Call for Papers
This one-day workshop edition addresses the theme "Design Trade-offs for an Inclusive Society". The United Nations defined social inclusion as "the process of improving the terms of participation in society, particularly for people who are disadvantaged, through enhancing opportunities, access to resources, voice and respect for rights".
To fully understand the extent to which inclusion has to be brought into society, the diversity concept should be analyzed. In particular, the groups of individuals who are often left out in an inclusive society that will be specifically addressed by this workshop are:
- disabled people (for whom progress should mean: growing competence in self-care rather than growing dependence);
- elderly people (with limited abilities and possibilities for socialization);
- learners of all ages (without opportunities to engage in interest-driven, self-directed learning opportunities);
- owner of problems (being dependent on high–tech scribes for making systems fit their needs);
- all groups that have to cope with non-convivial tools.
Four dimensions could be identified for defining Inclusion, they are: Empowerment, Socialization, Independence, and Learning. In such perspective, designing for Cultures of Participation and Social Inclusion means to take into account all the peculiar characteristics of stakeholders and the diversity of user differences to find out what trade-offs have to be dealt with for satisfying their expectations and reaching the desired outcomes. A trade-off is a situation that involves losing one quality or aspect of something in return for gaining another quality or aspect.
The workshop explores and discusses the design trade-offs that diversity (and thus the need for inclusion) may introduce in Cultures of Participation, including but not limited to:
- Usability versus accessibility;
- Usability versus usefulness;
- Customizable interfaces versus minimalist design and simplicity of use;
- Pervasive technologies and ubiquitous computing versus quality of life;
- Personalization versus privacy;
- One-size-fits-all versus tailored solutions (e.g. standardization versus flexibility);
- Involving end users as designers (e.g. participatory design) versus participation overload;
- Consumer cultures versus cultures of participation;
- Tools for living versus tools for learning;
- Independence versus overreliance;
- Independence versus scaffolding;
- Facilitation versus instruction;
- Independence versus the need for human involvement in case the technology breaks down.