✨ Hello! I’m Neilly (pronounced nee-lee).

I’m a 5th year PhD candidate studying Human Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) at the University of Washington (UW), advised by Dr. Sean Munson and Dr. Audrey Desjardins. My research is generously supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

I am a human-computer interaction (HCI) researcher who studies ethical and social issues in technology design — specifically regarding topics of privacy and surveillance with data and smart technologies. My work mainly focuses on the smart home camera (e.g. Amazon Ring), in which I use qualitative and design research methods to understand the privacy experiences of bystanders and marginalized user groups in order to design more equitable technology futures.

I have a MS in HCDE at UW. I also graduated from Brown University in 2018 with a BS in Cognitive Science, where spent a lot of time in the Human-Computer Interaction Lab and taking classes next door at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Outside of academia, I've worked at Meta researching user experiences with data privacy and security products. I enjoy drawing, playing bass guitar, and cooking Filipino food in my free time. You can find me on Twitter, add me on LinkedIn, or email me at nhtan (at) uw (dot) edu.

Here’s a link to my CV (Last updated: Oct 2022). Resume provided upon request.