David W. McDonald is a professor and the chair of the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE), in the College of Engineering at the University of Washington. His research is in human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW): how people find expertise and collaborate through software systems, and how technology is designed around human work practices rather than around the technology itself (Source: https://www.hcde.washington.edu/mcdonald).
Background
McDonald's faculty work at the University of Washington centers on human-centered design, with research into how people locate expertise and collaborate through software systems and how technology is designed around human work practices (Source: https://www.hcde.washington.edu/mcdonald). He chairs HCDE within the College of Engineering.
Work on AI agents
McDonald is a co-author, with Kevin Feng (whom he co-advises) and Amy X. Zhang, of Levels of Autonomy for AI Agents (Knight Columbia, July 2025; republished in the May 2026 Knight Columbia AI-in-Democratic-Society symposium): see Levels of Autonomy for AI Agents (Feng-McDonald-Zhang framework) and Levels of Autonomy for AI Agents (Feng + McDonald + Zhang, Knight Columbia, 2026).
The Levels of Autonomy framework defines an agent's autonomy as "the extent to which it is designed to act without user involvement" and builds its five levels around the role the user takes: operator, collaborator, consultant, approver, observer. This user-and-work-practice-centered orientation, rather than a capability-centered one, follows the HCDE tradition McDonald has helped lead at the University of Washington.
Relationships
- affiliated-with: University of Washington (Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering — Chair)
- advises: Kevin Feng
- co-author-with: Kevin Feng, Amy X. Zhang
- author-of: Levels of Autonomy for AI Agents (Feng + McDonald + Zhang, Knight Columbia, 2026)
- supports: Levels of Autonomy for AI Agents (Feng-McDonald-Zhang framework)
- related: Agentic AI
Sources
- Levels of Autonomy for AI Agents (Feng + McDonald + Zhang, Knight Columbia, 2026) — Feng, McDonald & Zhang, Levels of Autonomy for AI Agents, Knight Columbia, 2025.
- (Source: https://www.hcde.washington.edu/mcdonald) — McDonald's University of Washington HCDE faculty page (affiliation, role, research focus).