Tommaso Armstrong
Hi, I'm Tomm 👋
I’m a Human Computer Interaction PhD student at the University of Technology Sydney with undergrad degrees in Computing and Design Innovation. My research examines how social platforms shape the experiences of queer young men and explores how their design could be improved.
I also teach into Interaction Design and Design Innovation subjects at UTS. Working with students to help them expand their thinking and develop their ideas is one of my favourite things to do.
I'm fascinated by the interactions people have with technology and by the ethical, philosophical and societal implications surrounding them. I'm passionate about using design for good and promoting inclusion, accessibility and well-being.
If I'm not working/studying, I can usually be found out on the street with my camera, buried in a tech/sociology book or hacking on side projects.
You can find my ramblings on Mastodon, my photography on Instagram, and my CV here. If you'd like to email me, feel free to reach me at hi@tomma.so.
PhD in Human Computer Interaction
About
Social platforms increasingly mediate our social interactions, and the work within HCI that explores how they shape experience is overwhelmingly heteronormative. My research aims to contribute a queer perspective that shows how social platforms play a role in the lives and experiences of queer young men and to aid designers in creating technology that is more supportive of them.
The first stage of my research used interviews and a custom-designed cultural probe kit to explore the experiences of queer young men on social platforms.
Findings from this first stage were used to run co-design workshops in San Francisco to develop new concepts for how social platforms could be designed. I'm currently working to create interactive prototypes of these concepts to evaluate with users.
Publications to date
- Armstrong, Tommaso, and Tuck Wah Leong. 2019. “SNS and the Lived Experiences of Queer Youth.” In Proceedings of the 31st Australian Conference on Human-Computer-Interaction, 376–80. Fremantle WA Australia: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3369457.3369497. [PDF]
- Swipe Right To Create Queer Safe Spaces Online — article published in The Star Observer