Research

Doctoral Research

Exploring Personal Financial Information Management Among Young Adults

Financial experts express concerns that young adults exhibit poor financial habits. Poor financial habits can manifest in a vary of ways, such as high levels of credit card debt, low levels of saving, and difficulty creating or sticking to a budget. As a result, there is an explosion of educational and technological resources being developed specifically for young adults with the aim to increase their financial literacy and instill good financial behaviours earlier in life. Yet, many of these resources provide sparse instruction on how to manage the documentation associated with personal finance. This doctoral research project attempts to answer the following research questions: (1) what records and supporting documents do the personal collections of financial information of young adults typically contain?; (2) how do young adults “manage” their collections of personal financial information within a personal space of information?; and (3) what are the incentives, goals, tasks, and other factors that motivate the management of personal financial information among young adults? And why? This project aims to conduct approximately 40 guided-tour interviews with young adults (ages 18-25) in the Montreal area. Interviews will be structured using Cognitive-Work Analysis (CWA) and the theoretical framework of Human-Information Interactions (HII). Data analysis will use qualitative techniques inspired by grounded-theory. The anticipate outcomes of this research are a description of the actual contents of personal collections of financial information by young adults, an analysis of the processes and information behaviours associated with curation and exploitation of a personal collection of financial information, and an analysis of the environmental and personal factors that motivates personal financial information management among young adults. This project is funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Accessible Computing Technologies Research Group

Supporting Coordination and Communication During Hospice Care

Staying connected is a primary concern of hospice and palliative care patients and their families, but managing and coordinating interaction to best meet the varying needs and capabilities of patients is challenging. This project explores this space, with the long-term goal of addressing both patient and family needs and designing information technologies that enhance telepresence and communication between families and friends at the end of life. In this project, I was responsible for participant recruitment, data collection, and qualitative analysis of the data set.

Digital Paper-Based Communication Systems

This project explores the use of digital pens and paper as a platform for blending the aesthics of handwritten letters with the convenience of e-mail. In this project, I was responsible for data collection and qualitative analysis of the data set.