Runhua ZHANG | 张润花
PhD Student, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)
Let’s Talk: runhua.zhang@connect.ust.hk
Hi, I’m Runhua, a first-year PhD student at HKUST. As a member of VisLab and the HCI Initiative, I conduct research in Human-Computer Interaction under the supervision of Prof. Huamin QU and Prof. Xiaojuan MA. With an interdisciplinary approach, I am currently exploring the Feminist HCI and storytelling topics, drawing the insights from design and computer science.
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, and a B.E. in Industrial Design (Best Thesis Award) at School of Engineering, Sichuan University.
Latest News
[06/2025] A co-authored poster, “From Platform Migration to Cultural Integration: The Ingress and Diffusion of #wlw from TikTok to RedNote in Queer Women Communities” was accepted by CSCW’25! Congrats to Zipi, Jiehui, Yunhao, Yue, and Prof. Ma.
[05/2025] New Post: Personal Thoughts on Gender Violence and the Recent Shenzhen Incident
[05/2025] A co-authored paper, “Conversations With The Stressed Body: Facilitating Stress Self-Disclosure Among Adolescent Girls Through An Embodied Approach” was accepted by DIS’25! Congrats to Xinglin and Prof. Qi Wang@D&I, Tongji.
[04/2025] Happy to attend CHI’25 in Yokohama, Japan
I’d love to connect! Feel free to email me!
[04/2025] Excited to present our CHI’25 paper at the GBA Pre-CHI event at CityU, HK.
[01/2025] Excited to be a committee member (AC) of CHI’25 Late Breaking Work!
[01/2025] Our paper “Walk in Their Shoes to Navigate Your Own Path: Learning About Procrastination Through A Serious Game” was conditionally accepted by CHI’25! This is my first first-author CHI paper! Many thanks to my co-authors! See you in Yokohama, Japan!
[12/2024] I was invited to be a reviewer for CSCW 2025!
[10/2024] I was invited to be a reviewer for ChineseCHI 2025!
[10/2024] I was invited to be a reviewer for CHI 2025! Excited to do some service to our community!
[09/2024] Began my PhD journey at HKUST!
[07/2024] Graduated from College of Design and Innovation (D&I), Tongji University, and won the Outstanding Graduate Honor in Shanghai, China.
[06/2024] My master’s thesis earned the Best Thesis Award at D&I, Tongji University!
[10/2023] Excited to share that I was awarded the National Scholarship (1%) at Tongji University. This was my fourth time winning this award.
[10/2023] Our paper “Textile-sensing Wearable Systems for Continuous Motion Angle Estimation: A Systematic Review” was accepted by IJHCI. I am the first author of this work.
[08/2023] Our paper “EmTex: Prototyping Textile-Based Interfaces through An Embroidered Construction Kit” was accepted by UIST’23.
[07/2023] Our poster “A Tailored Textile Sensor-based Wrap for Shoulder Complex Angles Monitoring” was accepted by Ubicomp/ISWC’23. I am the co-first author of this work!
[07/2023] Our poster “LayTex: A Design Tool for Generating Customized Textile Sensor Layouts in Wearable Computing” was accepted by Ubicomp/ISWC’23.
[07/2023] Our paper “Designing Smart Legging for Posture Monitoring based on Textile Sensing Networks” was accepted by IJHCI.
Publications
Before starting my PhD, I cultivated my interest in HCI by exploring a range of topics. My previous projects spanned: 1) tangible interfaces using e-textiles (UIST’23, Ubicomp/ISWC’23, IJHCI); 2) exploring heartwarming design that supports people’s wellbeing (CHI’25, DIS’25)
During my master’s studies, these varied explorations helped me develop solid understanding and skills in HCI domain, but also made it challenging for me to give a quick, definitive answer when asked, “What is your research focus?“—a question that comes up frequently. In such moments, I often recall the encouraging words from Prof. Qi WANG, my master’s supervisor: “As a master’s student, you don’t need a series of consecutive papers to earn your degree. Just do what you enjoy.” Besides, I am also deeply grateful to Prof. Pengcheng AN and Prof. Teng HAN for their hands-on and inspiring guidance, which was instrumental at the very beginning of my HCI research journey.
With this mindset, I plan to continue keeping my curiosity throughout my PhD studies, while gradually honing in on a more focused research direction over the next few years.
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
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
EmTex: Prototyping Textile-Based Interfaces through An Embroidered Construction Kit
Qi Wang, Yuan Zeng, Runhua Zhang, Nianding Ye, Linghao Zhu, Xiaohua Sun*, and Teng Han*
UIST’23
A Tailored Textile Sensor-based Wrap for Shoulder Complex Angles Monitoring
Runhua Zhang*, Yuanda Hu*, Yuxuan He, Shiwen Fang, Bin Yu, Xiaohua Sun, and Qi Wang
Ubicomp/ISWC’23 (poster)
LayTex: A Design Tool for Generating Customized Textile Sensor Layouts in Wearable Computing
Yueyao Zhang, Nianchong Qu, Runhua Zhang, Ye Tao, Guanyun Wang, and Qi Wang
UbiComp/ISWC ’23 (poster)
Academic Services
Committee member @ CHI’25 Late Breaking Work
Reviewer @ CSCW 2025
Reviewer @ ChineseCHI 2025
Reviewer @ CHI 2025
Education
[09/2024 – present]
[09/2021 – 06/2024]
[01/2023 – 07/2023]
[09/2017 – 06/2021]
PhD student in indvidualised Interdisciplinary Program (IIP), HKUST, Hong Kong SAR
Master of Art in Design, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai 
Exchange Program, School of Arts, Design and Architecture (ARTS), Aalto University 
Bachelor of Engineering in Industrial Design, School of Engineering, Sichuan University
My friends
Jiaqi (Flora) GAN (My best friend. Developer at Oracle, Graduate at Dartmouth College. Her expertise in coding had saved me time and time again. I am so proud of being her best friend.)
Tianzhan Liang (The best designer I know)
Dr. Yao WANG ( Post-doc at University of Stuttgart. He really helped me a lot when I knew very little about HCI and Visualisation. Congrats to Dr. Wang on earning his doctoral degree on November 5th, 2024!)