CAREER: Safety by Design: Protecting Adolescents from Online Risks

NSF Award Search · 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT · $550,000 · view on nsf.gov ↗

Abstract

This project will investigate the mechanisms by which a critical gap in adolescent online safety technologies can be closed by leveraging interaction design as a means to minimize online risks, and thus to optimize the benefits internet-enabled technologies provide to youth. To do this, the work will: (1) develop novel insights as to how teens experience online risks, (2) identify the mechanisms by which teens seek support to cope with these experiences, (3) translate these insights into reusable design patterns for sociotechnical interventions for online safety, (4) work directly with teens to co-design solutions that promote self-regulation and leverage their support networks, (5) instantiate these designs into high-fidelity prototypes and real-world applications, (6) evaluate whether these solutions are developmentally appropriate in helping adolescents manage online risks more effectively, and (7) disseminate these evidence-based sociotechnical interventions for protecting adolescents from online risks to designers and developers of online platforms that cater to teens. This work serves to protect particularly vulnerable youth populations that are at highest risk of severe harm because they lack active online parental mediation. The research integrates adolescent developmental psychology with interaction design and computer science to create new knowledge, theoretical frameworks, reusable design patterns, and technologies. It uses a social ecological framework of adol

Key facts

NSF award ID
2550812
Awardee
International Computer Science Institute (CA)
SAM.gov UEI
GSRMP1QCXU74
PI
Pamela J Wisniewski
Primary program
01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
All programs
CAREER-Faculty Erly Career Dev, Cyber-Human Systems
Estimated total
$550,000
Funds obligated
$461,313
Transaction type
Continuing Grant
Period
09/15/2025 → 05/31/2027