SIG: Gender and Skill in Human Computer Interaction

Organizer

Ellen Balka, Memorial University of Newfoundland

As HCI designers, we rely on notions of both gender and skill that often are not explicit in our work. When we bring gender and skill to the foreground of our work, several issues emerge, including:

How does gender come to bear on the dynamics of system design?
Are system users primarily men or women?
Are there any physical or social factors that come to bear on users' system use?
What are the implicit definitions of skill in use by designers?
Are definitions of skill tied to gender stereotypes?
If so, how might different conceptions of skill come to bear on system design?

The SIG will be conducted as a facilitated discussion, where all participants will be given an opportunity to respond to a series of questions. In addition, time will be allocated for discussion.

chi96-webmaster@acm.org / 96-03-06