Aline Duelen

Aline studied Communication Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. In 2022, she obtained her master's degree in Media, Strategic communication and Marketing cum laude. In her master’s thesis she focused on the topic of “Social media and polarization: the worldview and the role of digital inequalities”, researching online polarization from a different point of view. She joined SMIT as a user researcher later that year. 

She is specifically interested in the human aspect of today’s knowledge- and information-driven society. Aline is conducting qualitative research and focussing on user-centered approaches to valorise citizens' and users' opinions, visions and feedback. Central to this are participative methodologies, such as Living Labs and co-creation activities.

Aline works on the TITAN project, in which a Socratic AI-chatbot is being developed to stimulate citizens' critical thinking and fight disinformation. Besides that, she is working on the Click-Call-Connect project that aims to understand how users experience different forms of service: online, over the phone or in person. She is also guiding a group of students in writing their bachelor's thesis.