Cultures in Human-Computer Interaction

This book provides an interdisciplinary synthesis of the topic of culture in the context of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and a structured overview of a large body of HCI research on (and with) culture. The book presents a short and guided overview of the concept of culture. It offers some background on the origin and development of the term culture. It also outlines some of its key traits and ingredients and summarizes three main perspectives of culture across disciplines. The book argues that culture matters considerably in HCI and discusses a number of reasons for and against its relevance. Arguments against include a lack of a universal or common definition of the term culture and globalization. Arguments in favor touch upon important aspects of HCI, including a diversely growing user base, the need to provide designers with enough support to design across cultures, and the inseparable relationship between culture and technology. The issues explored in this book can be classified into three, non-mutually exclusive, categories: theoretical, practical, and controversial. The book outlines the main conceptual perspectives of culture within HCI, including Geert Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory, Edward T. Hall's cross-cultural theory of communication, and Richard Nisbett's cultural cognitive systems of thought as well as examining the ways in which culture has been operationalized in HCI research and the main functions of culture in this area. It closes with a discussion of some open issues intended to spark debate and future research. The literature this book draws upon covers a wide range of research disciplines, including Anthropology, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Robotics, Disability Studies, Cultural and Cross-Cultural Psychology, Usability, and Design. This book aspires to provide a useful overview of culture for HCI scholars at all levels.

Sergio Sayago is a Lecturer in Interactive Systems and Languages (a combination of Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction) at the University of Lleida. Prior to that, he was a  postdoctoral researcher at the University of Dundee (Scotland, 2010-2012, Beatriu de Pinós fellowship) and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain, 2012-2014, Alliance 4 Universities fellowship), and a visiting lecturer at the University of Lleida (Catalonia, 2014-2016) and University of Barcelona (2016-2019). He holds a Ph.D. cum laude in Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, 2009). Sergio is an HCI scholar interested in the human side of technologies. His previous research includes web accessibility, usability, and eLearning. Since 2009, his research combines his background in computer science with his interest in everyday life to examine the sociocultural relationship between older people and digital technologies from an interdisciplinary, mostly ethnographic-and qualitative-perspective. His long-term research goal is to understand and improve aging (and living) with digital technologies. He is author of more than 50 international publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, edited books and book chapters, and conference papers. He won the Best Technical Paper Award in ACM W4A in 2009. He is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. Sergio served as Associate Chair in the Aging and Accessibility subcommittee of ACM CHI in 2022 and 2023.