Hi, I’m Liz
Research Scientist · Microsoft Research · Nairobi, Kenya
I study how knowledge is created and transferred through technologies, and how people work together to adapt when systems don’t meet their needs. I ask whose values are embedded in these systems, whose knowledge is excluded, and what is lost when communities must reshape themselves to fit technologies rather than the reverse.
Communities already hold the expertise they need to thrive. My work ensures that expertise shapes how technology is designed, not the other way around. From farming communities in Kenya to cancer survivors in California, trust is relational, not engineered, and technology works best when it is built with people, grounded in their values, and accountable to the contexts where it operates.
I hold a Ph.D. in Informatics from the University of California, Irvine, where I was advised by Dr. Gillian Hayes and was a member of the STAR Lab. I also serve as a research fellow and visiting researcher in the UCI Department of Informatics.
Research Pillars
I take a people-centric, theory-driven, and empirical approach to understanding how knowledge flows through social and technological systems, and to designing technologies that respect and amplify community expertise.
Knowledge Systems & Social Infrastructure
Technological systems fail when designed without understanding the social, relational, and collective dimensions of how people actually produce and share knowledge.I study how knowledge is produced, interpreted, and transfered through social and relational systems. This spans how children with ADHD make sense of smartwatch health data (TOCHI 2023), how adolescent cancer survivors transfer care knowledge across stakeholders (CHI 2022, CSCW 2023), and how Kenyan small businesses use social networks as infrastructure for organizing business knowledge (CHI 2025).
Culture, Language & AI
I investigate how cultural practices and language shape what AI systems can and should do, and how to design AI that respects and amplifies local knowledge rather than overriding it. Through ethnographic fieldwork with farming communities in Kenya and India (Project Gecko), I study how AI interacts with, disrupts, and can be made to respect local cultural practices. I also examine intent interpretation, instruction following, and prompt sensitivity in multilingual settings to understand where language technologies break down in practice.
Community-Centered Design & Evaluation
I take a theory-driven, empirical approach grounded in participatory and community-based practices. I apply action research principles, working with community partners and learning from local experts to identify challenges and co-design solutions. I use human-centered design methods including interviews, co-design workshops, diary studies, and digital interventions. Communities are engaged not just as users but as knowledge holders and co-designers whose expertise shapes every phase of the work.
Current Focus
- Culture, language, and AI in the Global South (Project Gecko)
- Human-Centered Evaluation (HCE) frameworks for AI in low-data spaces
- Knowledge diffusion from the Global Majority to the broader field
- Understanding Intent through instructional drift
Publications
Selected Work
CHI 2025 · Conference Paper
Social by Nature: How Socio-tecture Shapes the Work of SMBs and Considerations for Reimagining Collaborative Human-AI Systems
Ankrah, E.A., Awori, K., Nyairo, S., Muchai, M., Ochieng, M., Kariuki, M., Hayes, G.R., O’Neill, J.
IMWUT 2024 · Journal
Powered by AI: Examining How AI Descriptions Influence Perceptions of Fertility Tracking Applications
Figueiredo, M.C., Ankrah, E.A., Powell, J.E., Epstein, D., Chen, Y.
CSCW 2023 · Conference Paper
Plan For Tomorrow: The Experience of Adolescent and Young Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors as they Transition to Adult Care
Ankrah, E.A., Marathe, M., Bhattacharya, A., Ritt-Olson, A., Milam, J.E., Torno, L., Hayes, G.R.
ACM TOCHI 2023 · Journal
Me, My Health, and My Watch: How Children with ADHD Understand Smartwatch Health Data
Ankrah, E.A., Cibrian, F.L., Silva, L.M., Tavakoulnia, A., Beltran, J.A., Schuck, S., Lakes, K.D., Hayes, G.R.
CHI 2022 · Conference Paper
When Worlds Collide: Boundary Management of Adolescent and Young Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors and Caregivers
Ankrah, E.A., Bhattacharya, A., Donjuan, L., Cibrian, F.L., Ritt-Olson, A., Milam, J., Torno, L., Hayes, G.R.
Experience
Where I Have Worked
2025 – Present
Postdoctoral Researcher
Microsoft Research Africa · Nairobi, Kenya
Leading research on culture and AI in the Global South (Project Gecko), socio-tecture and digital transformation for African SMBs, Human-Centered Evaluation frameworks, and the Atlas Playbook for cross-cultural AI design.
2025 – Present
Research Fellow & Visiting Researcher
University of California, Irvine · Department of Informatics
Summer 2024
Research Scientist Intern
Microsoft Research Cambridge · Cambridge, UK
Researched AI systems that support collaborative transitions and knowledge transfer across project teams.
Summer 2022
UX Research Intern
Netflix · Los Gatos, California
UX research on understanding and evaluating the role and impact of information & reference materials to support stakeholders.
2019 – 2024
Ph.D. Researcher
University of California, Irvine · Irvine, California
Ph.D. in Informatics advised by Dr. Gillian Hayes (STAR Lab). NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Dissertation: “Designing for Transitions: Supporting the Informational Needs of Youth Cancer Survivors.”
Contact
Get in Touch
I welcome collaborations, speaking invitations, and research conversations.
Liz Ankrah 