The NurtureNextGen project was recently represented at OzCHI 2025 (Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction), Australia’s premier forum on Human-Computer Interaction, held in Sydney from 29 November to 3 December. The event brought together researchers, designers and industry partners committed to improving the way people interact with technology across health, education and community settings.
At the conference, NurtureNextGen Research Assistant and PhD Candidate Yufeng Wu presented a poster titled From Needs to Insights: Designing Digital Support with Parents of Children with Genetic Neurodevelopmental Conditions. The poster introduced early findings from a series of interviews and design workshops conducted with parents, forming part of NurtureNextGen’s broader effort to understand how digital tools can better support families following a genetic diagnosis.
Parents described the emotional and practical challenges that emerge during and after receiving a genetic neurodevelopmental diagnosis for their child. Several themes were consistently raised: Deficit-based language can heighten anxiety and shape how parents interpret their child’s future. Peer networks provide vital emotional reassurance and practical knowledge that parents often struggle to find elsewhere. Care coordination places a significant, often unseen, workload on families, who manage services, appointments, and information across multiple systems. Parents expressed a preference for support that is strengths-based and empowering, rather than information that focuses solely on clinical aspects of the condition.
These insights reflect the complexity of navigating life after diagnosis and highlight areas where digital support could make a meaningful difference.
Sharing this work at OzCHI positioned the project within a research community focused on designing technologies that meaningfully support human needs. Conference discussions highlighted the importance of sensitivity, clarity and emotional safety in digital health design, principles that closely reflect the experiences shared by parents in this study.
Yufeng Wu’s presentation prompted further consideration of how digital tools might reduce cognitive load, support decision-making and foster connection for families. These conversations reinforced the value of co-design approaches in ensuring that technology responds to what families actually need.
Insights from OzCHI will contribute to the project’s next phase of design work, including the development of early prototypes. By continuing to draw on parent expertise and strengths-based approaches, the project is moving toward a digital support tool that feels both practical and grounded in lived experience.
Read the accompanying research article here.
Yufeng Wu, Jasmeet Kaur Bedi, Elizabeth Callinan, Falak M Helwani, Heather Renton, Julia Dray, Kate R Davidson, Maya Pinn, Meagan Cross, Alison McEwen, Elise van den Hoven, and Erin Turbitt. 2025. From Needs to Insights: Designing Digital Support with Parents of Children with Genetic Neurodevelopmental Conditions. In Proceedings of the 37th Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (OzCHI ’25). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 705–719. https://doi.org/10.1145/3764687.3769921
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