Education

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B.S. Computer Science, University of Notre Dame (2004)
M.S. Human-Computer Interaction Design, Indiana University (2006)
Ph.D. Informatics, Indiana University (expected May 2010)

Reserach Interests

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Current Projects

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Relevant Publications

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Ryan, W. (2008). Embodied learning in video games: Evaluating the learnability of interactive entertainment. (Under review.)

Castronova, E., Cummings, J., Emigh, W., Fatten, M., Mishler, N., Ross, T., & Ryan, W. (2008). Case study: The economics of Arden. In Special Issue of Critical Studies in Media Communication. (In press.)

Jung, H., Stolterman, E., Ryan, W., Stroman, T., & Siegel, M. (2008). Toward a framework for ecology of artifacts: How are artifacts interconnected surrounding a personal life? In Proceedings of 6th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. Lund, Sweden. (Accepted.)

Ryan, W., Hazlewood, W. R., & Makice, K. (2008). Twitterspace: Co-development through Twitter to enhance community awareness. In Participatory Design Conference 2008, Bloomington, IN. (Accepted.)

Castronova, E., Cummings, J., Emigh, W., Fatten, M., Mishler, N., & Ryan, W. (2007). Construction of a Virtual Marketplace. In F. von Borries, S. Walz, U. Brinkmann, M. Böttger, (Eds.). Space Time Play. Basel, Switzerland: Birkhäuser Publishing.

Bardzell, J., Bardzell, S., Birchler, C., & Ryan, W. (2007). Double Dribble: Illusionism, mixed reality, and the sports fan experience. In Proceedings of International Conference on Advances in Computers for Entertainment Technology. Salzburg, Austria, 216-219.

Ryan, W., & Bardzell, J. (2007). Using Player Breakdown as a Lens for Understanding the Development of Literacy in Video Games. In Games, Learning, and Society. Madison, WI.

Castronova, E., Cummings, J., Emigh, W., Fatten, M., Mishler, N., & Ryan, W. (2007). Understanding Synthetic Economies Through Their Construction. In 2007 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management Symposium on Beyond Play: Replicating, Mirroring, and Constituting 'Reality' Through Online Games. Philadelphia, PA.

Bardzell, S., Bardzell, J., & Ryan, W. (2006). Double Dribble: Mixed reality game design for sports informatics. In 5th International Conference on Entertainment Computing -- ICEC. London.

Ryan, W. (2006). Barriers to entry: Designing player access in video games. In DIS 2006 Workshop On the Process of Game Design. State College, PA.

Short Bio

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I have an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the University of Notre Dame in 2004. I came to Indiana University looking for the multidisciplinary approach that Informatics could offer in the application of computing technology towards novel problems and environments. I graduated with my Masters in 2006 from this school with a degree in Human-Computer Interaction Design. The last several years I have been honing my areas of research and interests.

In have worked with faculty across the campus including the Arden project with Dr. Edward Castronova, Quest Atlantis with Dr. Sasha Barab, the entertainment computing research group with Drs. Jeffrey and Shaowen Bardzell, and the ecology of artifacts research group with Drs. Erik Stolterman and Martin Siegel. In addition, I have begun working on my own research in the area of embodied learning of interfaces, learning in video games, and video game design as well as on the Twitterspace project with two other HCI/d Ph.D. students Kevin Makice and William R. Hazlewood, which looks at re-representing the stream of information from a popular social network called Twitter using public displays to affect community awareness and participation.

My interests right now revolve around two perspectives including the notion of embodiment and embodied cognition, which analyzes cognition as fundamentally coupled with and inseparable from our actions in the environment, as well as critical technical practice, which employs both design and critical reflection to support the effective design of technologies.