My name is Lisa. I am excited by programming languages (PL), human-computer interaction (HCI), and cognitive science.
I am a PhD candidate studying Computer Science at UC San Diego in the Programming Systems Group advised by Sorin Lerner. Before coming to UCSD, I obtained my B.A. in Computer Science and Cognitive & Linguistic Sciences from Wellesley College near Boston, MA, where I worked extensively with Franklyn Turbak on PL and HCI.
See Fun for my life outside of computer science.
Research
I design and develop programming assistants. I define programming assistants as the following: they show the ground truths of program behavior and suggest edits to code, providing understandable information that supports creativity and productivity. Programming assistants with a technology-first design can lead to usability problems and cognitive burdens, requiring the user to adapt their behavior to the tool. How do we design usable programming assistants?
To that end, I adopt the human-centered approach to design programming assistants:
- I use evidence from cognitive science and empirical investigations to derive the design space of a programming tool; and
- I work with potential users of a programming tool to refine the design space and iterate on existing designs.
Recent Projects
Paradigms and Tools
- Interaction Model in Synthesis: exploring AI-generated code with live programming.
- Debugging GUI Applications: debugging via record/replay and live programming.
- Education in Logic Modeling: web experience for teaching and learning logic modeling.
Empirical Evidence
- Functional Debugging: understanding debugging strategies in functional programming.
- Live Programming in Education: evaluating the impact of using live programming in CS1.
The Projects tab shows a full list of my projects.