X., Cosley, D. (2012). See Friendship, sort of: How conversation and digital traces might support reflection on friendships. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW '12). Seattle, WA. February 11-15, 2012. [pdf]
C.4
Schwanda, V., Ibara, S., Reynolds, L., Cosley, D. (2011). Side effects and 'gateway' tools: advocating a broader look at evaluating persuasive systems. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '11). Vancouver, Canada. May 7-12, 2011. [pdf]
C.3
Purpura, S., Schwanda, V., Williams, K., Stubler, W., Sengers, P. (2011). Fit4Life: The Design of a Persuasive Technology Promoting Healthy Behavior and Ideal Weight. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '11). Vancouver, Canada. May 7-12, 2011. [pdf] *Best Paper Award Nomination*
C.2
Peesapati, S. T., Schwanda, V., Schultz, J., and Cosley. D. (2010). Triggering memories with online maps. In Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology Annual Meeting (ASIS&T '10). Pittsburgh, PA. October 22-27, 2010. [pdf]
C.1
Conference Posters and Presentations (Juried)
P.4
Sosik, V.S., Bursztein, E., Consolvo, S., Huffaker, D., Kossinets, G., Liao, K., McDonald, P., &
Sedley, A. (2014). Online Microsurveys for User Experience Research. To appear in Extended
Abstracts of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '14). Toronto,
Canada. April 26–May 1, 2014.
P.3
Reynolds, L. & Sosik, V.S. (2012). Starting States Matter: Experiences with a Persuasive Health
System. Presented at Infosocial: A Media, Technology & Society Conference, Evanston, Illinois.
October 12–13, 2012.
P.2
Reynolds, L., Ibara, S., Schwanda, V., Cosley, D. (2011). "Does It Know I'm Not Maintaining Good Posture?": An In-Home Play Study of Wii Fit. Extended Abstracts of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '11). Vancouver, Canada. May 7-12, 2011. [pdf]
P.1
Schwanda, V., Barron, K., Lien, J., Schroeder, G., Vernon, A., Hancock, J. (2011). Temporal Patterns of Cohesiveness in Virtual Groups. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW '11). Hangzhou, China. March 19-23, 2011. [pdf]
Workshop Papers and Doctoral Colloquia (Juried)
w.3
Sosik, V.S. (2013). Leveraging Social Media to Design for Psychological Well-being. 7th
International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare, Venice, Italy. May 7,
2013.
w.2
Sosik, V.S., Cosley, D. (2012). Thinking about Side Effects of Personal Informatics Systems. Personal Informatics in Practice: Improving Quality of Life Through Data, Austin, Texas.
w.1
Cosley, D., Schwanda, V., Peesapati, S. T., Schultz, J., Baxter, J. (2009). Experiences with a publicly deployed tool for reminiscing. Reminiscence Systems Workshop 2009, Cambridge, UK. [pdf]
Presentations
Workshops and Panels Organized
W.2
Cosley, D., Mulvenna, M., Schwanda, V., Peesapati, S.T., Wright, T. (May 2011). Bridging Practices, Theories, and Technologies to Support Reminiscence. Extended Abstracts of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '11). Vancouver, Canada. May 7-12, 2011. [pdf]
W.1
Rosenzweig, A., Schwanda, V., Rosenzweig, J. (September 2010). Barbie Has a Pink Laptop: Redefining How the World Views a Computer Scientist. Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Atlanta, GA. September 28-October 2, 2010. [proposal] [slides] [session notes]
Teaching Experience
- Figure Skating Professional, Group and Individual Lessons, United States Figure Skating (January 2005 - present)
- Teaching Assistant, Human-Computer Interaction Design, Cornell University, Instructor: Daniel Cosley (Fall 2012)>
- Teaching Assistant, CURIE Academy for high school girls who excel in math and science, Cornell University, Instructor: Hadas Kress-Gazit (Summer 2010)
- Teaching Assistant, Advanced HCI Design, Cornell University, Instructor: Daniel Cosley (Spring 2010)
- Teaching Assistant Programming Languages & Techniques I, University of Pennsylvania, Instructor: Mitchell Marcus (Spring 2009)
- Mentor Introduction to Computer Science, University of Pennsylvania, Instructor: Jean Griffin (Fall 2008)
Honors and Awards
- CSCW 2014 Program Committee Meeting Mentoring Program, Philadelphia, PA 8/19–8/20/13
- United States Figure Skating Academic Scholarship Program 2012
- Google Anita Borg Scholar (2012)
- NSF Summer Social Webshop on Technology-Mediated Social Participation, University of Maryland (August 23-26, 2011)
- Summer School in Making Sense of Social Media, Swabian Alb, Germany (August 1-4, 2011)
- ACM CHI Best Paper Award Nomination (2011)
- Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Scholarship, Atlanta, GA (September 28-October 2, 2010)
- National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2010)
- CRA-W Grad Cohort Workshop, Bellevue, WA (April 23-24, 2010)
- Cornell University Graduate School Fellowship (2009)
- University of Pennsylvania Moore School Council Cwikla Award (2009)
- Girl Scouts of America Gold Award (2005)
- United States Figure Skating Scholastic Honors Team (2005)
- New Jersey Council of Figure Skating Clubs Academic Honors Team (2004, 2005)
Skills
Languages
- HTML, CSS, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, Python, XML, Java
Applications
- SPSS, Stata, TAMSAnalyzer, Adobe CS5 (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, Premiere Pro, Soundbooth), iMovie, Audacity, OmniGraffle, Axure
Other
- Qualitative Methods (Surveying, Interviewing, Observation), Affinity Diagramming, Open Coding, Statistical Analysis, Mixed Methods Research Design, Usability, Heuristic Evaluations, Prototyping, User Interface Design, Information Visualization
Professional Service
Conference Organizing Committee
- CSCW 2014 Student Volunteer Chair
- CSCW 2013 Webmaster and Graphic Design Chair
- CSCW 2012 Webmaster and Graphic Design Co-Chair
Academic Service
- Interviewer, University of Pennsylvania Secondary School Committee (Sept. 2010 - present)
- Ithaca Area Chair, University of Pennsylvania Secondary School Committee (Jan. 2010 - Aug. 2013)
- President, Cornell Information Science PhD Student Organization (Oct. 2010 - Dec. 2012)
- Coordinator, Cornell Information Science Breakfast Series (Aug. 2010 - present)
- Student Representative, Cornell Information Science PhD Admissions Committee (Dec. 2010 - Mar. 2011)
- Orientation Peer Advisor, University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering & Applied Science Aug. 2008 - May 2009
- Senior Advisor, University of Pennsylvania Women in Computer Science (Jan. 2009 - May 2009)
- Treasurer, University of Pennsylvania Women in Computer Science (Jan. 2008 - Dec. 2008)
- Member, University of Pennsylvania Women in Computer Science (Sept. 2005 - May 2009)
- Advisory Board Member, University of Pennsylvania Advancing Women in Engineering, Nov. 2007 - May 2009
- Educational Outreach Committee, University of Pennsylvania Society of Women Engineers Sept. 2006 - May 2007
Conference Reviewing
- CSCW 2014
- CHI 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
- ICA 2013
- DIS 2012, 2014
- NordiCHI 2010
Conference Student Volunteering
- CSCW 2011, 2013, 2014
- CHI 2010, 2013, 2014
- GROUP 2010
Coverage
M.2
Devin Coldewey. Many really do quit Facebook - and never return. Today. May 1, 2013. http://www.
today.com/tech/many-really-do-quit-facebook-never-return-6C9722693
Extracurricular Activities
New Jersey Figure Skating Foundation
Board Member, Web and Social Media Chair (Jan 2013 - present)
- Promote the advancement of figure skating in the state of New Jersey and assist local athletes through scholarships, programs, and educational opportunities
Cornell University Synchronized Skating Team Cornell University
Co-Captain (May 2010 - May 2011, May 2012 - May 2013)
Team Member (Sept 2009 - May 2013)
- Choreograph a program according to United States Figure Skating rules and coach team members in preparation for competition
- Manage team and its relationship with United States Figure Skating and Cornell University
- Competed 10 times in the Sectional Sychronized Skating Championships and 5 times in the National Synchronized Skating Championships
Penn Figure Skating University of Pennsylvania
President (September 2007 - May 2009)
Board Member (September 2006 - May 2009)
Team Member (September 2005 - May 2009)
- Coordinated community service and university-wide events, competition arrangements and social events for students interested in the sport of figure skating
- Acted as Competition Chair for the 2009 Penn Quaker Classic, a qualifying intercollegiate competition where Penn hosted over one hundred skaters from thirteen universities across the east coast