About me

Brief biography

I have completed my PhD at UCL Interaction Centre. My PhD research investigated how behaviour change apps could go beyond standard tracking and reminders to effectively facilitate the formation of medication habits by taking advantage of contextual cues and daily routines. My work was affiliated with the CHI+MED project that focused on improving the usability of medical devices.

I have an MSc in Human-Computer Interaction with Ergonomics from UCL and a BSc in Computer Science from AHE in Łódź, Poland. My previous work explored ergonomic issues related to the use of tablet computers in an office environment. I also have several years of industry experience. Before starting my PhD, I worked as a freelance UX Designer and Business Intelligence Analyst at a large media company. I also co-founded Knry, an innovation startup that worked together with firefighters to develop an interactive wearable safety system.

I read a lot, like to punch things (I have a black belt in Choi Kwang Do), lift things, climb things and eat unreasonable amounts of thi… cake. If you have a yellow dog, I want to be your friend.

Publications

You can find my full list of publications on the publications page or on Google Scholar.

Media presence

I'm happy to talk to media about technologies for behaviour change and habit formation, ethical design, and the dark side of digital health technology. Email me or message me on Twitter.

Talks and presentations

I reguraly talk about my research at industry events and present my work to the public at festivals. Get in touch if you would like me to talk at your event.

Public engagement

Invited talks and seminars

Awards and Funding

2021 - Stawarz K, Ahmed N, Sparkes V, Verdezoto Dias N. Developing affordable wearables for upper limb function rehabilitation in Bangladesh. £26,129 awarded by GCRF, Cardiff University.

2020 - Collins E, Stawarz K, Morgan P. Exploring the impact of lockdown and remote work on cybersecurity practices of office workers. £3,622 awarded by IROHMS, Cardiff University.

2019 - Stawarz K, Alexander L, Western M, Carlin A, Wijekoon A. Creating digital technology to support exercise snacking for pre-frail older adults in the home setting Prize awarded for £8,565 funded by the GetAMoveOn Network+ through EPSRC grant EP/N027299/1.

2019 - Forbes CC, Western M, Stawarz K, Harrison D. Using Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMAs) to understand the impact of wearable technology on physical activity initiation and habit formation among people living beyond cancer. Prize awarded for £5,755 funded by the GetAMoveOn Network+ through EPSRC grant EP/N027299/1.

2019 - Female Leadership Initiative (FLi). Funding to attend a series of workshops and networking events for women in academia.

2019 - GetAMoveOn Fellowship Programme. Funding to attend a series of workshops and networking events for researchers working in a digital health domain.

2018 – University of Bristol, Faculty of Engineering funding to support two summer interns (£3500 to support a 6-week and an 8-week internship)

2018 – EPSRC Workshop on Building a Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing Community

2015 – UBIHEALTH Research Visit Exchange Funding (€2000 for 2 months)

2014 – UBIHEALTH Winter School in Ubiquitous Computing Funding

Achievements

2015 – Nominated for the UCL Student Choice Teaching Awards

2013 – Ulf Aberg Award for the best postgraduate student project in Ergonomics and Human Factors, CIHFE. [download dissertation] [more about the project]

2012 – Joint first prize for the best research project, Orange HCI-E MSc Project Prize 2011/12

2012 – Semi-finalist, CHI 2012 Student Design Competition: “Silka: A Domestic Technology to Mediate the Threshold between Connection and Solitude”. [more about the project]

2011 – Finalist, Institute of Human Factors and Ergonomics, Student Conference 2011: Mobile App Competition. [more about the app]

Teaching

Invited lectures

Modules and topics

I've been involved in teaching user-centred design to undergraduate Computer Science students. On the graduate level, I've been teaching ergonomics and human factors, HCI, prototyping and study/evaluation design.

Project supervision

I'm always happy to supervise undergraduate and graduate projects related to health and wellbeing technologies. In the past I supervised the following students:

Summer internships

Occasionally I supervise interns working on projects related to health, wellbeing, habits, behaviour change. Recent projects include:

Academic service

Committees

Peer review

University service