CS Student Seminar: Access Is Not Enough: Toward Developmental Flourishing in Assistive Technology (Yuanyang Teng)

Monday / Student Seminar
April 20 / 12:00 PM
Mudd 3514

Speaker: Yuanyang Teng

Title: Access Is Not Enough: Toward Developmental Flourishing in Assistive Technology

Abstract:  Technical accessibility research has made significant progress by focusing on the “access” frame: enabling users with disabilities to complete tasks and achieve outcomes comparable to those without disabilities. However, this framing often prioritizes task completion over the process of doing and being. In this talk, I propose a new frame: developmental flourishing. “Developmental flourishing” positions assistive technologies not as end goals, but as means for exploratory, creative, sensemaking, and meaning-making processes that give activities their depth and personal significance. Technologies should expand capabilities that are valuable and authentic to individuals, aligning and augmenting their unique cognitive processes and strategies. Adopting this perspective suggests several system-level shifts: designing interfaces as cognitive representations, treating embodiment as a communicative resource, and building systems that evolve through use. These shifts have implications for interaction design, sensory feedback, and adaptive system architectures. I conclude by outlining open technical questions and inviting discussion on how computer systems might more fully incorporate process-oriented paradigms into accessibility research.

Bio: Yuanyang (YY) Teng is an HCI researcher and architect bridging design, technology, and the social sciences. They are a PhD student in the Technology and Social Behavior program at Northwestern University, a dual-degree program in Computer Science and Communication. YY works in the CollabLab, advised by Dr. Darren Gergle. Their research asks what assistive technologies could become if designed around people's unique cognitive processes rather than around prescribed tasks and anticipated outcomes, developing theoretical frameworks and technological paradigm shifts that center diverse perceptual processes and cognitive strategies in assistive technology development. They hold an M.S. in Computer Science from Columbia University, where they completed a thesis in HCI and spent three years doing research with the Columbia HCI labs and Snap's HCI research group. Before that, they practiced architecture for five years at Meier Partners, the firm behind the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and remained a licensed Architect in New York State. They also hold a Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute.

Cost: free

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