AfriCHI 2023: 4th African Human Computer Interaction Conference

AfriCHI’23 was organised by a pan-African team, in cooperation with the Association of Computer Machinery’s Special Interest Group for Computer Human Interaction, ACM SIGCHI. The primary goal was to develop and sustain a unified body and local expertise for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Interaction Design (IxD) in Africa. AfriCHI aimed to broaden international participation of Africans in the practice and study of HCI and Interaction Design, advancing HCI by increasing awareness of designs, tools, inventions, methods, theories, and pedagogies for creating or using technology in Africa. Participants included interaction designers, user experience (UX) practitioners, information architects, software engineers, human factors experts, information systems analysts, and social scientists. AfriCHI 2023 Conference Summary of Associated Events: - Summer School (Co-located): The African Co-design Academy was a two-day summer school focused on exploring co-design approaches and best practices, with a particular emphasis on the African context. It aimed to enhance participants’ knowledge of co-design, share exemplary approaches in Africa, foster networking opportunities, establish connections between African SIGCHI chapters, and encourage collaboration among African researchers and students in HCI and related disciplines. -Design Challenge (Co-located): The Student Design Competition brought students from across Africa to AfriCHI to prepare them for participation in the ACM CHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in 2024. Selected students were mentored over a four-day intensive hackathon to work on a solution related to one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. -Workshops: Workshops provided a platform for debate and co-development of ideas and approaches related to the advancement of research and practice within HCI. Workshops covered various topics such as designing AI solutions for child online safety, exploring ethics and community interaction protocols, and co-designing technologies with children. -Doctoral & Masters Consortium: The consortium provided a forum for in-depth research discussions and built a mentoring and peer network among participating Masters and Ph.D. students. It included student presentations, challenges, and discussions led by experienced researchers and academics in the field. Conference Sections - Papers, Panels, Exhibits (Demos & Posters): The conference included sessions focusing on different themes such as designing and understanding immersive experiences, education, digital learning, and the future of work, trust, explainable AI, and human interaction. Each session featured paper presentations, discussions, and insights from researchers and practitioners in the respective fields. This comprehensive programme aimed to foster collaboration, knowledge exchange, and skill development among researchers, academics, practitioners, industry professionals, and students interested in HCI and Interaction Design within the African context. Through a diverse range of events and sessions, AfriCHI 2023 strived to advance the field of HCI and promote innovative solutions tailored to African challenges and opportunities.