This summer, my community-engaged research project took the unconventional form of a 10-week coding intensive, Duke's Code+ program. I worked with the University's Office of Information Technology and two volunteer-run college radio stations in North Carolina's Triangle: WXDU (Duke) and WXYC (UNC-Chapel Hill) with the primary goal of developing meaningful, accessible, and community-centered software solutions. Non-commercial radio stations remain rare bastions of independent music programming that meaningfully support and are sustained by local communities & music scenes, yet they increasingly face technological challenges and institutional neglect.

Our team took a participant-observer approach (we became radio DJs!) supplemented with semi-structured UI/UX (User Interface/User Experience) interviews with WXDU members in order to inform our software development over the summer and beyond. This research poster highlights our Code+ deliverables, while the complementary research essay explores my insights into the unique value of positionality in HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) research and the importance of accessibility in open-source software development.

I want to thank our Code+ Team Leads, Joe Ricci and Bendte Fagge, the Code+ Program Directors, Sheri Tibbs and Jen Vizas, our Code+ project stakeholders, Marc Loeffke (Computing Director, WXDU) and Jake Bromberg (Computing Director, WXYC), the Hart Leadership Program at Duke University, the Laidlaw Scholars Research and Leadership Program, and especially the wonderful DJs of WXDU for their enthusiastic support.