Human Computer Interaction Researchers

Prof Marié Hattingh

Position: Associate Professor

NRF rating: Y2

Office: IT Building 5-67

ORCID: 0000-0003-1121-8892

My research generally focuses on the role of Social Media in communities. I take an interdisciplinary view in applying either qualitative or quantitative approaches to study the following research focus areas:

Use of Social Media in different Communities. Reporting crime, finding missing persons, community upliftment, the integration and use of social media by governmental institutions, understanding how social media is used by online activists and the relationship with offline activism.
Influence of social media in different communities. Electronic word of mouth, social media influencers, digital entrepreneurs, social media incorporation into organisations, social participation.
Darker side of social media use. Positive and negative use of social media such as: darkweb, fake news, narcissism, FOMO, social media fatigue, addiction and the moral/ethical consequences of social media use.
The responsible use of technology by different communities. Evaluation studies of e-Textbook use by learners and their parents, technology use for special needs education.

The research domains that I investigate include Organisations, Government, Communities and Individuals.

Topics that I am actively involved in are listed below. I can support students who are committed to researching suitable topics in one of the following areas:

Understanding what aspects make social media influencer attractive (quantitative and qualitative)
Understanding the factors that drive electronic word of mouth participation
Understanding how organisations incorporate social media feedback/data into their organisation’s knowledge base
Understanding the constructs associated with FOMO and social media fatigue.

These keywords and concepts are relevant to my research: Community safety, eActivism, eGovernment, eWOM, Facebook, FOMO, netnography, social media, social media fatigue, social media influencer, text mining, Twitter.

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Dr Funmi Adebesin

Position: Senior Lecturer

Office: IT Building 5-73

E-mail: [email protected]

ORCID: 0000-0003-0512-016X

My research generally focuses on the use of information systems for Sustainable Development, specifically in the healthcare domain. I take a multidisciplinary view in applying either qualitative or quantitative approaches to work in the following specialized areas of study:

ICT use in period of pandemics: The role of ICTs in the fight against COVID-19
Digital health and 4IR. The role of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) in the transformation of healthcare.
Social media and digital health. The influence of health social networks on health behaviour change and chronic disease management.
Consumer health wearable devices. Use of consumer wearables for self-tracking/self-quantification, security, privacy, ethical issues around tracking of health data.

The research domains that I investigate include National and provincial health departments, private and public healthcare facilities, users of consumer wearable apps devices, healthcare systems designers and developers.

Topics that I am actively involved in are listed below. I can support students who are committed to researching problems in one of the following:

The role of ICTs in the fight against COVID-19.
ICT interventions in the period of pandemics.
The role of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) in the transformation of healthcare.
The influence of health social networks on health behaviour change and chronic disease management.
The influence of social media on health self-tracking/self-quantification.
Factors leading to resistance in the use of electronic medical record (EMR) systems.
User-centered approaches to the development of EMR systems.
User-centered approaches to the development of consumer wearable health devices.
Ethical, security, and privacy issues related to the use of consumer wearable health devices.
Legislation and policies for the protection of health data.
Impact of healthcare systems on healthcare professionals’ work processes.
Management and sharing of health data.
Usability and user experiences (UX) of consumer wearable health devices.
Usability and user experiences (UX) of mobile apps.

Keywords and concepts relevant to my research: Consumer wearable health devices, ICTs and COVID-19, digital health and 4IR, health social networks, health data ethics, health data privacy, health data security, usability, user-centered design, patient-driven care.

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Dr Lizette Weilbach

Position: Senior lecturer

Office: IT Building 5-69

E-mail: [email protected]

ORCID: 0000-0002-0827-2444

The research domains that I focus on include IS and organisations, Society 5.0, disruptive technologies and UX (User Experience) Design. I am particularly interested in the way in which information technology affects the social and emotional well-being of people. This includes, but is not limited to:

The use of Social media
The use of AI
FOMO
The overuse of technology
Cyber-bullying

IS development and design is another passion. I have presented multiple business & systems analysis and design courses to industry. My latest interest in this field focuses on UX design and I’m interested in pursuing research which focusses on evaluating and enhancing the human computer interaction aspects of IS.

I’ve been teaching in the field of IS for many years, and thus also have an interest in ICT to support quality education. Here my focus is on ICT to enhance teaching and learning: the use of current tools, techniques, and approaches available for both face-to-face and online teaching and learning.

I can support students wanting to do research on all the topics mentioned above.

Keywords: Society 5.0; AI use and consequences; disruptive technologies; UX Design; Social Media use; cyberbullying; technology to enhance teaching and learning.

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