As another submission cycle for CHI ends, I wanted to take some time to reflect on my past papers to make my research more accessible to people. Today, I will be talking about Unsent Messages, which, beyond being a Best Paper at CHI 2026, is also near and dear to my heart.
While HCI research has quite heavily studied how people communicate and what people actually say, this project argues that we can learn just as much from interrogating the things people are on the cusp of saying (but don’t). This is a rich, underexplored liminal space between communication and non-communication. From studying this space in a user study, we reveal that people adapt temporary containers (e.g., Notes apps) to contain their unspoken feelings. In writing out what they want to say (but don’t), people imagine possible scenarios, reflect on themselves, and cycle through their wants and needs.
Importantly, we find that in this space, what our participants actually desire isn’t a singular thing. Rather, what they desired differs subtly based on context:
sometimes, a way to express themselves for themselves
sometimes, a way to reflect on themselves and their thoughts and behaviours
sometimes, something, anything, to make the decision for them.
In a design probe study, we highlight how different design elements grounded in theoretical design research (i.e., not just AI or optimization) can help people help themselves. I value this paper because it spotlights one of the everyday struggles of humans and all the complex thoughts and tensions within it, while also highlighting how even subtle design can support them.