My name is Kathrin Figl. I am a tenured Full Professor of Human-Centered Design of Information Systems at the Department of Information Systems, Production and Logistics Management at the University of Innsbruck. I hold a venia legendi (habilitation) in Information Systems (Wirtschaftsinformatik) from WU – Vienna University of Economics and Business, where I have previously worked as an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Information Systems and New Media.
Prior to that, I worked at the University of Vienna in the Business Information Systems department as well as in the department of Research Methodology and Differential Psychology. I was also a visiting research fellow with the Business Process Management group at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), in Brisbane, Australia.
I received my doctoral degree in Information Systems (with honors and awarded the Dr. Maria Schaumayer Prize) and two master’s degrees—in Information Systems and Psychology, both with honors—from the University of Vienna.
Research Interests
My primary research area is the human-centered design of information systems. My current research agenda focuses on:
- 🎯 Online persuasion and manipulation (e.g., dark patterns, digital nudging through interface design)
- 📰 Fake news, deepfakes, and misinformation on social media
- 📱 Negative effects of smartphones on cognition and learning
- 🤖 Human–algorithm interaction (e.g., trust in algorithms, algorithm aversion)
- ⚙️ Algorithmic management
Research Methods
🔬Controlled experiments · 👁️ Eye-tracking · 📊 Surveys & behavioral data
Contact and Collaboration
Please feel free to contact me regarding:
- Media inquiries related to my research topics
- PhD or postdoctoral supervision opportunities
- Collaborative research projects or joint funding proposals
Selected Publications
My work has been published in leading journals, including:
- European Journal of Information Systems
- Journal of Management Information Systems
- Journal of the Association for Information Systems
- Decision Support Systems
- Information & Management
- Business & Information Systems Engineering
- Requirements Engineering
- AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction
- International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
- Computers in Human Behavior
- Behaviour & Information Technology
I have also published extensively in top-tier conference proceedings, such as the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) and the European Conference of Information Systems (ECIS).
Three of my papers have received Best Paper Awards at international conferences, including the ACM Software Product Line Conference, the International Conference on e-Learning, and the World Conference on Educational Media & Technology.
Selected Research Highlights
The Austrian newspaper Die Presse has featured my research on questions such as: Do we think more intuitively on smartphones? How does screen design affect our decision? Why do we believe in Fake News? (Link to the online version,Link to the print version).
In my video “Making business processes easier to understand,” I provide an overview of my habilitation research. I was also selected as researcher of the month (January 2018) at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business. Press Article (German and English version available): Prozesse in Unternehmen schneller, einfacher und besser erklären
“Visual business process models are an important tool for optimizing processes and tapping the full potential of digital technologies.“