👋🏼 I'm an HCI researcher at the intersection of technology, behavior, and health.

PhD Candidate in Health Informatics at the University of Michigan School of Information

Soo Ji Serisse Choi
soojc@umich.edu
Portrait of Soo Ji Serisse Choi

About Me

I am currently a Ph.D. candidate studying health informatics at the School of Information, University of Michigan. Co-advised by Dr. Mark W. Newman and Dr. Pedja Klasnja, I study how mobile health (mHealth) technologies can help people build a healthy and positive relationship with health behaviors for sustainable behavior change.

Research Focus

I study how mobile health (mHealth) technologies can support people in building healthy and sustainable relationships with behaviors like physical activity, especially among middle-aged and older adults. By integrating insights from behavioral psychology with human-centered design, my work aims to understand the underlying mechanisms that drive lasting change, such as intrinsic motivation, and create interventions that are both effective and adaptive to users' dynamic and personal needs. My goal is to bridge the fields of HCI and behavioral medicine, designing solutions that empower individuals to make lasting, meaningful changes in their everyday lives.

Keywords

Human-centered Design (HCD), User Experience (UX), Long-term Behavior Change, Physical Activity, Intrinsic Motivation, Affective associations and Beliefs, Identity and Values, Personalized and Adaptive Interventions

Related Fields

mobile Health (mHealth), Human-computer Interaction (HCI), Behavioral Science and Psychology, Personal Health Informatics, Preventive Medicine, Digital Therapeutics (DTx)

Research Methods

Needs Assessments and Interviews, Participatory Designs and Co-designs, Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), Factorial Designs, Just-in-time Adaptive Interventions (JITAIs), Micro-randomized Trials (MRT)

Selected Publications

Journal Article

Improving Affective Associations with Physical Activity via Message-Based Mobile Health Interventions: A Proof-of-Concept Trial of the WalkToJoy Intervention

First author, JMIR • Published August 2025

Choi, S. J. S., Hung, P. Y., Liu, M., Dempsey, W., Newman, M. W., & Klasnja, P. (2025). Improving Affective Associations With Physical Activity via a Message-Based mHealth Intervention (WalkToJoy): Proof-of-Concept Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 27, e75792.

Journal Article

Evaluating An mHealth Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention (JITAI) For Managing Hypertension: Findings On Dynamic Shifts In User Needs And Perceived Value Of Intervention Support

First author • Pre-submission

Master's Thesis

Improving affective valuations of physical activity with mobile technology: A protocol for a hybrid factorial/micro-randomized trial

First author • Submitted August 2022

Choi, S. J. (2022). Improving affective valuations of physical activity with mobile technology: A protocol for a hybrid factorial/micro-randomized trial. Deep Blue. https://dx.doi.org/10.7302/5862

Journal Article

A Physical Activity Just-in-time Adaptive Intervention Designed in Partnership With a Predominantly Black Community: Virtual, Community-Based Participatory Design

Co-author, JMIR Formative Research • Published March 2022

Robles, M. C., Newman, M. W., Doshi, A., Bailey, S., Huang, L., Choi, S. J., ... & Skolarus, L. E. (2022). A Physical Activity Just-in-time Adaptive Intervention Designed in Partnership With a Predominantly Black Community: Virtual, Community-Based Participatory Design Approach. JMIR Formative Research, 6(3), e33087.

Journal Article

Evaluation of Visual Induced Motion Sickness from Head Mounted Display using Heartbeat Evoked Potential: A Cognitive Load-Focused Approach

Co-author, Virtual Reality • Published December 2021

Park, S., Kim, L., Kwon, J., Choi S. J., & Whang M. (2021). Evaluation of visual-induced motion sickness from head-mounted display using heartbeat evoked potential: a cognitive load-focused approach. Virtual Reality. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-021-00600-8

Patent

Method and apparatus for measuring emotional contagion

Co-inventor • Published December 2021

Park, S. I., Whang, M. C., Choi, S. J., Lee, D. W., & Mun, S. C. (2021). U.S. Patent Application No. 16/906,791.

Journal Article

Measurement of emotional contagion using synchronization of heart rhythm pattern between two persons: Application to sales managers and sales force synchronization

Second Author, Journal of Physiology & Behavior • Published March 2019

Park, S., Choi, S. J., Mun, S., & Whang, M. (2019). Measurement of emotional contagion using synchronization of heart rhythm pattern between two persons: Application to sales managers and sales force synchronization. Physiology & behavior, 200, 148-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.04.022

Conference Presentation

Development of 'LightMeCup' prototypes using entry-level 3D printers

First Author, HCI Korea 2019 Conference • Presented January 2019

Choi, S. J., Lee, S., & Won, M. (2019). Development of 'LightMeCup' prototypes using entry-level 3D printers. HCI Korea 2019 Conference of the HCI Society of Korea (pp. 932-937).

Recent Projects

2025 - Ongoing

Walk2Joy 2.0. Improving Affective Associations and Identity with Physical Activity for Middle-aged to Older Adults with an Adaptive mHealth Intervention. MRT Study.

In preparation
2025 - Ongoing

MOVIN-HF. MObile health intervention to INcrease activity in Heart Failure. Human-Centered Design Study.

NHLBI (NIH) Grant Funded
2024 - Ongoing

ADAPT. A mHealth Physical Activity Intervention for Cardiac Rehab Patients. A Formative Study, and A Micro-Randomized Trial.

NIH Grant Funded
2024 - Ongoing

myBPmyLife2. A mHealth, Multi-behavioral JITAI Intervention for Managing Medication Adherence for Hypertension Management.

Part of the WIRED-L Center, AHA funded
2021 - 2024

myBPmyLife. A mHealth, Multi-behavioral JITAI Intervention for Hypertension Management. A Participatory Design, RCT with embedded MRT Study.

Part of the WIRED-L Center, AHA funded
2021 - 2024

WalkToJoy. Improving Affective Associations with Physical Activity with Message-based mHealth Intervention: An Intrinsic Approach to Behavior Change. Proof-of-concept Study.

Funded by the School of Information, University of Michigan