HwiJoon Lee

PhD Student in CS · Northeastern University

How can more people understand and enjoy games?

Research

CHI PLAY 2026

Understanding Game Coaching on Gig Platforms

Full paperHwiJoon Lee, Saiph Savage
Under review

Game Fan Translation

FAccT 2026

How Formerly Incarcerated People Envision Technologies for Prison Parole

Full paperSaiph Savage, Jesse Nava, Wanqing Iris Zhou, HwiJoon Lee
arXiv 2025

Playing to Pay: Interplay of Monetization and Retention Strategies in Mobile Gaming

Extended AbstractHwiJoon Lee, Kashif Imteyaz, Saiph Savage
Future research directions

AI understanding of games

I want to explore how AI can understand games as interactive, multimodal experiences and respond to situations as they unfold during play. I'm interested in how players judge that understanding, and what makes AI support useful and trustworthy to them.

AI for play & game development

I want to explore what we need to learn from real players to simulate players with different skill levels and experiences. These simulations could help developers anticipate where players struggle and test how tutorials, onboarding, and game designs work for different players.

Experience

KAIST Logo

Visiting Researcher

May 2025 - Present

Conducting research on international students employment in South Korea.

Civic AI Logo

PhD Student

July 2024 - Present
Civic AI Lab · Boston, MA

Conducting HCI research to support workers and improve their workplace experiences.

PS Analytics Logo

Software Developer

Nov 2022 - Dec 2023
PS Analytics. Co · Seoul, South Korea

Developed backend infrastructure and data processing pipeline for data analytics platforms.

Republic of Korea Army Logo

Hazardous Materials Specialist

Sep 2020 - Mar 2022
Republic of Korea Army · South Korea

Served as a specialist in hazardous materials detection and military intelligence translation.

Education

Northeastern University Logo
PhD in Computer Science
Northeastern University · Boston, MA

Seeking HCI-driven research on online communities and AI-driven insights for workers.

2025 - Present
Northeastern University Logo
BS in Computer Science
Northeastern University · Boston, MA

Two gap years due to military service

Cum LaudeDean's List2018 - 2025

Advised by Saiph Savage