Perspectives on human-computer interaction and culture

Due to the global distribution of technology and its use in highly culturally diverse settings, an understanding of culture, in particular the connection between culture and technology use, is becoming more relevant for distributors and developers of such technology, in order to survive in a dynamic market environment and to be able to offer products that are tailored to the requirements of the specific end user. Therefore, the overarching topic of this thesis is the exploration of the role of culture in human-computer interaction (HCI) as a key factor to understanding the user. This thesis sheds light on the role of culture and socio-cultural systems and their multi-layered manifestations in human-computer interaction. The related research consists of two main strands: The first strand (manuscript 1 and 2) focuses primarily on examining the extent to which national culture is considered in HCI studies, and the extent to which subjects from different national settings are part of HCI studies. The key findings of the first strand are that HCI research tends to neglect culture, or, if it is considered, it is mostly treated narrowly, as a single variable that measures national cultures. The restricted cultural perspective becomes further evident when studying the participant samples from the most relevant HCI conference. There was a strong focus on participant samples from countries whose inhabitants tend to be Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic (WEIRD) and most of the other countries were clearly underrepresented. The second strand of this thesis (manuscript 3 to 6) centres on the examination of the relationship between HCI and cultural as well as socio-cultural systems, particularly in knowledge-intensive practices. It shows the rich practices of technology appropriation in study settings outside of the typical WEIRD contexts. Furthermore, it explores the manifold, rich and often complex ways in which the use of technology is impacted by structures and practices of cultural systems, and, in the same way, transforms these systems. The results from both strands of enquiry show that the HCI community should consider the diversity of potential technology users in its research and recommendations. Only in this way can technological developments be realised that are globally useful and usable on a broad scale. To support the HCI community on this path, alongside suggestions for further research projects, this thesis presents several detailed recommendations on how to increase diversity and the consideration of cultural aspects in HCI research and the HCI community

Informal mobile learning in nurse education and practice in remote areas-a case study from rural South Africa

BACKGROUND: With the proliferation of portable digital technology, mobile learning is becoming increasingly popular in nursing education and practice. Most of the research in this field has been concentrated on small-scale projects in high income countries. Very little is known about the ways in which nurses and midwives use mobile technology in remote and resource poor areas in informal learning contexts in low and middle income countries. OBJECTIVES: To address this gap, this study investigates whether nurses use mobile phones as effective educational tools in marginalized and remote areas, and if so, how and why. SETTING AND METHODS: In rural South Africa, 16 nurses who attended an advanced midwifery education program, facilitators and clinical managers were interviewed about their use of digital mobile technology for learning. Techniques of qualitative content analysis were used to examine the data. RESULTS: Several rich “organically-grown”, learning practices were identified: mobile phone usage facilitated (1) authentic problem solving; (2) reflective practice; (3) emotional support and belongingness; (4) the realization of unpredictable teaching situations; and (5) life-long learning. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that mobile phones, and the convergence of mobile phones and social media, in particular, change learning environments. In addition, these tools are suitable to connect learners and learning distributed in marginalized areas. Finally, a few suggestions are made about how these insights from informal settings can inform the development of more systematic mobile learning formats.Web of Scienc

Is It Still Where I Expect It? Users’ Current Expectations of Interface Elements on the Most Frequent Types of Websites

Knowing users’ expectations about what they expect on a website and where they expect to find it is crucial for the success of a website. For the last decade, technological advances have entailed major changes in website design but the impact of these changes on users’ mental representations of web- sites remains unclear. In an online study (N = 841), we asked users to sketch their prototypical ver- sion of an online shop, a news website and a company page, thereby indicating the interface elements they expect on the website and their expected location. We compared our results to those of a pre- vious study to investigate changes in users’ mental representations of websites over time. This com- parison suggests that interface elements such as the logo, main content and navigation area are still expected in the same location although others have shifted to the rich footer area at the bottom of the website. In addition, new elements such as links to social networks have been incorporated into users’ mental representations whereas other interface elements have disappeared. By providing updated consolidated blueprint models for all three website types, we help designers to create expectation-based websites. Further implications for research and practitioners are discussed

Mobile learning in resource-constrained environments: A case study of medical education

AbstractThe achievement of the millennium development goals may be facilitated by the use of information and communication technology in medical and health education.10 Halama

Is It Still Where I Expect It?—Users' Current Expectations of Interface Elements on the Most Frequent Types of Websites

Knowing users' expectations about what they expect on a website and where they expect to find it is crucial for the success of a website. For the last decade, technological advances have entailed major changes in website design but the impact of these changes on users' mental representations of websites remains unclear. In an online study (N=841), we asked users to sketch their prototypical version of an online shop, a news website and a company page, thereby indicating the interface elements they expect on the website and their expected location. We compared our results to those of a previous study to investigate changes in users' mental representations of websites over time. This comparison suggests that interface elements such as the logo, main content and navigation area are still expected in the same location although others have shifted to the rich footer area at the bottom of the website. In addition, new elements such as links to social networks have been incorporated into users' mental representations whereas other interface elements have disappeared. By providing updated consolidated blueprint models for all three website types, we help designers to create expectation-based websites. Further implications for research and practitioners are discussed

How WEIRD is CHI?

Computer technology is often designed in technology hubs in Western countries, invariably making it “WEIRD”, because it is based on the intuition, knowledge, and values of people who are Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. Developing technology that is universally useful and engaging requires knowledge about members of WEIRD and non-WEIRD societies alike. In other words, it requires us, the CHI community, to generate this knowledge by studying representative participant samples. To find out to what extent CHI participant samples are from Western societies, we analyzed papers published in the CHI proceedings between 2016-2020. Our findings show that 73% of CHI study findings are based on Western participant samples, representing less than 12% of the world’s population. Furthermore, we show that most participant samples at CHI tend to come from industrialized, rich, and democratic countries with generally highly educated populations. Encouragingly, recent years have seen a slight increase in non-Western samples and those that include several countries. We discuss suggestions for further broadening the international representation of CHI participant samples

Supervision on Social Media: Use and Perception of Facebook as a Research Education Tool in Disadvantaged Areas

This exploratory study investigates how a typically disadvantaged user group of older, female learners from rural, low-tech settings used and perceived a Facebook group as a research supervision and distance learning tool over time. The within-stage mixed-model research was carried out in a module of a part-time, advanced midwifery education course in rural South Africa. To address the research questions, three quantitative and qualitative surveys were repeated, pre, post, and three months post evaluation. The findings indicate that using the social media space lowered learners' threshold to accessing educational resources. The increased ease of communication was afforded in particular by using mobile phones to access the space. The analysis also suggests that the social networking site became a more integral part of students' learning environments. The learners' use of the site to discuss further course and work-related issues increased during the intervention and also remained significantly higher in the three-month, post evaluation survey, indicating the routinisation and habitualisation of this learning space. The practical implications and constraints of using social networking spaces to enhance disadvantaged groups of learners’ access to educational resources are discussed

How WEIRD is HCI?: Extending HCI Principles to other Countries and Cultures

A large majority of articles published at prominent HCI venues such as CHI and CSCW reports on studies with WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) participants, ignoring that the results might not apply to other subject populations. This workshop aims to have the following two main outcomes: (1) A list of major principles that HCI researchers often build on and that are unlikely to apply to users in other countries and cultures. (2) An action plan that describes how we can extend these previous findings, such as by collaborating across countries and cultures, conducting large-scale online experiments, or creating a culture of replications and extensions with more diverse subject populations. Furthermore, the workshop aims to establish an interest group with the goal to improve the external validity of HCI research and to inform the design of further research studies in this area

Using mobile phones and social media to facilitate education and support for rural-based midwives in South Africa

Background: Empirical studies show the value of mobile phones as effective educational tools to support learning in the nursing profession, predominantly in high income countries. Problem statement: The rapidly increasing prevalence of mobile phone technology in Africa nourishes hopes that these tools could be equally effective in lowly resourced contexts, specifically in efforts to achieve the health-related Millennium Development goals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception and use of mobile phones as educational and professional tools by nurses in lowly resourced settings. Methodology: A quantitative survey using self-administered questionnaires was conducted of rural advanced midwives. Results: Fifty-six nurses (49.6%) from the 113 rural-based midwives attending an advanced midwifery training programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, filled in a questionnaire. The results showed that, whilst nurses regarded their technology competences as low and although they received very little official support from their educational and professional institutions, the majority frequently used mobile functions and applications to support their work and learning processes. They perceived mobile devices with their voice, text, and email functions as important tools for the educational and professional activities of searching for information and engaging with facilitators and peers from work and study contexts. To a lesser extent, the use of social networks, such as WhatsApp and Facebook, were also reported. Conclusion and recommendation: It is concluded that educational institutions should support the appropriate use of mobile phones more systematically; particularly in relation to the development of mobile network literacy skills

Using mobile phones and social media to facilitate education and support for rural health midwives in South Africa

BACKGROUND: Empirical studies show the value of mobile phones as effective educational tools to support learning in the nursing profession, predominantly in high income countries. PROBLEM STATEMENT: The rapidly increasing prevalence of mobile phone technology in Africa nourishes hopes that these tools could be equally effective in lowly resourced contexts, specifically in efforts to achieve the health-related Millennium Development goals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception and use of mobile phones as educational and professional tools by nurses in lowly resourced settings. METHODOLOGY: A quantitative survey using self-administered questionnaires was conducted of rural advanced midwives. RESULTS: Fifty-six nurses (49.6%) from the 113 rural-based midwives attending an advanced midwifery training programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, filled in a questionnaire. The results showed that, whilst nurses regarded their technology competences as low and although they received very little official support from their educational and professional institutions, the majority frequently used mobile functions and applications to support their work and learning processes. They perceived mobile devices with their voice, text, and email functions as important tools for the educational and professional activities of searching for information and engaging with facilitators and peers from work and study contexts. To a lesser extent, the use of social networks, such as WhatsApp and Facebook, were also reported. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: It is concluded that educational institutions should support the appropriate use of mobile phones more systematically; particularly in relation to the development of mobile network literacy skills.Department of HE and Training approved lis