Trained as a computer scientist and visual artist, I use design to create artifacts that empower marginalized individuals and communities while advancing scholarly conversations about the technical and ethical aspects of building interactive systems.
Accessible Data Visualization
I partner with blind collaborators and study participants to co-design novel interfaces for non-visual data exploration.
These interfaces support the autonomy and agency of blind users to conduct self-guided data analysis and help them establish common ground with sighted users with shared spatial data metaphors.
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publications
2022.
Rich Screen Reader Experiences for Accessible Data Visualization.
Jonathan Zong*, Crystal Lee*, Alan Lundgard*, JiWoong Jang, Daniel Hajas, Arvind Satyanarayan.
Computer Graphics Forum (EuroVis).
Best Paper Honorable Mention
Workshops, Conferences, Posters, and Demos
2022.
Olli: An Extensible Visualization Library for Screen Reader Accessibility.
Matt Blanco, Jonathan Zong, Arvind Satyanarayan.
IEEE VIS Posters.
Talks & Presentations
Invited Talks
2022. Designing Data Representations for Embodiment and Refusal. Information Science Seminar, Cornell University.
2022.
Rich Screen Reader Experiences for Accessible Data Visualization
HackNY Fellowship Speaker Series
Design for Assistive Technology, MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute
DiverseAbilities Employee Resource Group, New York Department of Transportation
Interactive Visualization Tools and Abstractions
I design languages and interfaces that allow users to move between static, interactive, and animated data representations, and engage in real-time collaboration.
These tools help users rapidly conduct data exploration using a broad set of spatial and temporal visualization techniques.
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publications
2022.
Animated Vega-Lite: Unifying Animation with a Grammar of Interactive Graphics.
Jonathan Zong*, Josh Pollock*, Dylan Wootton, Arvind Satyanarayan.
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (IEEE VIS).
2020.
Representing Real-Time Multi-User Collaboration in Visualizations.
Rupayan Neogy, Jonathan Zong, Arvind Satyanarayan.
IEEE Visualization Conference (VIS).
2020.
Lyra 2: Designing Interactive Visualizations by Demonstration.
Jonathan Zong, Dhiraj Barnwal, Rupayan Neogy, Arvind Satyanarayan.
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (IEEE VIS).
Workshops, Conferences, Posters, and Demos
2021.
Design Spaces of Domain-Specific Languages: Comparing and Contrasting Approaches in PL and HCI.
Jonathan Zong*, Josh Pollock*, Dylan Wootton, Arvind Satyanarayan.
PLATEAU Workshop on the Intersection of HCI and PL.
2020.
Lyra: An Interface for Designing Interactive Visualizations.
Jonathan Zong, Dhiraj Barnwal, Rupayan Neogy, Arvind Satyanarayan.
Computation + Journalism Symposium.
Talks & Presentations
Invited Talks
2020. Layered Abstractions for Interactive Visualization Design. Digital Structures Group, MIT Department of Architecture.
Systems and Frameworks for Data Consent and Refusal
I design software that protects the autonomy of research participants online, and develop frameworks to support designers and activists in refusing large-scale data collection by powerful actors.
Bringing together methods from design, empirical social science, and feminist moral philosophy, I develop ideas about consent and refusal by putting theory in conversation with practices that matter to people’s lives.
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Magazine Articles
2020.
From Individual Consent to Collective Refusal.
Jonathan Zong.
ACM XRDS (Crossroads).
Workshops, Conferences, Posters, and Demos
2020. Collective Refusal and the Limits of Informed Consent for Data Protection. Jonathan Zong, J. Nathan Matias. Data & Society Contested Data Workshop.
2018.
Automated Debriefing: Interface for Large-Scale Research Ethics.
Jonathan Zong, J. Nathan Matias.
Companion of the 2018 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing.
Best Demo Award
Theses
Talks & Presentations
Invited Talks
2022. Designing Research Ethics Systems. Accountable Algorithms Reading Group, Northeastern University.
2018.
Public Accountability in Research Ethics.
CivilServant Research Summit, MIT Media Lab.
Conference Talks
Visual Art on Algorithm Visibility and Embodiment
As a visual artist and critical computing scholar-practitioner, I explore the possibility of combining art and computation to open up space for contingency, embodied knowledge, and exploring speculation as a mode of intervention.
My work often starts from the body as a contested site of control, exploring the way people are asked to conform their bodies to oppressive systems.