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Articular cartilage injury and progressive degeneration, combined with the clinical needs that result from an aging population and increasing rates of diagnosed osteoarthritis, have created a burgeoning demand for therapies aimed at cartilage repair. One approach that has gained traction is the delivery of clinically relevant cell types such as mesenchymal stromal cells to the injury site using hydrogels, which are water-swollen polymer networks that can be engineered to suit a wide variety of applications. Previous insights have led us to identify the roles of parameters such as cellular density, matrix degradation, mechanical loading, and even cell-cell communication in engineered cartilage formation and maturation. These hydrogels often employ biomaterials such as hyaluronic acid that are native to the body and intended to influence cell behavior. However, hydrogel-based therapies to date have predominantly focused on permitting or facilitating the eventual maturation of cartilage tissue by enabling matrix remodeling and distribution; meanwhile, the need for materials with controlled and timely presentation of cues that are essential for correct initial lineage commitment and early differentiation by cells has often been overlooked. This dissertation describes the design and characterization of hyaluronic acid hydrogels that incorporate developmentally relevant and tunable cell-matrix and cell-cell cues that are critical in the early lineage commitment and differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells. In particular, emphasis is given to the presentation of such cues over time at the cell-hydrogel interface, where cells encapsulated in these hydrogels actively interact with and even contribute to their microenvironments. First, we examine tunable cell-matrix interactions in hydrogels by demonstrating that the biological activity of cell-laden hydrogels formed using crosslinkable modified hyaluronic acid, which provides cell-matrix cues relevant to cartilage develo