Hello folks,

Dr. Foad Hamidi (http://www.foadhamidi.info/) from UMBC will be visiting on Friday next week, Aug 24th. He will be giving a talk at 11AM (title/abstract attached), and will be available for demos or just casual chat after 2PM. Send me an email by tomorrow EOD (Aug 23rd) if you would like to sign up for a slot.

I got to know him since we were in the same session of CHI this year, and I was greatly inspired by his work on the social implications of automatic gender recognition systems, which was also awarded a Best Paper Award of this CHI.

Cheers, Zhicong

******** Title: Incorporating Stakeholder Perspectives When Designing Digital Systems

Abstract:

Participatory and inclusive design approaches advocate for the inclusion of representative stakeholders early on in the design process both to ensure that outcomes are informed by the needs and desires of real-world users, and to avoid causing unintended harm. In this talk, I present several research projects that underline the importance of including diverse perspectives when creating digital systems. These projects include the participatory design and evaluation of a digital living media system that engages children through dynamics of caring and responsibility, the development of a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) open-source communication board for non-verbal users, and a study of perceptions and attitudes of transgender individuals towards automatic gender recognition technology. I conclude with reflections on how to incorporate participatory and inclusive approaches when designing digital systems.

Biography:

Foad Hamidi is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. His research interests include Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Participatory Design, Digital Living Media Systems and DIY Assistive Technology. He conducts interdisciplinary cormmunitity-engaged research and collaborates regularly with diverse community partners and stakeholders. He has a PhD in Computer Science from York University, Toronto.