Mike Massimi, M.Sc.

Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Computer Science
University of Toronto
mikem [at] dgp [dot] toronto [dot] edu

Bio

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto (where I also received my Master's degree in 2007). My advisor is Dr. Ron Baecker . I am a member of the Laboratory for Technologies for Aging Gracefully (or TAGLab), and an alumnus of the HCTP interdisciplinary doctoral fellowship program.

My research examines the technological problems and opportunities associated with the end of the human lifespan. My thesis work is examining how to design and build technologies which accomodate the unique needs of bereaved parents. I am also interested in attendant methodological issues associated with the design and evaluation of such "thanatosensitive" technologies -- that is, technologies which address mortality, dying and death as part of their design concept.

News

Check out one of the first venues to examine HCI issues at the end of the lifespan: HCI at the End of Life workshop. Held at CHI 2010.
My thesis work mentioned on the CACM blog!
Going to CHI 2010? Check out my paper presentation on Technology Opportunities for the Bereaved! (Nominated for a best paper award!)

Publications

Journal Articles

Massimi, M., Truong, K., Dearman, D., & Hayes, G. (2010). Understanding recording technologies in everyday life. To appear in IEEE Pervasive Computing.
Charise, A., Witteman, H., Whyte, S., Sutton, E., Massimi, M., Stephens, L., Bender, J., Evans, J., Logie, C., Mirza, R., & Elf, M. (2009 - under review). An interdisciplinary conceptual framework for identifying contextual factors affecting health decision-making. Submitted to Health Expectations, February 2009.
Massimi, M., Berry, E., Browne, G., Smyth, G., Watson, P., & Baecker, R.M. (2008). An exploratory case study of the impact of ambient biographical displays on identity in a patient with Alzheimer's disease. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation 18(5/6), 742-765. [PDF]
Massimi, M., Ganoe, C., & Carroll, J. M. (2007). Scavenger hunt - An empirical tool for collaborative mobile problem-solving. IEEE Pervasive Computing, 6(1), 81-87. [PDF]

Refereed Conference Papers

Massimi, M. & Baecker, R. (2010). A death in the family: Opportunities for designing technologies for the bereaved. Proc. CHI 2010, to appear. (Best paper award nomination) [PDF]
Massimi, M. & Charise, A. (2009). Dying, death, and mortality: Towards thanatosensitivity in HCI. Proc. CHI 2009 Extended Abstracts, 2459-2468. [PDF] [ACM].
Sellen, K., Massimi, M., Lottridge, D., Bittle, S., & Truong, K. (2009). The People-Prototype problem: Understanding the interaction between prototype format and user group. Proc. CHI 2009, 635-638. [ACM]
Cao, X., Massimi, M., & Balakrishnan, R. (2008). Flashlight jigsaw: An exploratory study of an ad-hoc multi-player game on public displays. Proc. CSCW 2008, 77-86. [ACM]
Wu, M., Birnholtz, J., Richards, B., Baecker, R., & Massimi, M. (2008). Collaborating to remember: A distributed cognition account of families coping with memory impairments. Proc. CHI 2008, 825-834. [ACM]
Massimi, M., Baecker, R., & Wu, M. (2007). Using participatory activities with seniors to critique, build, and evaluate mobile phones. Proc. ASSETS, 2007, 155-162. [PDF]
Massimi, M. (2007). Mobile phones as memory aid vehicles for seniors. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Technology and Aging. [PDF]
Wolz, U., Massimi, M., & Tarn, E. (2004). rMUSIC - A collaborative music DJ for ad hoc networks. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Web Delivering of Music (Wedelmusic '04), Barcelona, Spain, 144-150. [PDF]

Book Articles & Chapters

Massimi, M. and Baecker, R. (2008). An empirical study of seniors' perceptions of mobile phones as memory aids. In Mihailidis, A., Boger, J., Kautz, H., and Normie, L. (Eds.), Technology and Aging (pp. 59-66). Amsterdam: IOS Press. [PDF]
Massimi, M., Ganoe, C., & Carroll, J. M. (2007). A game-based methodology for prototype evaluation of collaborative mobile applications. In Tarniar, D. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Mobile Computing and Commerce (pp. 291-295). Hershey, PA: Idea Group. [PDF]

Theses

Massimi, M. (2007). Participatory design of mobile phone software for seniors. Unpublished Master's thesis, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [PDF]

Refereed Posters

Baecker, R., Fenwick, K., Massimi, M., Black, S., Rochon, E., Ryan, D. (2009). Cell phone software to aid senior citizens in recalling names. Proc. 19th IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics.
Fenwick, K., Massimi, M., Baecker, R., Black, S., Tonon, K., Munteanu, C., Rochon, E., & Ryan, D. (2009). Cell phone software aiding name recall. Proc. CHI 2009 Extended Abstracts, 4279-4284. [ACM] [PDF]
Chiu, T. & Massimi, M. (2006). A digital support device designed to help family caregivers coordinate, communicate and plan the care of people with brain injury. American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) 2006 Annual Symposium Proceedings, Washington, DC, 884. [PDF]
Chiu, T. & Massimi, M. (2006). User-centred design of a digital knowledge medium to support family caregivers of brain injury survivors. Abstracts Book, 11th World Conference on Internet in Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, 32. [PDF]
Massimi, M. & Wolz, U. (2003). Peer-to-peer policy management system for wearable mobile devices. Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Wearable Computing (ISWC '03), White Plains, New York, 246-247. [PDF]

Doctoral Consortia

Massimi, M. (2010). Thanatosensitively designed technologies for bereavement support. Proc. CHI 2010 Companion Materials, to appear. [PDF]
Massimi, M. (2010). Technologies for supporting bereaved families. Proc. CSCW Companion Materials, 521-522. [PDF]

Workshop Papers

Massimi, M. & Baecker, R. (2008). Sharing personal identities in family contexts. Position paper for CSCW 2008 Workshop on Designing for Families. [PDF]
Massimi, M. (2006). A context-aware mobile phone for remembering names and faces. Position paper for CHI 2006 Workshop on Designing Technology for People with Cognitive Impairments. [PDF]
Massimi, M. & Baecker, R. (2006). Participatory design process with older users. Position paper for Ubicomp 2006 Workshop on future networked interactive media systems and services for the new-senior communities. [PDF]

Student Posters

Massimi, M. & Tarn, E. (2004). Mathematical models governing dynamic user-driven resource allocation. Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 19(5), 300-301.

Invited Talks

Massimi, M. (2009). Does not compute: Five tips for the care and feeding of the technologist on your team. Health Care, Technology, and Place Annual Workshop, March 27, 2009.
Charise, A. & Massimi, M. (2009). Memento mori: Designing for death in human-computer interaction. Health Care, Technology, and Place Annual Workshop, March 27, 2009.
Massimi, M. Ubiquitous computing approaches to cognitive rehabilitation. (2007). Health Care, Technology, and Place Seminar Series at the University of Toronto, October 3, 2007.
Wolz, U., Massimi, M., Tarn, E., Weinman, S., & Babinski, P. (2004). rMUSIC: A System for Collaborative Construction of a Media Event/Collaborative Decision Making through Database Annotation. New Media Center Online Conference on Social Computing, November, 2004.