With the recent growth in sustainable HCI, now is a good time to map out the approaches being taken and the intellectual commitments that underlie the area, to allow for community discussion about where the field should go. Here, we provide an empirical analysis of how sustainable HCI is defining itself as a research field. Based on a corpus of published works, we identify (1) established genres in the area, (2) key unrecognized intellectual differences, and (3) emerging issues, including urgent avenues for further exploration, opportunities for interdisciplinary engagement, and key topics for debate.

In this paper we examine how information—particularly, its organization and presentation—and “space ” (i.e., a physical location) can be combined to create a particular “place ” (i.e., a location adapted to a particular purpose) for engaging and stabilizing homeless young people, aged 13–25. Over 10 months, we used a participatorydesign research approach to investigate how an alliance of nine service agencies used information resources to support homeless young people. We collected 250 information resources and analyzed how these materials were organized and presented at four service agencies. In general, the agencies used ad hoc organizational schemes and presentations that were not in keeping with the key values of the alliance, which include human welfare, respect, trust, autonomy, and sustainability. To improve information delivery and the projection of common values, we followed a two-step design process. First, based on a card-sorting activity, we developed a new organizational scheme. Second, we developed four interrelated prototypes for presenting information resources: Rolling Case, InfoBike, Slat Wall, and Infold. To convey the use of these prototypes, three short video scenarios were created to demonstrate how the prototypes would be used by stakeholders, including homeless young people, staff, and volunteers. Feedback from stakeholders suggested that these prototypes, when sufficiently refined, could be useful and operationally viable. By investigating the concept of “place, ” reconstituted through organizational schemes and novel presentations of information resources, this work creates possibilities that may allow grassroots service agencies to give more efficient access to information while expressing their values.

This CHI Note proposes a new research initiative for the HCI community: multi-lifespan information system design. The central idea begins with the identification of categories of problems that are unlikely to be solved within a single human lifespan. Three such categories are proposed: limitations of the human psyche, limitations of the structure of society, and slower moving natural time-scales. We then examine possible opportunities and roles for information systems to help construct longer-term solutions to such problems and, in turn, identify key challenges for such systems. Finally, we conclude by discussing significant real world problems that would benefit from a multilifespan design approach and point to open questions. This CHI Note’s key contribution entails the articulation of a promising new research initiative for the HCI community. Author Keywords Multi-lifespan information system design, research

Value Sensitive Design and Participatory Design are two methodological frameworks that account for ethical issues throughout the process of technology design. Through analysis and case studies, this paper argues that such methods should be applied to persuasive technology—computer systems that are intended to change behaviors and attitudes.

Questions of human values often arise in HCI research and practice. Such questions can be difficult to address well, and a principled approach can clarify issues of both theory and practice. One such approach is Value Sensitive Design (VSD), an established theory and method for addressing issues of values in a systematic and principled fashion in the design of information technology. In this essay, we suggest however that the theory and at times the presentation of VSD overclaims in a number of key respects, with the result of inhibiting its more widespread adoption and appropriation. We address these issues by suggesting four topics for next steps in the evolution of VSD: (1) tempering VSD’s position on universal values; (2) contextualizing existing and future lists of values that are presented as heuristics for consideration; (3) strengthening the voice of the participants in publications describing VSD investigations; and (4) making clearer the voice of the researchers. We propose new or altered approaches for VSD that address these issues of theory, voice, and reportage. Author Keywords Value Sensitive Design; participatory design; design; collaborative ethnography; qualitative research; universal values; culturally-specific values; feminism; voice ACM Classification Keywords K.4.1 [Computers and society]: Public policy issues-

We demonstrate how value considerations can be used to analyze an information ecology that has emerged to help homeless young people. We studied the information ecology of service agencies that assist homeless young people, age 13 to 25. We focused on printed materials used at the agencies and employed surveys and semi-structured interviews to gather data. Of the printed materials considered, a flier with a map of all programs was reported to be most important and distributed most frequently. Future work would further investigate distribution and usability of these portable information sources and the values they embody.

Computer security courses typically cover a breadth of technical topics, including threat modeling, applied cryptography, software security, and Web security. The technical artifacts of computer systems – and their associated computer security risks and defenses – do not exist in isolation, however; rather, these systems interact intimately with the needs, beliefs, and values of people. This is especially true as computers become more pervasive, embedding themselves not only into laptops, desktops, and the Web, but also into our cars, medical devices, and toys. Therefore, in addition to the standard technical material, we argue that students would benefit from developing a mindset focused on the broader societal and contextual issues surrounding computer security systems and risks. We used science fiction (SF) prototyping to facilitate such societal and contextual thinking in a recent undergraduate computer security course. We report on our approach and experiences here, as well as our recommendations for future computer security and other computer science courses.