I'm Ziwei (Annika) Gao

Publications

Academic Papers

• Ruggeri, & Gao, Z., & Garcia-Garzon, E. 2022. The Globalizability of Temporal Discounting. Nature Human Behaviour 6 (10), 1386 -1397. [link]
• Gao, Z. 2023. Personalizing Time Loss Aversion to Reduce Social Media Use. Proceedings of the 31st ACM Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization 78-84. [link]
• Gao, Z. 2023. Time Loss Aversion. Conference Paper. International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, 571-577. [link]
• Rogers, P.J., & Gao, Z., & Brunstrom, J.M. 2024. Evidence that Energy-to-satiety Ratio and Taste, but not NOVA Level of Processing Are Determinants of Food Liking and Reward Value. Appetite, 193, 107124. [link]
• Gao, Z. (2024). Why does AI companionship go wrong? The International Review of Information Ethics, 34(1). [link]

Workshop Papers

• Gao, Z.& Dong,Y 2024. Trust Dynamics in Clinical Adoption of AI-Enabled Mental Health Chatbots: Bridging User and Clinician Perspectives, Paper for Workshop in Building Trust in CUIs From Design to Deployment , CHI-24 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Honolulu.

• Gao, Z. Time Based Addiction. Paper for Workshop in Behaviour Design in Video Games, CHI-23 conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Hamburg

Education

• MRes in Design Engineering Research

  Imperial College London

  Key Modules: Modelling and Simulation; Design Engineering Practice; Foundational Transdisciplinary Research Methods.

  Sept. 2024 - Present
• MSc in Behaviour Change

  University College London

  High Merit (68)

  Key Modules: Epidemic Statistics; Digital Health in HCI; Game Theory; Behavioural Science Intervention Design; Interdisciplinary Research Methods.

  Sept. 2021 - Sept. 2022
• BSc in Psychology

  University of Bristol

  Second Class with First Division (68)

  Key Modules: Clinical Psychology; Statistics; Experimental Methodology; Nutrition; Genetics.

  Sept. 2018 - Jul. 2021

Experience

• Researcher

  Time-based Loss Aversion: A Novel Behaviour Change Intervention

  Centre of Behaviour Change/Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy

  Jan. 2022 – Oct. 2022
  • Worked with Prof. Magda Osman to develop a novel intervention that combined loss aversion and gamification to reduce social media usage.
  • The intervention turned out to reduce social media usage effectively and increased people's willingness to engage in other activities.
• Research Lead for Singapore

  The Globalizability of Temporal Discounting

  Columbia University/National University Singapore

  Jul. 2021 – Nov. 2021
  • Led the Singapore team in an international research project on financial choices and inequality.
  • Conducted a decision-making study on more than 13,000 people.
• Researcher & Program Manager

  Development and Mechanisms of Delay of Gratification

  Junior Researcher Programme

  Jul. 2021 – Nov. 2021
  • Contributed to design of a remote global multi-country study examining the development of delayed gratification, its mechanisms and its relationships to health outcomes in children.
  • Set-up recruitment procedures in China for 40 five to nine years old children.
• UX Summer Schooler

  Cowry Consulting (London, UK)

  2023
  • Worked on applying behaviourally-informed design to product development for SoundCloud.
  • The home screen content and subscription persuasion was redesigned, which was adopted by SoundCloud and resulted in a business partnership with cowry.
• Behavioural Science Researcher Intern

  BeHive Consulting (Budapest, Hungary)

  Apr. 2023 – Jul. 2023
  • Identified behavioural insights and solutions for client business and addressed product-related problems
  • Worked with WHO to identify behavioural insights to tackle alcohol overconsumption.
• Research Advisor

  DIGI & WELLSPENT (London, UK)

  2023
  • Adviced two startups using behavioural insights from my research on time loss aversion, aimed at promoting digital well-being and self-control on mobile usage.
  • The stack user interact which I designed is current helping 17, 600 (users) in estimate.
• Medical Intern, Clinical Psychology Department

  Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine (Shanghai, China)

  Jul. 2023 – Aug.2023
  • Shadowed doctors during consultations and assisted them in diagnosis and decision-making
  • Shadowed senior psychiatrists in the process of evaluating drugs employing advanced methods
• Behavioural Science Consultant

  Duoyue Charity (Shanghai, China)

  2022
  • Collaborated with the GLG Social Impact Partners Programme.
  • Designed an educational intervention based on behavioural insights aimed at helping children of ethnic minority to improve their confidence and skills in reading comprehension and written communication.
  • Established new intervention strategies for Chinese language teaching.

Master's Projects

Window Pass

An app providing window period help for people who worries about potential Chlamydia infection

Watch Video

Time Loss Aversion

Research Poster Presented for HCII (Human Computer Interaction International Conference) 2023

Watch Video

Skills

• Data Analysis:
  • R
  • Python
  • SPSS
  • NVivo
• UX Design:
  • Figma
  • Sketch
• Machine Learning:
  • Temporal and Sequential Models
  • Causal Inferences
  • Structural Equation Modelling
  • Clustering
  • Supervised Methods
  • Computer Content Analysis
• Statistics [Quantitative]
  • Regression Models
  • ANOVA
  • T-test
  • AB testing
• Statistics [Qualitative]
  • Sentiment Analysis
  • Topic Modelling
  • Text data preprocessing

Awards

• The Anne Seagrim Accommodation Scholarship Department Nomination

  Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London

  2024