Traci J. Hess

Traci J. Hess is the Douglas & Diana Berthiaume Endowed Professor of Information Systems and Senior Associate Dean at the Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst. She holds a PhD (1999), MA (1997) in Information Systems from Virginia Tech, and a BS in Accounting from the University of Virginia (1988). Her academic career includes roles at Washington State University and industry experience as Senior Vice President in banking and auditing roles at Ernst & Young.

Her research focuses on Human-Computer Interaction, Decision Support Systems, and Trust in Digital Technologies. She explores topics like online review dynamics, privacy mechanisms in health communities, and algorithmic labor platforms. Hess has published extensively in journals like Journal of the Association for Information Systems and MIS Quarterly, and her work bridges cognitive psychology with technology design.

Hess has received prestigious awards including the Isenberg Outstanding Research Award (2012) and Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction Best Paper Award (2011). Her teaching spans Business Intelligence, Database Management, and Research Methods. She has advised numerous graduate students (not listed explicitly in texts) and contributes to digital strategy research.

Her recent work (2023–2024) examines reviewer badges’ impact on consumer trust and human agency in algorithmic labor systems. She emphasizes user-centric design principles to mitigate negative emotional responses to technology (e.g., technostress).