Conference Proceedings📜
[C9] Zinan Zhang, Qiurong Song, Xinning Gui, Junnan Yu, Sunhye Bai, and Yubo Kou. 2026. How Children Assess Digital Safety Risk in Gaming Platforms: A Case Study of Roblox. In Proceedings of the 2026 ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security, November 15–19, 2026, The Hague, Netherlands. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 15 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3830454.3846726 CCS 2026; acceptance rate: 15.8%
[C8] Zinan Zhang, Qiurong Song, Rie Helene (Lindy) Hernandez, Yunhan Liu, Elena Koung, Junnan Yu, Sunhye Bai, Yubo Kou, and Xinning Gui. 2026. Player Safety by Design: Co-Designing Child-Centered Safety Mechanisms with Children. In Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 1702, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3791090 CHI 2026; acceptance rate: 25.3%
[C7] Qiurong Song, Yunhan Liu, Zinan Zhang, Yubo Kou, and Xinning Gui. 2026. Surveillance as Care: Configuring Baby Monitors in the Home. In Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 272, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3791462 CHI 2026; acceptance rate: 25.3%
[C6] Elena Koung, Yunhan Liu, Zinan Zhang, Xinning Gui, and Yubo Kou. 2026. Teen Vigilance: Navigating Risky Social Interactions on Discord. In Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 1495, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3790781 CHI 2026; acceptance rate: 25.3%
[C5] Qiurong Song, Zinan Zhang, Rie Helene (Lindy) Hernandez, Xinning Gui, and Yubo Kou. How Predatory Monetization Designs Manifest in Child-Friendly Video Games. 2025. In Twenty First Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security, August 11-12, 2025, Seattle, WA, USA. https://www.usenix.org/conference/soups2025/presentation/song SOUPS 2025; acceptance rate: 19.1%
[C4] Zinan Zhang, Xinning Gui, Junnan Yu, Sunhye Bai, and Yubo Kou. 2025. Dangerous Playgrounds: Child Players’ Encounters with Design-Mediated Risks on User Generated Game Platforms and Their Safety Practices. In Interaction Design and Children, June 23–26, 2025, Reykjavik, Iceland. https://doi.org/10.1145/3713043.3728858 IDC 2025; overall acceptance rate: 30%
[C3] Renkai Ma, Zinan Zhang, Xinning Gui, and Yubo Kou. 2024. Labeling in the Dark: Exploring Content Creators’ and Consumers’ Experiences with Content Classification for Child Safety on YouTube. In Designing Interactive Systems Conference, July 01–05, 2024, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://doi.org/10.1145/3643834.3661565 DIS 2024; overall acceptance rate: 24%
[C2] Yubo Kou, Yingfan Zhou, Zinan Zhang, and Xinning Gui. 2024. The Ecology of Harmful Design: Risk and Safety of Game Making on a Metaverse Platform. In Designing Interactive Systems Conference, July 01–05, 2024, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://doi.org/10.1145/3643834.3660678 DIS 2024; overall acceptance rate: 24%
[C1] Yubo Kou, Renkai Ma, Zinan Zhang, Yingfan Zhou, and Xinning Gui. 2024. Community Begins Where Moderation Ends: Peer Support and Its Implications for Community-Based Rehabilitation. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, May 11–16, 2024, Honolulu, HI, USA. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642675 CHI 2024; acceptance rate: 26.4%
Journal Articles📜
[J6] Zinan Zhang, Sam Moradzadeh, Xinning Gui, and Yubo Kou. More Than Just Microtransactions: Predatory Monetization in User-Generated Games. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 9, 6, Article GAMES031. https://doi.org/10.1145/3748626 CHI PLAY 2025
[J5] Elena Koung, Zinan Zhang, Xinning Gui, and Yubo Kou. Gendered Toxicity in Competitive Gaming: Women’s Perceptions and Responses. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 9, 6, Article GAMES015. https://doi.org/10.1145/3748610 CHI PLAY 2025 *Honorable Mention Award* [Top 3%]
[J4] Sam Moradzadeh, Zinan Zhang, Xinning Gui, and Yubo Kou. 2025. The State of Video Game Research in Computer-Supported Cooperative Work – A Systematic Literature Review. Computer Supported Cooperative Work. 34, 587–638. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-025-09519-z JCSCW 2025
[J3] Zinan Zhang, Sam Moradzadeh, Andrew Woan, and Yubo Kou. 2024. Toxicity by Game Design: How Players Perceive the Influence of Game Design on Toxicity. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 8, CHI PLAY, Article 345. https://doi.org/10.1145/3677110 CHI PLAY 2024
[J2] Zinan Zhang, Sam Moradzadeh, Xinning Gui, and Yubo Kou. 2024. Harmful Design in User-Generated Games and its Ethical and Governance Challenges: An Investigation of Design Co-Ideation of Game Creators on Roblox. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 8, CHI PLAY, Article 311. https://doi.org/10.1145/3677076 CHI PLAY 2024 *Honorable Mention Award* [Top 5%]
[J1] Zinan Zhang and Yubo Kou. 2024. Casual Competition by Design: A Study of the All Random All Mid (ARAM) Mode in League of Legends. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 8, CSCW2, Article 453. https://doi.org/10.1145/3686992 CSCW 2024
Extended Abstracts and Workshop Papers📜
[E3] Zinan Zhang, Qiurong Song, Xinning Gui, and Yubo Kou. 2026. Surfacing Risky Game Design: A Multi-stakeholder Taxonomy for Understanding Safety Risks on Roblox. In Companion of the Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, October 10–14, 2026, Salt Lake City, UT, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 12 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3785651.3831509 CSCW Companion 2026
[E2] Guo Freeman, Julian Frommel, Regan L Mandryk, Jan Gugenheimer, Lingyuan Li, Daniel Johnson, Cecilia Aragon, Syed Ali Asif, Jakki Bailey, Meryem Barkallah, Braeden Burger, Sebastian Cmentowski, Jamie Hancock, Leanne Hides, Hongxin Hu, Yang Hu, Wangfan Li, Ruchi Panchanadikar, Niloofar Sayadi, Devin Tebbe, Leslie Wöhler, Xinyue You, Zinan Zhang, and Douglas Zytko. 2024. Understanding and Mitigating New Harms in Immersive and Embodied Virtual Spaces: A Speculative Dystopian Design Fiction Approach. In Companion Publication of the 2024 Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, November 9-13, 2024, San Jose, Costa Rica. https://doi.org/10.1145/3678884.3681865 CSCW Companion 2024
[E1] Zainab Agha, Zinan Zhang, Oluwatomisin Obajemu, Luke Shirley, and Pamela J. Wisniewski. 2022. A Case Study on User Experience Bootcamps with Teens to Co-Design Real-Time Online Safety Interventions. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts, April 29–May 05, 2022, New Orleans, LA, USA. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491101.3503563 CHI Extended Abstracts 2022
[W3] Zinan Zhang, Xinning Gui, Yubo Kou. Children's Online Safety Risks and Ethical Considerations in XR Games. Extended Reality and Children: Risks, Opportunities, and Ethics Workshop at IDC 2025. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.24601
[W2] Zinan Zhang, Xinning Gui, Yubo Kou. Understanding and Mitigating Harmful Design in User-Generated Virtual Worlds. Novel Approaches for Understanding and Mitigating Emerging New Harms in Immersive and Embodied Virtual Spaces Workshop at CHI 2024. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2405.05922
[W1] Zinan Zhang, Xinning Gui, Yubo Kou. Improving Family Co-Play Experiences through Family-Centered Design. Family Centered Design Workshop at CHI 2024. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2602.23596