Runhua ZHANG | 张润花

Hi, I’m Runhua ZHANG, a year-2 PhD student at HKUST. As a member of VisLab and the HCI Initiative, I am lucky to be supervised by Prof. Huamin QU and Prof. Xiaojuan MA. My research focuses on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), with a particular interest in Critical Computing and Feminist HCI. My main research track is what I describe as “Designing AI4Feminism” or “Designing AI4Women”. Given that biased AI systems are already widely deployed and cannot simply be avoided, my work centers on (1) understanding how people, particularly women, navigate and negotiate these systems in practice, and (2) developing alternative design approaches that leverage AI to advance women’s and feminist goals.

Before joining HKUST, I received an M.A. in Design (🏆 Best Thesis Award), under the supervision of Prof. Qi WANG, at Center for Digital Innovation (CDI), College of Design and Innovation(D&I), Tongji University. I also earned a B.E. in Industrial Design (🏆 Best Thesis Award) from School of Engineering, Sichuan University.

💛 At my leisure time, I organize feminism reading seminars 📖. I also enjoy pour-over coffee brewing ☕️, photography (both digital and film) 🎞️, and hiking ⛰️.

🔥 I will co-organize a Feminist HCI meet-up at CHI 2026! The topic is about Legitimizing, Developing, and Sustaining Feminist HCI in East Asia: Challenges and Opportunities. More details: https://feminist-hci.github.io/

Publications

Before devoting my research to Feminist HCI (CHI'26, CHI'26 meet-up, DIS'25, CSCW'25, and other projects in submission), I cultivated my interests and skills in HCI through a range of projects. These previous work includes: facilitate storytelling (UIST’25) and leveraging storytelling to support positive reflection (CHI’25), as well as tangible interfaces based on e-textiles (UIST’23, UbiComp/ISWC’23, IJHCI). See all publications at my Google Scholar.

  • When LLMs Enter Everyday Feminism on Chinese Social Media: Opportunities and Risks for Women’s Empowerment thumbnail
    When LLMs Enter Everyday Feminism on Chinese Social Media: Opportunities and Risks for Women’s Empowerment
    Runhua Zhang , Ziqi Pan , Kangyu Yuan , Qiaoyi Chen , Yulin Tian , Huamin Qu , Xiaojuan Ma
    CHI'26 (just accepted)
    Feminist HCI
    PDF
  • Legitimizing, Developing, and Sustaining Feminist HCI in East Asia: Challenges and Opportunities thumbnail
    Legitimizing, Developing, and Sustaining Feminist HCI in East Asia: Challenges and Opportunities
    Runhua Zhang+ , Ruyuan Wan+ , Jiaqi (Ella) Li , Daye Kang , Yigang Qin , Yijia Wang , Ziqi Pan , Tiffany Knearem , Huamin Qu , Xiaojuan Ma
    CHI'26 Meet-up
    Feminist HCI
    PDF arXiv Project
  • PaperBridge: Crafting Research Narratives through Human-AI Co-Exploration thumbnail
    PaperBridge: Crafting Research Narratives through Human-AI Co-Exploration
    Runhua Zhang , Yang Ouyang , Leixian Shen , Yuying Tang , Xiaojuan Ma , Huamin Qu , Xian Xu*
    UIST'25
    Human-AI CollaborationStorytelling
    PDF DOI arXiv Video
  • [ProcrastiMate] Walk in Their Shoes to Navigate Your Own Path: Learning About Procrastination Through A Serious Game thumbnail
    [ProcrastiMate] Walk in Their Shoes to Navigate Your Own Path: Learning About Procrastination Through A Serious Game
    Runhua Zhang , Jiaqi Gan , Shangyuan Gao , Siyi Chen , Xinyu Wu , Dong Chen , Yulin Tian , Qi Wang* , Pengcheng An*
    CHI'25
    Human-AI CollaborationStorytelling
    PDF DOI arXiv Video
  • From Platform Migration to Cultural Integration: the Ingress and Diffusion of #wlw from TikTok to RedNote in Queer Women Communities thumbnail
    From Platform Migration to Cultural Integration: the Ingress and Diffusion of #wlw from TikTok to RedNote in Queer Women Communities
    Ziqi Pan , Runhua Zhang , Jiehui Luo , Yuanhao Zhang , Yue Deng , Xiaojuan Ma*
    CSCW'25 Companion
    Feminist HCI
    PDF DOI arXiv Project
  • Conversations With The Stressed Body: Facilitating Stress Self-Disclosure Among Adolescent Girls Through An Embodied Approach thumbnail
    Conversations With The Stressed Body: Facilitating Stress Self-Disclosure Among Adolescent Girls Through An Embodied Approach
    Xinglin Sun , Caroline Claisse , Runhua Zhang , Xingyu Wu , Jialin Yuan , Qi Wang*
    DIS'25
    Feminist HCI
    PDF DOI arXiv
  • Designing Smart Legging for Posture Monitoring based on Textile Sensing Networks thumbnail
    Designing Smart Legging for Posture Monitoring based on Textile Sensing Networks
    Qi Wang , Fang Cui , Runhua Zhang , Leheng Chen , Xiaohua Sun , Bin Yu*
    IJHCI
    Wearables
    PDF DOI
  • Textile-sensing Wearable Systems for Continuous Motion Angle Estimation: A Systematic Review thumbnail
    Textile-sensing Wearable Systems for Continuous Motion Angle Estimation: A Systematic Review
    Runhua Zhang , Leheng Chen , Yuanda Hu , Yueyao Zhang , Jiayi Chen , Tianzhan Liang , Xiaohua Sun , Qi Wang*
    IJHCI
    Wearables
    PDF DOI
  • LayTex: A Design Tool for Generating Customized Textile Sensor Layouts in Wearable Computing thumbnail
    LayTex: A Design Tool for Generating Customized Textile Sensor Layouts in Wearable Computing
    Yueyao Zhang , Nianchong Qu , Runhua Zhang , Ye Tao , Guanyun Wang , Qi Wang*
    Ubicomp/ISWC'23 Adjunct
    Wearables
    PDF DOI Video
  • A Tailored Textile Sensor-based Wrap for Shoulder Complex Angles Monitoring thumbnail
    A Tailored Textile Sensor-based Wrap for Shoulder Complex Angles Monitoring
    Runhua Zhang+ , Yuanda Hu+ , Yuxuan He , Shiwen Fang , Bin Yu , Xiaohua Sun , Qi Wang*
    Ubicomp/ISWC'23 Adjunct
    Wearables
    PDF DOI Video
  • EmTex: Prototyping Textile-Based Interfaces through An Embroidered Construction Kit thumbnail
    EmTex: Prototyping Textile-Based Interfaces through An Embroidered Construction Kit
    Qi Wang , Yuan Zeng , Runhua Zhang , Nianding Ye , Linghao Zhu , Xiaohua Sun* , Teng Han*
    UIST'23
    Wearables
    PDF DOI Video

Education

2024–present
PhD student in individualised Interdisciplinary Program (IIP) · HKUST 🇭🇰
2021–2024
Master of Art in Design, College of Design and Innovation · Tongji University 🇨🇳
2022–2023
Exchange Program, School of Arts, Design and Architecture (ARTS) · Aalto University 🇫🇮
2017–2021
Bachelor of Engineering in Industrial Design, School of Engineering · Sichuan University 🇨🇳

Awards

Best Thesis Awards
06/2024
Best Thesis Award for Master’s Degree Research Topic: Designing for Reflection, Personal Informatics
06/2021
Best Thesis Award for Bachelor’s Degree Research Topic: Voice User Interfaces, Automotive
Scholarships
10/2023
National Scholarship of China <1%, top award in China
11/2022
Excellent Master Student Scholarship at Tongji University <5%
12/2020
Jianguo-Peng Scholarship for Students at Sichuan University 10/400
09/2020
National Scholarship of China <1%, top award in China
09/2019
National Scholarship of China <1%, top award in China
09/2018
National Scholarship of China <1%, top award in China
Honors
06/2024
Outstanding Graduate in Shanghai, China <1%
06/2024
Best Graduate at Tongji University <1%, sole winner at the College of Design and Innovation
06/2021
Outstanding Undergraduate Graduate in Sichuan Province, China <1%
07/2020
“TOP 100” Students at Sichuan University Ranked 100/30,000, biennial

Acknowledgements

In A Moment!

Friends

Jiaqi (Flora) Gan . My best friend. Developer at Oracle. I am so proud to be her best friend.
Dr. Yao Wang . Post-doc at University of Stuttgart. He really helped me a lot when I knew very little about HCI.
Tianzhan . I promise he is one of the best designers.
Ziqi (Panpan) . PhD candidate at HKUST. She asked me to mention her as the coolest “bad bitch”.
Dr. Xian Xu . Assistant Professor at Lingnan University. I’m grateful for her kindness and support during my early days at HKUST.
Qiaoyi (Cat) . PhD student at HKUST. I truly appreciate her strong support for my feminist projects.
Kangyu . PhD student at HKUST. I personally awarded him the honor of “Best Co-author”.