Reopening, Repetition and Resetting: HCI and the Method of Hope
Matt Ratto, Steven J. Jackson · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · 2023
This paper attempts to (re)theorize the nature and role of hope in collaborative and interventionist CSCW and HCI projects. Building on work in anthropology, STS, CSCW and HCI, and extended reflection on the 3Dprintability project - a multinational collaboration dedicated to the 3D printing of prosthetics in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia - it advocates for a more pluralistic and action-oriented understanding of hope built around moments of collaborative reopening, repetition and resetting. It then argues for a more robust and open-ended HCI method of hope that can change the way interventionist projects are conceived, documented, evaluated, and communicated, both in the HCI literature and in more public-facing accounts.