Bella Chen

Hi, My name is Bella Chen

I am a second-year PhD student in Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, admitted through the direct-entry PhD program. My research is in human-computer interaction (HCI), focusing on designing products that support creativity and holistic well-being. My co-supervisors are Prof. James Wallace of the Health+HCI Lab and Prof. Leah Zhang-Kennedy of the Safe Interactions Lab. My thesis-based project, which focuses on designing future brain-computer interfaces for children with ADHD, has been selected for the Academy of Research Commercialization Scholarship ($10,000 CAD) and the Velocity Outstanding Validation Award ($500 CAD). Read the news story.

I have served as a reviewer for computing conferences, including SOUPS ’24, SOUPS ’25, and DIS ’26.

I hold a Bachelor's degree in Product Design from Shandong University and have seven years of training in art and design. In 2022, I worked as a Research Intern at the Institute for AI Industry Research (AIR), Tsinghua University.

2024.09 – Present

University of Waterloo

PhD Thesis Project

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Designing Tangible Brain-Computer Interfaces for Children with ADHD

Human-Computer InteractionHealth

Neurofeedback is a promising method for attention training in children with ADHD. In this work, we developed a neurofeedback game called AttentionGo, incorporating creativity to enhance motivation. After consulting instructors, parents, and testing with ADHD children, the game demonstrated great potential for future design improvements.

Details

Turned the research into a startup, AttentionGo (Co-founder & CEO). Led the design of a brain-computer interface system consisting of an EEG headband, custom physical devices, and a parent app; led the team through rapid MVP iterations; admitted to the Accelerator Centre, Canada's top-ranked private incubator.
Independently recruited 18 families of children with ADHD, ran 33 participatory design workshops with children, and conducted parent interviews and surveys.
Analyzed workshop and interview data with reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) and proposed 7 child-centered design guidelines for brain-computer interfaces to guide prototype development.
Wrote a first-author paper, currently under review at CHI '27.

Publications

Chen An Bella et al. From Training to Understanding Attention: Co-Designing Neurofeedback with Children with ADHD. (Under Review, CHI '27)
Chen An Bella et al. AttentionGo: Designing Tangible Neurofeedback Tools for Children with ADHD through a Holistic Well-being Lens. (DIS WIP '26)

2023.06 – 2023.09

University of Waterloo

Research Intern, fully funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC)

Participant storyboards of smart home IoT concerns: hacks, tracking, and unreliability

NAO humanoid robot next to its motion-programming interface

Communicating Privacy through Stories, Comics, and Social Robots

Human-Computer InteractionPrivacy and SecurityArtificial Intelligence

PrivacyToon. Privacy concepts are abstract and hard to explain, so we built PrivacyToon, a comic-based authoring tool that uses concept-driven storytelling and ideation cards to help people create their own privacy stories. A study with 23 students and teachers showed its potential as a creative tool for communicating privacy.

Folk Tales of IoT. Building on the stories people share, we surveyed 263 participants about anecdotes that shaped their views of smart home IoT devices. Negative stories about security, privacy, and unreliability lowered trust and use, while positive stories about home safety and quality of life raised interest.

Child-Robot Privacy. With 38 parent-child dyads interacting with the NAO robot, we found that how likable, smart, and trustworthy children found the robot shaped their willingness to share secrets. Parents were more concerned about data collection, storage, and transfer, preferring supervised and transparent interactions.

Details

Developed interaction programs for the NAO robot in Python, implementing speech and motion control.
Conducted quantitative and qualitative analysis of 300+ survey responses; the results were published at CHI '25 (third author).

Publications

Zhang-Kennedy L, Valiquette M, Chen An Bella et al. Folk Tales of IoT: Understanding the Impact of Stories on Users' Positive and Negative Perceptions of Smart Home IoT Devices. (CHI '25)
Shin JJ, Hamdi A, Chen An Bella, Hu Y, Zhang-Kennedy L. Toward Safe Child-Robot Interactions: Exploring Children's and Parents' Privacy Perceptions of Humanoid Social Robots. (ICSR 2025, third author)

2022.06 – 2022.09

Institute for AI Industry Research (AIR), Tsinghua University

Research Assistant

Exploring the Design Space of a Technology-Mediated Calm-Down Corner

Human-Computer InteractionHealth

Preschool educators play a key role in helping children manage emotions, but it's challenging to track emotional changes and intervene for every child in a class. This study explores how technology can support educators using "calm-down corners" through interviews and co-design sessions with 22 preschool educators. The findings highlight challenges and provide design insights for future technology-enabled systems to aid emotion regulation.

Details

Recruited 15 participants, wrote the interview guide, and ran 7 participatory design workshops.
Analyzed interview transcripts with open coding; published a second-author paper at CHI EA '24.

Publication

Gao Jiasi, Chen An Bella et al. Not a Playroom, but a Passage: Exploring the Design Space of a Technology-Mediated Calm-Down Corner. (CHI EA '24)

2021.06 – 2023.09

Shandong University

Project Lead, National College Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program

fNIRS study setup comparing a video game and a physical game, with brain activation maps

Cognitive Effects of Different Interaction Modalities in Brain-Computer Interfaces

Human-Computer InteractionHealth

This study compares the effectiveness of video games (VG) and physical games (PG) in BCI-based attention training, using fNIRS to monitor brain activation. Results show PG activates more brain regions and intrinsic motivation than VG, with notable gender differences. These findings provide insights for designing more effective BCI-based rehabilitation games.

Details

Developed two brain-computer interface prototypes: an Arduino-based brain-controlled smart car (physical interaction) and a Unity3D cognitive training app (digital interaction).
Ran a 40-participant controlled experiment using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), finding that the physical interface produced significantly greater activation in attention-related brain regions than the digital one.
Independently completed the quantitative analysis and published a first-author paper in the SCI journal Neuroscience Letters.

Publication

Chen An Bella et al. Exploring the Effects of Different BCI-Based Attention Training Games on the Brain: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study. (Neuroscience Letters, 2024)

I'm also a designer!!!

My main focus is interaction design. I love designing all kinds of interactions, from screen-based to tangible and immersive experiences. My work also spans UI (user interface) design, VR (virtual reality) design, CI (Corporate Identity) design, VI (Visual Identity) design, and more. I independently handle every part of the process, from sketches, 3D modeling, and rendering to layout, rapid prototyping, and development.