I'm a PhD candidate in the School of Information at UT Austin.
I study self-tracking technologies (e.g., wearables and connected apps) and their applications to support individuals in the management of chronic conditions. My work employs a variety of qualitative, quantitative, and user-centered design methods.
I joined Withings as part of the Design & Product Management team based in their Paris office for internships in both 2023 and 2024.
During my first internship, my focus was on the app experience for users receiving alerts about heart rhythm irregularities. In addition to contributing to the design and
flow of several heart health functions, I created a program During my second internship, I was focused on the user experience for individuals with hypertension using Withings blood pressure monitors. My work involved in-depth user research, including analyzing survey data from nearly 4000 users,
developing personas, and presenting strategies for improving the user experience to the team.
I am supporting a randomized controlled trial led by colleagues in the UT School of Nursing. The trial assesses the effectiveness of a sensor-controlled digital game to improve self-management behaviors in older adults with heart failure. I work directly with participants to help them install and navigate their study devices (including a Withings smartwatch and smart scale). I have led several publications and am leading the qualitative interview portion of the study.
I worked at FasterCures, a Center of the Milken Institute for three years on the Health & Technology team. My research explored a variety of issues related to the collection and use of health data in the context of biomedical research, such as bias in health datasets, regulatory gaps in health data protections, and the interoperability of disparate health data systems and sources.
Please e-mail me for a copy of my CV with a full list of publications!
Under Review
Tunis, R., Clifford, N., West, E., Heitkemper, E., Burgermaster, M., Radhakrishnan, K. Developing Psychosocial Personas to Understand Engagement with Self-Care Technologies: A Mixed Methods Study of Adults with Heart Failure. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’26), .
Letzelter, P., Vittrant, B., Tunis, R. Exploring Outcomes and Engagement Patterns of Hypertensive Patients: An Observational Analysis of the Withings Remote Patient Monitoring Program. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine . [Preprint]
Clifford, N. Tunis, R. Zeng, J., Lee, G., Heitkemper, E., Radhakrishnan, K. Psychosocial-Behavioral Personas of Self-Care Technology Use and Their Associations with Heart Failure Outcomes. Society of Behavioral Medicine 47th Annual Meeting.
Articles & Full Conference Papers
Clifford, N., Tunis, R., Ariyo, A., Yu, H., Rhee, H, Radhakrishnan, K. (2025). Trends and Gaps in Digital Precision Hypertension Management: Scoping Review. JMIR. [DOI]
Tunis, R., West, E., Clifford, N., Horner, S., and Radhakrishnan, K. (2024). Leveraging Digital Health Technologies in Heart Failure Self-Care Interventions to Improve Health Equity. Nursing Outlook. [DOI]
Tunis, R., Fleischmann, K., and Smith, A. (2024). Designing for Personalization in Personal Informatics: Barriers and Pragmatic Approaches from the Perspectives of Designers, Developers, and Product Managers. In Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference. [DOI]
Tunis, R. (2023). Self-Tracking to Manage Chronic Illness: Exploring User Agency in Apps for Diabetes Self-Management. In: Information for a Better World: Normality, Virtuality, Physicality, Inclusivity. iConference 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13972. Springer, Cham. [DOI]
**Best Short Research Paper Runner Up**
Radhakrishnan, K., Julien, C., O’Hair, M., Tunis, R., et al. (2023). Sensor-Controlled Digital Game for Heart Failure Self-Management: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Research Protocols. [DOI]
Tunis, R., Baranowski, T., Rangel, A., Custer, J., Thomaz, E., et al. (2023). A Decentralized Clinical Trial of a Digital Intervention with Multiple Health Trackers for Heart Failure: Early Learnings and Practical Considerations. In Proceedings of the 17th EAI International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare. [DOI]
Conference Short Papers & Presentations
Tunis, R., Clifford, N., Kim, N., Radhakrishnan, K. 2024. Assessing the Impact of a Digital Health Intervention on Self-Efficacy in Heart Failure Patients. AMIA 2025 Annual Symposium. Atlanta, GA
Clifford, N. and Tunis, R. 2024. Personalization in Digital Hypertension Management: Systematic Review. AMIA 2024 Annual Symposium. San Francisco, CA.
Tunis, R. and Fleischmann, K. 2024. Towards Values-Focused Design Methods for Personalization in Consumer Health Informatics: Workshopping Approaches with Designers. IEEE International Conference on Healthcare Informatics. Orlando, FL.
Tunis, R., West, E., Clifford, N., Radhakrishnan, K. 2024. ‘I’m Not Your Average Heart Failure Patient’: Personalization & Context in Digital Tools for Chronic Disease Self-Management. St. David’s CHPR Annual Meeting, University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing. Austin, TX.
Invited Talks
Tunis, R. 2024, April. The Patient, the App, and the Illness: Understanding the User Experience for Chronic Illness Management Using Third Party Apps. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services: Health Informatics and Interoperability Group. Virtual.
I am in the final stages of writing my dissertation and plan to defend in early 2026. My dissertation involves two studies:
Overall, my dissertation empirically examines mundane, day-to-day interactions with health technologies in order to understand how these interactions impact psychosocial factors that are critical to successful, long-term self-care, such as self-efficacy and motivation. The goal of my work is to contribute to the design of SCTs that support users in building their confidence, resilience, and sense of autonomy.
My experience spans the full spectrum of the design process— from journey maps and wireframing, to UX research and writing, to supporting prototype development and implementation.
Sample screens from my work at Withings:
I worked on the user interface for a variety of heart health features and created a three-week educational program for Withings users with atrial fibrillation.
Sample screens from MamaMingle:
This was a project with UT Austin peers; our team designed an app to meet the needs of new and expecting mothers. More background on that project here
The work samples above were created in collaboration with other talented team members. Please reach out if you’d like more information on these projects or to take a look at additional screens and/or working prototypes.