News

Whether it's online appointment booking, waste collection calendars, or daycare registration – digital services have long been a part of everyday life. For them to truly make life easier, they must be user-friendly. This is precisely where the first nationwide User Climate Test 2026 comes in: The non-profit organization UIG e.V., in partnership with the Institute for Information Systems (WIN) at KIT aims to determine how user-friendly digital services in German cities actually are.

On November 11, 2025, Dr. David Dann, Jakob Leander Müller, and Katja Speck, Managing Director of Visualvest GmbH, gave a guest lecture providing practical insights into their user research activities. Visualvest GmbH is a 100% owned subsidiary of the Union Investment Group, thus combining the financial expertise and security of one of Germany's leading fund management companies with the flexibility and speed of a FinTech.  

We are pleased to announce that Adrian Wegener, research assistant and PhD student at the human-centered systems lab (h-lab) has joined the AI Grid network.AI Grid is an initiative that strengthens collaboration and synergies among young talents in the field of artificial intelligence. The network connects dedicated early-career researchers with leading experts from academia and industry. It currently brings together more than 200 active members and over 100 mentors and AI specialists.

On November 10th, 2025, we were delighted to welcome Dr. Jian Zhao, Associate Professor at the Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo and director of the WVisdom Lab, whose research focuses on information visualization, human-computer interaction, and human-centered AI, and Dr. Linping Yuan, Research Assistant Professor at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), working at the intersection of VR/AR, HCI, and data visualization, to the human-centered systems lab (h-lab) of the Institute for Information Systems (WIN) at KIT. 

We’re excited to present our work titled “A Semi-Automated Prototyping Assistant for Accessibility: Addressing Missing Form Labels and Document Language in Early Design Stages” at the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility 2025 in Denver.  The ASSETS conference is the premier forum for presenting research on the design, evaluation, use, and education related to computing for people with disabilities and older adults.

For the 2025/26 period, five information systems (IS) scholarships were awarded  by the non-profit association "Die Wirtschaftsinformatik e.V." at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) supporting students of  the Information Systems program. The IS students Valerie Lorei, Nicki Fiona Rother and Jérôme Gibhardt received their IS scholarship funded Schwarz IT. The IS students Mara Layer and Steven Rogulsky were funded by SAP SE. 

The International Journal of Human-Computer Studies has published the paper "StoryPoint: GenAI-supported domain-specific data story authoring for enterprises". The paper is co-authored by Jonas Gunklach, Elias Mueller, Merlin Knaeble, and Alexander Maedche from the human-centered systems lab (h-lab). 

The position offered at the human-centered systems lab (https://h-lab.win.kit.edu/) of the Institute of Information Systems (WIN) (https://www.win.kit.edu/) is embedded in the third-party funded research project "MenschKI!" (https://menschki.org/). In close collaboration with partner companies and the non-profit association UIG e.V. (https://nutzerfreundlich.digital/), the project aims to design and pilot new approaches for personalized learning and the continuous adaptation of generative AI-based information systems to increase employee productivity and well-being. In addition, scalable transfer concepts for transfer to other companies will be developed.

Human-centered AI meets Sustainability! On November 5th, 2025 experts from SAP and KIT will share insights on how AI for enterprise systems should be designed to support sustainable business transformation following a human-centered design approach.

We welcome Simon Rapp as a new team member and doctoral researcher at the human-centered systems lab (h-lab) of Prof. Mädche at the KIT Institute for Information Systems (WIN).Simon holds a Master of Science degree in Information Systems with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence and a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems with a specialization in Systems Engineering, both from KIT.

We were pleased about the article in the Badische Neueste Nachrichten (BNN) reporting insights from the feasibility study of the heat companion research project conducted by Niklas Heyden of the Institute for Information Systems (WIN), human-centered systems lab. The heat companion research project provides citizens with a portable environmental sensor and a companion smartphone app to record micro-climate data (temperature, humidity, air quality) in their daily routines.

In the upcoming winter semester, the human-centered systems lab will offer one B.Sc. and two M.Sc. electives lectures. The B.Sc. Lecture “Enterprise Systems for Financial Accounting & Controlling (EFA)” will be offered by Dr. Christian Fleig (Lidl) and introduce foundations enterprise system concepts using the example of SAP S/4HANA.