Microsoft at CHI 2021

What’s it like to do HCI research at Microsoft? How is Microsoft Research (MSR) different from product groups and how is this different from what goes on in a university? Come participate in a Q&A and “fireside chat” with veteran HCI researchers at Microsoft to hear how research is done in the labs and product groups at one of the largest software companies in the world. We’ll have two sessions pairing two veteran HCI researchers, and moderated by the next generation of HCI researchers at MSR. May 11, we’ll have a conversation with A.J. Brush and Kori Inkpen, moderated by Martez Mott. May 12, will be Jacki O’Neill and Kenton O’Hara, moderated by Danielle Bragg.

The coronavirus pandemic not only caused a public health crisis, but it also caused technological, social, and cultural disruption. This past year, people across the globe experienced a rapid shift to remote work that upended their existing practices and will have long-term implications for how work gets done in the future. At the start of the pandemic, researchers from across Microsoft formed an ongoing cross-company initiative to coordinate efforts with the goal of understanding the impact of remote work and identifying opportunities to support new working practices. This report provides a synthesis of the findings from more than fifty research projects and may well represent the largest compilation of research related to the pandemic’s impact on work practices available to date. Come hear Microsoft researchers consider how the future of work will change as we move to hybrid collaborations, new ways of working together.