*CHI 2014 Workshop Call for Participation: Perspectives on Gender and Product Design <https://sites.google.com/site/technologydesignperspectives/>* *Submission Deadline: January 17th, 2014 Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: February 10th, 2014Workshop Date & Location: Saturday April 26th 2014, Toronto, CA* Interactive technologies have a profound mediating effect on the way we obtain and contribute to knowledge, relate to each other and contribute to society. Often, "gender" is not a factor that is explicitly considered in the design of these technologies. Technologies might also be designed with idealised models of gendered "users"–designed for men, designed for women, designed for the "average user" who could be male or female. But the impact of this is not very well understood, and it is unclear how "gender" might influence use and design of interactive technologies by users of anygender. Given the impact and potential ramifications of technological products on society, it is imperative that we more deeply understand the tacit and explicit models of gendered practice that underlie design choices. We need to inclusively accommodate and integrate different perspectives in shaping our modern day technologies. This workshop focuses on the bringing to the fore different perspectives of how gender affects technology design, adoption, appropriation, and possible resistance. We address what is missing from the discussion, and why, and consider what, if anything, needs to change in design methods and perspectives, to account for possible gender differences in perceived product value, ease of use, and delightful experiences. Examples of places where we believe change may need to occur include: - low representation of nuanced gender perspectives within design processes in the technology sector and within fields related to technology production, including computer science and engineering, and also design, design research, and related fields - the lack of discussion regarding gender impact in the fields related to technology design, including the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) whose very charter is to be "user-centric" and inclusive - low grant support for academic research which looks at the representation of gendered perspectives in our current discourse, which in turn leads to a lack of reliable, informative and actionable technology & gender research - the lack of focus on production of gender-agnostic design/development environments, including software tools and collaborative design/development settings - the lack of research and understanding of gender impact on technology design and use This workshop will address these barriers with respect to the tools, technologies, and processes we experience and design, both in industry and academia. The workshop will take place as part of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Toronto, CA, on Saturday April 26th 2014. We invite participation in this workshop by anyone with a substantial interest in this area, and/or related experience and expertise. Focusing topics and questions include: - *Framing the discussion: From your perspective, is gender an important topic for designers and developers of interactive products? Should we focus our critical and practical energies on Women, on Gender, or on Diversity/Inclusivity? What role(s) should there be for gender politics in the debate?* - *Gender-related knowledge and practice in academic, consultancy and corporate HCI and UX as a profession*: What is the current status of gender as a topic in the HCI/UX field of work? What are points of view on gender research in HCI? What conflicts, if any, exist? - *Gender-sensitive products*: Does truly gender-neutral design exist? If so, is this a desirable goal? If it is a desirable goal, what has been done toward this goal, what still needs to be addressed? - *Gender-sensitive design processes and practices:* Reflecting on creators of software and of interactive products, what are best practices for producing gender-sensitive designs? What are the most effective work practices, work processes and team structures that produce gender-sensitive designs? What challenges exist and what needs to be done to overcome identified challenges in product creation and promotion? Are there requirements gathering methods, design processes and evaluation methods that are specific to different gendered perspectives? Please submit a position paper (maximum of 4 pages) detailing your background, and interest and experience in this topic. Participants will be selected on the basis of their potential to contribute to the overall discussion and the workshop goals. To participate in this workshop, position papers must be submitted by January 17th 2014. Please use the CHI Extended Abstracts format <http://chi2014.acm.org/authors/format>. Submissions should be sent to* [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>* *If accepted, at least one of the authors must attend the workshop in Toronto on April 26th 2014. Mandatory registration requires a one day workshop registration PLUS at least a one day conference registration.* For more information see: https://sites.google.com/site/technologydesignperspectives/ or email us at *[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>* *Organisers* Daniela K. Busse, Samsung Research, USA Shaowen Bardzell, Indiana University, USA Anke M. Brock, IRIT, Univ. Toulouse, France Margaret Burnett, Oregon State University, USA Elizabeth F. Churchill, eBay, USA Susan M. Dray, Dray & Associates, Inc., USA Allison Druin, University of Maryland, USA Karen Holtzblatt, InContext Design, USA Dianne Murray, Interacting with Computers, UK Anicia Peters, Iowa State University, USA Gayna Williams, If She Can I Can, USA --------------------------------------------------------------- For news of CHI books, courses & software, join CHI-RESOURCES mailto: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe from CHI-ANNOUNCEMENTS send an email to mailto:[log in to unmask] For further details of CHI lists see http://listserv.acm.org ---------------------------------------------------------------