Sexual Interactions: Why We Should Talk About Sex in HCI

Within the CHI community there is growing interest in moving beyond cognition and expanding into the social, emotional, and bodily aspects of the human-computer experience. Sex lies at the intersection of these concerns, and indeed outside of HCI, has become a central topic for anthropology, behavioral sciences, and other areas of intellectual inquiry. Examining sex and themes related to it has benefited these disciplines and we intend to understand how it can contribute to HCI. There is a tendency to desexualize technology, despite the presence of sex and sexuality in a variety of interactions, including the use of the internet for viewing pornography, building online communities, and facilitating intimacy. By rendering these interactions sexless, we risk gaining only a marginal understanding of technology\u27s role in day-to-day life

Real mobiles: Kenyan and Zambian Smallholder Farmers' current attitudes towards mobile phones

What are rural farmers in sub-Saharan Africa's current attitudes towards their mobile phones? We draw from qualitative studies of smallholder farmers in Kenya and Zambia to answer this question. A review of ongoing efforts to develop mobile phone services for farmers paired with critiques of the "colonial impulse" embedded in future-oriented visions of technology use guided our study. Our findings suggest there is a mismatch between the design of mobile phone applications and our participants' perceptions and usage of their devices. We also discovered several understudied barriers that hinder adoption of mobile services: the influx of counterfeit and substandard mobile phones, distrust of the content being delivered via SMS and reservations about the spiritual and health consequences accompanying phone use. We use these findings to encourage Information and Communication Technology and Development (ICTD) researchers and practitioners to re-examine the mobile phone. Specifically, we suggest developing interventions that teach farmers how to better use phones and present recommendations for improving their design

Domain crossing: how much expertise is enough?

In CSCW, how much do we need to know about another domain/culture before we observe, intersect and intervene with designs. What optimally would that other culture need to know about us? Is this a “how long is a piece of string” question, or an inquiry where we can consider a variety of contexts and to explicate best practice. The goal of this panel will be to develop heuristics for such practice

Investigating religion and computing: a case for using standpoint theory in technology evaluation studies

This research focuses on the development and study of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that support religious practices and the use of standpoint theory in ICT evaluation studies. Three phases makeup this work: formative studies to understand how megachurches, their members and leaders use ICT in ways tied to their Protestant Christian faith and the design of a technology probe, a photo sharing website named ChurchShare. The final and most significant phase is the evaluation of this probe in two churches. I deployed ChurchShare in a Christian church comprised of U.S. born individuals and argue this initial deployment took place with â ideal users,â or those I intended to use the application and who represent the traditional targets of HCC (Human-Centered Computing) research. More than 200 photos were uploaded to ChurchShare and findings suggest that the technology probe was successfully integrated into the churchâ s worship services. Standpoint theory guided the second deployment study that was conducted with individuals who are marginalized in HCC researchâ "Kenyan immigrants. Participants rejected ChurchShare and zero pictures were uploaded to the website. I compare findings from both deployments and conclude that conducting ICT evaluation studies with marginalized users leads to more objective findings than conducting such studies with ideal users. I end with a discussion describing how standpoint theory can be incorporated into HCC, focusing on how this approach offers a practical way for researchers to uncover value differences between themselves and the people who interact with their work.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Dr. Rebecca E. Grinter; Committee Member: Dr. Elizabeth D. Mynatt; Committee Member: Dr. Genevieve Bell; Committee Member: Dr. James D. Foley; Committee Member: Dr. Jodi Forlizz