Research at the Human-Centered Innovation Research (HCIR) Team

The Human-Centered Innovation Research (HCIR) Team, directed by Dr. Will Zhao at the University of Waterloo, investigates innovation through a multidisciplinary lens. Situated at the intersection of the social sciences, engineering, and the arts, the team addresses pressing innovation challenges that require insights beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. Its work is guided by a central question: How can innovation become more responsive to human needs, cultural contexts, and institutional complexity?

HCIR’s approach rests on the premise that innovation is not only a technical process, but also a deeply social, symbolic, and institutional phenomenon. With this perspective, the team conducts research that bridges theory and practice, contributing to both academic discourse and applied decision-making across sectors such as the arts, education, healthcare, and business. Across all its projects, HCIR foregrounds human experience and well-being as foundational to meaningful innovation.

Our Research Themes

Our research is organized around three interconnected themes of innovation:

​​​​​​Organizational Dimensions of Innovation

  • This stream investigates how organizational structures, institutional dynamics, and everyday practices shape the emergence, diffusion, and institutionalization of innovation. Drawing on organization theory, institutional analysis, and entrepreneurship research, the team explores how innovation ecosystems are created and sustained across public, private, and nonprofit settings. Particular attention is paid to cross-sectoral learning—how insights from one domain (e.g., arts) can inform innovation practices in another (e.g., education or healthcare).

Emerging Technology Governance

  • In an era of rapidly advancing technologies, governance structures often struggle to keep pace. This stream investigates the ethical and regulatory dimensions of emerging technologies, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence, algorithmic systems, and data infrastructures. It also explores how societal discourses around innovation—such as narratives of efficiency, disruption, or empowerment—shape how technologies are legitimized and implemented. By engaging policymakers, organizational leaders, scientists, and technologists, the team develops governance frameworks that are inclusive, anticipatory, and culturally attuned.

Applied Engineering in AI and XR

  • This stream of research centers on the design and evaluation of human-centered applications of artificial intelligence and extended reality. Beginning with applications in business and industry, this work increasingly informs innovation in the arts, education, and healthcare. Through experimental prototyping and field-based studies, the team explores how immersive and adaptive technologies can promote engagement, enrich experience, and support well-being.

Our Approaches

The team grounds its work in methodological diversity and theoretical integration. Drawing from the social sciences, engineering, and the arts, we employ qualitative, quantitative, and computational methods to examine how innovation is imagined, enacted, and governed. This pluralistic orientation allows us to engage deeply with both the structural dynamics and lived experiences of innovation. Our core methodological tools include: Linguistic and semiotic analysis; AI-powered analytics; Multimodal, embodied, and movement-based analysis; Arts-informed and speculative research methods.

Collaboration is foundational to HCIR’s work. The team partners with diverse stakeholders to co-develop meaningful, context-aware innovation research. Its network includes artists, educators, engineers, healthcare practitioners, business leaders, and community advocates. These collaborations are epistemic, not just instrumental: they shape how research questions are asked, how methods are selected, and how results are interpreted. HCIR views sustained dialogue across disciplinary languages, professional identities, and institutional settings as essential for cultivating innovations that are not only technically sound but also culturally resonant.

Get in Touch

The HCIR team conducts research across the University of Waterloo’s Stratford and main Waterloo campuses. For inquiries related to research collaborations, visiting appointments, postdoctoral supervision, and industry and community collaborations, please contact Dr. Will Zhao at wwzhao[at]uwaterloo.ca.