About Me

I am a PhD candidate at Northeastern University’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences. I am a mixed methods researcher with expertise in experimental design, survey methodology, and statistical modeling.

I am Experienced in designing and conducting user studies with a focus on human-centered AI. My research explores how people perceive, interact with, and form expectations around AI-generated content — and how those insights can inform the design of more intuitive, trustworthy, and user-centered AI experiences.

Portfolio

Interactive documents showcasing my research in

  • Analysis of Robustness of a Large Game Corpus
  • - Formalizing sensitivity to input changes in structured discrete data for PCGML

    Publications

  • Playing the Imitation Game- How Perceived Generated Content Shapes Player Experience
  • Mahsa Bazzaz, Seth Cooper
    Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26), 2026
  • A Constraint-Based Graph Grammar Approach Unifying Level and Playthrough Generation
  • Seth Cooper, Mahsa Bazzaz
    Joint AIIDE Workshop on Experimental Artificial Intelligence in Games and Intelligent Narrative Technologies, 2025
  • Analysis of Robustness of a Large Game Corpus
  • Mahsa Bazzaz and Seth Cooper
    10th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG), 2025
  • Analysis of Uncertainty in Procedural Maps in Slay the Spire
  • Mahsa Bazzaz and Seth Cooper
    The 16th Workshop on Procedural Content Generation (PCG2025), 2025
  • Level Generation with Constrained Expressive Range
  • Mahsa Bazzaz and Seth Cooper
    The 16th Workshop on Procedural Content Generation (PCG2025), 2025
  • Stuck in the Middle Generating Levels without (or with) Softlocks
  • Seth Cooper and Mahsa Bazzaz
    The 16th Workshop on Procedural Content Generation (PCG2025), 2025
  • Guided Game Level Repair via Explainable AI
  • Mahsa Bazzaz and Seth Cooper
    The 20th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE), 2024
  • Sturgeon-MKIV- Constraint-Based Level and Playthrough Generation with Graph Label Rewrite Rules
  • Seth Cooper and Mahsa Bazzaz
    The 20th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE), 2024
  • Controllable Game Level Generation- Assessing the Effect of Negative Examples in GAN Models
  • Mahsa Bazzaz and Seth Cooper
    The 20th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE), 2024
  • Literally Unplayable- On Constraint-Based Generation of Uncompletable Levels
  • Seth Cooper and Mahsa Bazzaz
    Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG), 2024
  • Thirty-Three Years of Mathematicians and Software Engineers A Case Study of Domain Expertise and Participation in Proof Assistant Ecosystems
  • G Lincroft, M Cho, K Hough, M Bazzaz, J Bell
    Mining Software Repositories conference series 2024, 2024
  • Active Learning for Classifying 2D Grid-Based Level Completability
  • Mahsa Bazzaz and Seth Cooper
    IEEE Conference on Games 2023, 2023

    Experiences

    Graduate Research Assistant

    Jan 2023 - present
    Northeastern University
    • Designed and conducted a mixed-methods study (n=154, 852 trials) examining how people perceive AI vs. human-created content
    • Analyzed user experience metrics using statistical analysis (ordinal logistic regression (CLMM) with crossed random effects, likelihood-ratio tests, and binomial tests)
    • Conducted thematic analysis of 852 open-ended responses using NVivo (+inter-rater reliability)
    • Analyzed 20,000 user session logs using information-theoretic framework to quantify uncertainty in player choices

    Graduate Teaching Assistant

    Jan 2023 - present
    Northeastern University
    • CS 5340 Human Computer Interaction
    • CS5800 Algorithms
    • CS3520 Programming in C++ * 3
    • CS 3540 Game Programming * 3

    Full-Stack Developer Intern

    Jul 2020 – Feb 2021
    Limoome
    • Built features for a health platform connecting users with dietitians, enabling personalized diet planning, progress tracking, and doctor-patient communication
    • Built frontend components in Angular for user dashboards and progress visualization
    • Collaborated in Agile sprints using Azure DevOps; participated in code reviews, sprint planning, and cross-team coordination
    • Developed RESTful APIs and PostgreSQL database schemas to support user health profiles, appointment scheduling, and diet progress monitoring
    • Designed and implemented microservices for core platform functions including transactions, SMS/push notifications, and user management using Node.js and Nest.js

    Teaching Assistant

    Feb 2020 - Jul 2020
    Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic)
    • CE 3102213 Algorithm Design course

    Certifications

    Skills & Proficiency

    Survey & Experimental Design

    Mixed Methods Research Survey Methodology Experimental Design A/B Testing Usability Studies Log Analysis Conjoint analysis Thematic Analysis Statistical Methods Qualtrics IRB protocols

    Programming & Tools

    Python TypeScript JavaScript C++ Git Azure DevOps

    Data Analysis & Machine Learning

    SQL pandas NumPy scikit-learn PyTorch SLURM

    Visualization

    Tableau Canva Figma Matplotlib HTML CSS