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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs
@altoombs.bsky.social
370 followers 260 following 210 posts
🎮🎲🧶🏳️‍🌈🏃‍♂️📚💻 I play video and board games. I knit, crochet, and sew. I’m gay. I run marathons. I’m an Associate Professor at IU. I study technology-mediated relationships and communities through HCI, CSCW, and Social Computing approaches.
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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Feb 14
We wouldn’t have a stonewall page to talk about if it hadn’t been for people in the “T” part of LGBT.
aclu.org
ACLU @aclu.org · Feb 14
Erasing our history won't erase us.

Transgender people have always been here — and we always will be.
U.S. Park Service Strikes Transgender References From Stonewall Website
The “T” was removed in references to L.G.B.T.Q.+ on the official site for the Greenwich Village monument, which marks a milestone in the fight for gay rights. Later, the Q+ also disappeared.
www.nytimes.com
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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · 4d
I don’t know what’s normal. I think, according to PCS, I did 41 reviews over the last 12 months. It’s hard to know for sure.
altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Aug 26
Happy first day of the 2025-26 school year! (I didn’t teach yesterday so today counts)
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Aug 13
Since I'll be an AC, you don't have to worry about spoiling your potential reviewer pool
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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Aug 13
Academic friends prepping for the CHI deadline: I am happy to give some big-picture pre-review feedback if you could use it! I can probably do this for three-ish papers (maybe two papers where I would be considered an expert of some kind and one paper on a topic I'd just be an everyday reader)
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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Aug 3
Trump has tried quite a few things to try to distract us, but none of them are working. Some things he should try next, which could totally work: universal healthcare, pro-earth climate change policies, federal decriminalization + legalization of certain substances, prison reform… I’d be distracted!
Reposted by Austin Toombs
espiers.bsky.social
Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · Aug 1
Me three months ago:
espiers.bsky.social
Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · Apr 17
My prediction is that in that scenario, he blames the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which puts out employment data. Calls them corrupt, run by Democrats, out to get him. Fires people there, insists their numbers cannot be trusted, White House puts out its own fictitious data to make Trump look good
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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 30
Thankful for my co-authors, Paul Parsons, Colin Gray (@graydesign.bsky.social), Jenny El-Shamy, and Anastasia Ostrowski <3
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 30
Our #educhi2025 papers are available now! Also, the conference has just started (today is the pedagogy workshop educhi2025.educhi.org). I'm excited about my paper, which is about using amoeba drawings to encourage sketching and prototyping within ambiguous problem spaces dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
The Ambiguity Amoeba and other Metaphors: Teaching Students to Sketch and Prototype Through Uncertainty | Proceedings of the 7th Annual Symposium on HCI Education
dl.acm.org
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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 28
You can tell I turned 37 today because I watched a full ad about a nonstick pan, followed the link to the website, and got really excited to read about how it works because I’m tired of my eggs sticking. I bought it. When it comes it will be like my birthday all over again!
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 15
Have a wild idea? A messy problem? Or just something you’ve been meaning to get to?

Let’s see if our students can help. Reach out anytime!
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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 15
Examples:
- Students generated design ideas for consolidating and improving a chatbot ecosystem.
- A local candle company reimagined their e-commerce experience, allowing customers to shop based on scent profiles.
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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 15
3. You’re seeking design inspiration.
Sometimes, all you need is a fresh perspective. Students can help explore “what if” scenarios and provide design concepts to spark new directions.
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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 15
Examples:
- A language learning researcher worked with students to turn study findings into an educational game about making sushi and learning Japanese.
- Multiple companies worked with student teams to streamline clunky internal dashboards that had evolved without coordinated design oversight.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 15
2. You’ve got back-burner projects that need attention.

Our students can help you push forward those “nice-to-have” projects that never make it to the top of your list.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 15
Examples:
- A startup drone company working with fire departments partnered with our students to explore interface designs to help drone operators collaborate with first responders.
- Students helped a travel company explore how influencers and content creators could help drive customer engagement.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 15
1. You’re facing a UX challenge, but don’t know where to start.

Maybe you’ve spotted an opportunity to improve the user experience of a product or service, but aren’t sure how to move forward. Our students can help reframe the problem, design interventions, and clarify tradeoffs between solutions.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 15
Wondering if your team could work with our HCI/d students? In this thread I'll list some project types that have worked well in past semesters to spark ideas.
altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jun 20
I’m teaching the “HCI/d Studio Practice” course next semester. We pair industry partners with student groups that include first and second year Master’s HCI/d students. If you know someone interested in working with a group of students next semester, let me know! More details: lnkd.in/gqUshj6C
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 7
Let’s all remember that our conferences are attended by people who speak many languages. Your presentation is a chance to explain your research as clearly as possible. It is not the time to try to show off your vocabulary, which is likely inaccessible to many in the room.
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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 4
Heyyyyy, so when we pick destinations with low flight connectivity for our conferences, any kind of travel delay snowballs. All the Newark stuff from last night has me getting to the conference 36 hours later than planned. I’ll be missing the workshop I was going to be a full day early for. #DIS2025
a woman says maybe this is a nightmare nope , can 't fly away . this is real life .
ALT: a woman says maybe this is a nightmare nope , can 't fly away . this is real life .
media.tenor.com
altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 3
I know I’m a bit biased, since @graydesign.bsky.social is an author, but I’m legitimately excited to read this. I’m talking myself out of bringing it to DIS with me, but I’m going to try to tackle this before EduCHI. studioproperties.org #studioProperties #studioPedagogy #prettyBooks
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Reposted by Austin Toombs
nastynatasha--1.bsky.social
Natasha @nastynatasha--1.bsky.social · Jul 1
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altoombs.bsky.social
Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jul 1
Don’t tell the republicans, but I used part of my sick day to turn this Totally Straight* SuperDry tank top into a SuperGay one.

*I don’t get all the credit. Tank tops are already pretty gay. It didn’t take much convincing.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jun 29
What. A. Nerd.
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jun 20
Project types and sponsor involvement is flexible. If you have some research or design back-burner problems at work that could use a push, those tend to make great projects! Feel free to reach out with any questions #hci #ux #interactiondesign #design #experientiallearning #hcieducation
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Austin Toombs @altoombs.bsky.social · Jun 20
I’m teaching the “HCI/d Studio Practice” course next semester. We pair industry partners with student groups that include first and second year Master’s HCI/d students. If you know someone interested in working with a group of students next semester, let me know! More details: lnkd.in/gqUshj6C
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
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