African Identity and HCI Methods that Inform Technology Design
Elizabeth Muthoni Warrick, Tigist Shewarega Hussen, Jedidah Kibutu, Bukelwa Ngoqo · 2016
This panel will discuss what it means to be African and doing research in/about Africa, with a focus on identity issues that underlie the use of ethnographic methods. Research suggests that the centrality of our sense of self makes us view the groups we identify with more favorably than other groups. This has enormous implications for HCI research that aims to inform technology design. Thus, we will examine the dynamic between researchers who are outsiders and those on the inside who facilitate their research; as well as how 'in-between' identities help navigate boundary spaces between African perspectives. Secondly, we will examine user behavior as it shapes African identities within communities that live online, and how the identity of researcher interacts, collaborates and contradicts with the constructed 'self' of the researched.