Why do you choose to be a Ph.D?

Long story. I believe this question can be futher extended to five questions:

• “why do I choose to go to the university?”

• “why do I choose to work as a designer?”

• “why do I choose to go back to campus from work?”

• “why do I choose to HCI?”

• “why do I choose to be a Ph.D?​​”

I will answer them one by one. Feel free to skip any parts you’re not interested in. Going through the entire content will give you a more comprehensive understanding of me.

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• why do I choose to go to the university?

    In China, it is very common for high school students to decide to attend university as long as their academic performance is not extremely poor. At that time (2012), I saw university as an opportunity to gain more knowledge, allowing me to better understand the world and determine the field in which I should pursue further studies. (In this regard, my view of university differed from the mainstream perspectives in China. Based on my observations, there are two dominant views: one is that the major chosen in university determines one’s future career path, and the other is that the university experience is irrelevant, as future career prospects depend more on family background and social connections.)

    When it came to choosing a university, my criteria were:

(1) It had to be one of the best universities to ensure access to excellent educational resources.

(2) By comparison, the specific major was not a particularly significant factor.

    With these criteria in mind, I chose Zhejiang University and majored in agriculture with a focus on tea science. During my undergraduate, I actively pursued my goal of “understanding the world better.” I graduated with over 200 credits, taking around 25 credits per semester on average. Throughout this process, I explored courses across diverse fields such as economics, trade, and politics, and completed a minor in economics.

    Interestingly, although agriculture initially seemed like a compromise due to my entrance score, it gradually became an essential foundation for my recent understanding of international relations and economic development, especially when combined with economics.

    You’ll notice that most of my decisions are made from a holistic perspective, combining my personal interests with broader economic development trends to guide my choices. I believe that comes from my learning during undergraduate.

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• why do I choose to work as a designer?

    After graduation, I had to face the question of choosing a career, but I knew I wasn’t ready. A career requires specialized knowledge, while mine was largely general. Luckily, I was deeply influenced by my parents, both of whom worked in photography and design, which sparked my interest in these fields from an early age. I quickly began learning professional skills in design and video production, gradually transitioning into related work. Over the course of five years, I progressed from knowing nothing to independently completing design projects.

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• why do I choose to go back to campus from work?

    Since 2012, China's rapid economic growth has naturally fueled a growing demand for high-quality entertainment products, such as films, games, and animations. This specific demand, as well as my deep admiration for works by Studio Ghibli, DreamWorks, and Pixar, drived me to enter media and design industry. I wish to found an animation studio capable of delivering such high-quality creations.

    However, by the time I entered the industry (around 2016), China’s film and media market had reached its peak, driven by an influx of capital. While I believed the quality of storytelling remains poor, the improvements in production capabilities were undeniable. At the same time, the growing demand for media products made the necessary production skills increasingly accessible, effectively lowering the entry barriers for the industry. The 2022 Chinese film The Wandering Earth 2 can be seen as a validation of these observations (if you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend it).

    Recognizing these trends, I realized that without making immediate adjustments, I would be left behind in the market. As a result, I decided that returning to campus would be a better path forward. On one hand, I could connect with congenial peers to build a stronger team; on the other, I could acquire specialized knowledge to develop unique technical advantages that would set me apart in the industry.

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• why do I choose to HCI?​​

    In 2021, I was admitted to the Academy Art and Design in Tsinghua University. Contrary to my expectations, very few people were driven by a strong passion for creating high-quality media-art. Similarly, the CG industry had shown that technically superior, high-quality work does not necessarily dominate the market. Instead, the market tends to favor lower-cost visuals that simply look flashy over expensive, hyper-realistic productions. By that time, I had to put my dream of running an animation studio on hold and begin exploring entirely new directions.​

    My first attempt was creating interactive media art (you can find some of my early experiments at the bottom of my homepage). During this process, I noticed two key problems:

(1) It relies heavily on individual creativity, and I found it difficult to define research methods and explore the scientific questions behind the creative process. (But it is not impossible, I will recommend Prof. Haipeng Mi, Prof. Guanhong Liu, Dr. Tianyu Yu, Dr. Haiqin Xu, Dr. Zhihao Yao, who have contributed greatly in this field.)

(2) Artworks lack necessity—there are no problems that can only be solved through an artistic creation.

    In contrast, the field of HCI provides clear answers to these challenges. HCI has a well-established system of scientific research methods, and each generation of interactive technology aims to reduce the effort required in human-computer interaction. These factors ultimately led me to choose HCI as the direction for my future development. (Definitely creation is also an important part of HCI, and once again, I really found it difficult to do systemtic research on creation.)

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• why do I choose to be a Ph.D?

    ​Finally, back to this question.

    First, I have a strong passion for HCI research. HCI explores how we can utilize “sensing” and “feedback” to address a wide range of challenges. This combination requires not only systematic and rigorous methodologies but also emotional sensitivity and creativity to identify problems and propose solutions. As a graduate student, I honed my ability to approach problems with structure and precision, while my career as a designer nurtured my capacity for creative thinking and empathetic understanding. This blend of skills makes HCI research a perfect match for me, and pursuing a Ph.D will allow me to further deepen my exploration in this field.

    Second, as AI continues to advance, the HCI field is experiencing significant transformation and growth, presenting numerous intriguing challenges and opportunities that I am eager to explore and address:

(1) Enhanced sensing and AI understanding capabilities allow us to better interpret meaningful signals from users and provide effective services. For instance, in the ubiquitous computing domain, we can more effectively identify and address health issues.

(2) The development of large models has strengthened our ability to simulate social dynamics, enabling richer experimentation on decision-making. For example, in social computing, we can model group behaviors and explore the impacts of different policy choices.

(3) AI, as a novel interaction interface, presents unexplored opportunities for interaction design and raises questions about its potential impact on users. For example, we still don’t fully understand whether overreliance on AI might weaken users' decision-making abilities.

    Third, a Ph.D at a top university, surrounded by equally talented peers, would provide me with constant challenges, constructive feedback, and inspiration from their outstanding work. I believe this dynamic environment is essential to prevent me from becoming complacent with my past achievements and to push me toward becoming a leading HCI researcher.