Human-centered AI × SocioGamify for digital ecosystems

AI-HCI Lab
Research Initiative @ ISTAR–Iscte

We design, build, and validate human-centered AI and HCI interventions for safer, healthier, and more engaging online communities—spanning conversational agents, social computing, online safety, privacy personalization, and adaptive learning.

Conversational AI Social Media Gamification SocioGamify
Explore the Lab Contact / Collaboration
Operating in alignment with institutional ethics and data protection requirements.
AI-HCI Lab illustration
AI-HCI LAB

Human-centered AI × HCI

We design, build, and validate human-centered AI and HCI interventions for safer, healthier, and more engaging digital ecosystems. Our work spans conversational agents and AI assistants, social computing and user engagement, misinformation/hostility mitigation, privacy personalization, and adaptive learning— grounded in rigorous evaluation and (when appropriate) real-world deployment.

Human-centered AI HCI Social Computing Digital Wellbeing
Collaborate Projects & Deadlines Partner Universities People Publications
Note: AI-HCI Lab is a research initiative hosted within ISTAR–Iscte.
AI-HCI Lab — Human-centered AI and HCI AI-HCI Lab @ ISTAR–Iscte (Research Initiative)
Core research themes
  • Conversational AI & AI agents (supportive, task, learning)
  • Social computing, community health, and user engagement
  • Gamification & behavior change (nudging, motivation, retention)
  • Personalization & recommender systems for human goals
Digital safety & wellbeing
  • Online hostility mitigation and prosocial interaction design
  • Misinformation awareness & user-centered interventions
  • Privacy personalization (usable privacy, nudges, user control)
  • Loneliness reduction & companionship experiences (ethical by design)
How we work
Rigorous evaluation + practical deployment when appropriate
Evidence-driven
  • Human-centered design and iterative prototyping
  • Experimental studies (A/B tests, RCT-style designs when feasible)
  • Longitudinal engagement analytics and behavioral measurement
  • AI evaluation: quality, safety, bias, robustness
  • Privacy & GDPR-aware data workflows and ethics-first practice
  • Open science outputs when possible (datasets, tools, protocols)
Currently building
  • AI-assisted digital wellbeing interventions for online communities
  • Gamified privacy personalization and safer interaction design
  • Adaptive learning and engagement algorithms (Sociogamify)
Open collaboration
  • Horizon Europe / FCT / industry-funded R&D proposals
  • Joint datasets, shared experimental designs, evaluation protocols
  • Co-supervision of MSc/PhD theses and visiting research stays

Projects & Deadlines

Current directions, planned submissions, and opportunities to collaborate

Online Safety & Hostility Mitigation

Human-centered interventions to reduce harmful behavior and strengthen prosocial community norms.

  • Detection + mitigation pipelines
  • UX patterns for de-escalation
  • Longitudinal evaluation
Privacy Personalization

Usable privacy with nudges, user control, and measurable behavioral outcomes.

  • Gamified nudges
  • Context-aware choices
  • GDPR-aware workflows
Adaptive Learning & Engagement

Personalized learning experiences improved through AI, gamification, and social interaction design.

  • Adaptive recommendations
  • Motivation + retention
  • Evidence-based interventions

Partner Universities

We welcome collaboration across academia and industry (EU/international)

Institution (Placeholder)

Joint proposals, datasets, and evaluation protocols.

Horizon Europe Co-supervision
Institution (Placeholder)

Research visits and shared experiments.

Visiting RCT / A/B
Institution (Placeholder)

Industry collaboration and applied deployments.

Industry Deployment
Want your institution listed here? Let’s discuss a collaboration and add it once confirmed.

People

Team roles, research interests, and opportunities to join

Dr. Mohammad Hajarian
Lab Lead (AI-HCI) • Research Faculty @ ISTAR–Iscte
  • Human-centered AI, HCI, social computing
  • Online safety, misinformation/hostility mitigation
  • Gamification, privacy personalization, engagement
Open positions
MSc/PhD students • Visiting researchers • Project collaborators
  • Strong interest in AI + HCI evaluation
  • Experience with experiments / analytics is a plus
  • Share your CV + research goals via email

Selected Publications

A curated subset — add DOI/links as you finalize your list

  • A Gamified Nudging Method for Privacy Personalization in Social Networks and its Effects on Online Hostility and User Engagement
  • Optimizing Fake News Awareness on Social Media: Comparative Effects of Traditional and Innovative Gamified Learning Frameworks on User Engagement and Fact-checking
  • Toward Stopping Incel Rebellion: Detecting Incels in Social Media Using Sentiment Analysis
  • SNEFL: Social Network Explicit Fuzzy Like Dataset and Its Application for Incel Detection
  • A Personalized Gamification Method for Increasing User Engagement in Social Networks
Tip: replace these with formatted citations + links (DOI / publisher / PDF) when ready.

Contact

For collaboration, supervision, proposals, datasets, or invited talks

Location

ISTAR–Iscte, Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon
Avenida das Forças Armadas, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal

Email

[email protected]

Please include: (1) topic, (2) your affiliation, (3) what you need, (4) any deadlines.
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