Zhuoran (Elara) Liu

I am Elara Liu, a second-year M.S. student in Computer Science at Northwestern University, advised by Karan Ahuja and Haoqi Zhang. I previously earned dual B.S. degrees in Computer Science and Informatics from UC Irvine. I build end-to-end interactive systems—spanning interfaces, data pipelines, and evaluation—with a strong emphasis on user context, accessibility, and real-world constraints.

My research sits at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Health Informatics, and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). I study how human-centered intelligent systems can support collaborative decision-making in everyday health, especially when information is partial, values are contested, and stakes are high. My work centers on three directions: (i) making agentic AI systems transparent and value-aligned; (ii) helping patients and clinicians synthesize fragmented perspectives into shared understanding; and (iii) reducing the cognitive load of health technologies for users with diverse needs and levels of literacy.

Driven by a commitment to equity, I use mixed methods to design systems that support, rather than burden, vulnerable stakeholders. I will join Emory University as a PhD student in Computer Science and Informatics in Fall 2026.