Human-Computer Interaction for Development: The Past, Present, and Future

2018

Human-computer interaction for development (HCI4D) is an interdisciplinary field aimed at understanding and designing technologies for under-served, under-resourced, and underrepresented populations around the world. The interdisciplinary nature complicates knowledge transfer and articulation between the disciplines contributing to the HCI4D domain with the consequence that researchers in one sub-domain do not always build on the extant theoretical and methodological progress in other sub-domains. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for HCI4D that could facilitate a better understanding of this domain, for knowledge mobilisation and articulation between researchers in HCI4D and the related field of information and communication technology for development (ICT4D). Previous studies have presented an overview of the HCI4D field in terms of the geographies it covers, technologies it targets, and its varied epistemological and methodological underpinnings. This paper builds on those methodologies and findings to conduct a systematic literature review which revisits the domain questions, thus, the core issues and topics (why), the phenomenon of interest (what) and the research methods (how). A comparison of the findings from three seminal HCI4D papers led to the identification of three core issues (motor themes) namely, context, design and development. Based on Ward's idea of a knowledge mobilisation framework, the findings from the systematic literature review are then synthesised and presented as a framework which comprises the core issues, recurring themes and the salient elements for each of the domain questions. The contribution is a knowledge mobilisation framework to enrich discussions on positioning HCI4D as research field.

CHI '08 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2008

This workshop explores the challenges in applying, extending and inventing appropriate methods and contributions of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) to International economic and community Development. We address interaction design for parts of the world that are often marginalized by the Global North as well as people in the Global North who are themselves similarly marginalized by poverty or other barriers. We hope to extend the boundaries of the field of Human Computer Interaction by spurring a discussion on how existing methods and practices can be adapted and modified, and how new practices can be developed, to deal with the unique challenges posed by these contexts.

Interactions, 2003

All around us, information, knowledge, and the use of networked computing continues to revolutionize how we live, work, and play. Although this perspective is obvious to many of us and in danger of becoming hackneyed, important structural changes are indeed occurring. Driven by social, political, economic, and technological factors, these profound changes are having a significant impact on the organization of global society ([3], among others). This article explores briefly the implications of some of these changes. It argues that human-computer interaction (HCI) and user-centered design (UCD) principles are critical to ensuring that both developed and developing countries are able to meet the challenges posed by these changes and harness the opportunities of globalization and the emergence of an information society.

Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

With the advancements in technologies, the need for Human's perspective and human-centered designs are in much demand and its essential to understand diverse cultural needs. The community in South Asia has been recognized to have a unique and diverse sociocultural, political, infrastructural, and geographical background of the region. However, we continue to see that the studies presented to the CHI community about South Asia primarily focus on working with and unpacking the regional contextual constraints (of the users and the infrastructures), thus taking a developmental stance. We witness a lack of HCI work presented by South Asian research community promoting diverse methods, cultures and behaviors. We believe this is due to limited experience in the field and resources. In this online workshop, we take advanced steps to operationalize collaborations and resource sharing between HCI researchers by presenting their half-baked ideas, presenting published HCI work on other venues, or even sharing challenges faced in a Rejected HCI work in the context of South Asia. Our aim is to broaden the perspective of the CHI research and community towards the contributions from the region including and beyond development, by bringing together researchers, designers, and practitioners working or are interested in working within these regions on diverse topics.

CHI '09 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2009

This workshop continues the dialog on exploring the challenges in applying, extending, and inventing appropriate methods and contributions of Humancentered Computing (HCC) to International economic and community development, borne out of tremendously successful HCI4D workshops at CHI 2007 and 2008. The workshop aims at 1) providing a platform to discuss interaction design practices that allow for meaningful embedding of interactive systems in the cultural, infrastructural, and political settings where they will be used 2) addressing interaction design issues in developing regions, as well as areas in the developed world marginalized by poverty or other barriers. We hope to continue to extend the boundaries of the field of Human-centered Computing (HCC) by spurring on more discussion on how existing methods and practices can be adapted/ modified, and how new practices be developed, to combat the unique challenges posed by this context.

2015

The distant gap of cultural characteristics between the development team and the target audience in developing countries poses significant challenges in the field of Human-Computer Interaction. Consequently, Fraunhofer AICOS, a Research and Development Institute, established a set of guidelines based on an extensive research and experimental fieldwork in order to answer more efficiently to a user-centered design approach, advocating user integration and enhancing user experience. The paper discusses the systematization of these guidelines, and its role in the development of mobile applications focusing on the mHealth, mGovernment, ICT solutions for Very Small Enterprises, and mAgriculture areas of activity. Furthermore, the process rooted the taxonomy and information architecture of a platform entitled TIQSI, whose mission is to assist design and Human-Computer Interaction teams by providing artistic, cultural and social ethnographic resources from developing countries.

We are proposing a SIG as an extended forum to build a sustainable network and resource repository for practitioners and researchers engaged in community centered collaborative design in developing countries. In structured discussions and an open cross-cultural dialogue, we attempt to build a practical and theoretical foundation based on success and failure stories, challenges and systematic approaches to such HCI. We will explore specific themes around time, trust and values, expectation management and transferability/ sustainability of localized projects. We intend to explore how to document and transform lessons learned into systematic approaches to be deployed in different contexts.

With almost four decades of existence as a community, human–computer interaction (HCI) practice has yet to diffuse into a large range of software industries globally. A review of existing literature suggests that the diffusion of HCI practices in software organizations lacks theoretical guidance. Although many studies have tried to facilitate HCI uptake by the software industry, there are scarce studies that consider HCI practices as innovations that software organizations could or should adopt. Furthermore, there appears to be a lack of structure in the facilitation of HCI methodological development within the specialized emerging regions field such as Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to address this gap, an exploratory investigation regarding the state of uptake of HCI practices in Nigeria is conducted. The aim of this article is to improve our understanding regarding the state of HCI uptake in developing countries and the challenges prevailing. The findings show that HCI practice still remains within its infancy stage in most software companies. Universities are also lacking the required knowledge transfer of HCI to the students, and in effect themselves contributing to the lack of HCI skills in industry. Furthermore, government policies are in need of refinement and end-users' involvement in software development is not prioritized.

Extended Abstracts of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

The past two decades have seen an increase in the amount of research in the CHI community from South Asia with a focus on designing for the unique and diverse socio-cultural, political, infrastructural, and geographical background of the region. However, the studies presented to the CHI community primarily focus on working with and unpacking the regional contextual constraints (of the users and the infrastructures), thus taking a developmental stance. In this online workshop, we aim to broaden the perspective of the CHI research and community towards the contributions from the region including and beyond development, by bringing together

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2010

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo, Delhi Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK www. cambridge. org Information on this title: www. cambridge. org/ ...

2014

The Information and Communication for Development (ICT4D) research landscape can be described as a dynamic, fragmented adhocracy and hence, predictably, attempts at producing a shared conceptual framework for the field have had mixed success. Given the multi-, interand trans-disciplinary nature of ICT4D it may be impossible to reach complete consensus on such a framework. However, many basic research activities, such as guiding novice researchers and structuring information sources for efficient access, necessitate a shared vocabulary and generally agreed concepts and hence the quest continues. The purpose of this paper is to propose a non-prescriptive, dynamic conceptual framework for ICT4D. An initial representation was developed based on a literature review and an informal expert interview and this was used to categorize the papers in the ICTD2013 conference proceedings. The results were then used to refine the initial framework from the Computer Science and Information Systems p...

ICT4D: Global Perspectives, Asian Initiatives, 2019

This volume was originally compiled in 2008 as required reading in MMS 130 (ICT4D. Information and Communication Technology for Development) offered under the Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Studies (BAMS) Program of the UP Open University. It was a product of field experience, a collection of grey literature and fugitive materials produced in our consulting sorties in Asian countries. Before the BAMS program, there were no formal courses on the subject nor were there any texts. With the highlighting of best practice and lessons learned, the restructuring of the text, and the inclusion of learning objectives and self-assessment questions, the compilations were transformed into what we feel, is a comprehensive textbook on information and communication technology for development.

Culture has various definitions, but regardless of discussions about its concrete definition, the importance of cultural differences has been recognized in areas such as Human Computer Interaction (HCI). In the context of mobile HCI, this importance can be viewed from various perspectives such as usability and ergonomics, business advantages and social sustainability. This study investigated mobile HCI research in order to identify common patterns of approaches, tools, methods, results and findings in current research and then compared the strength of each pattern in both mobile HCI and HCI. After a discussion concerning some problematic issues in the current literature in relation to the research questions, target points for further research in mobile HCI are itemized in the conclusion.

Asia Pacific Media Educator, 2019

Richard Heeks (Ed.), Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D). Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2018, 410 pp, US$ 25.38. ISBN 9781138101807 (Hardcover)/9781138101814 (Paperback).

Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 2016

This material is brought to you by the Journals at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). It has been accepted for inclusion in Communications of the Association for Information Systems by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contact elibrary@aisnet.org.