Data RepairThis paper investigates data repair practices through a six-month-long ethnographic study in Bangladesh. Our interviews and field observations with data repairers and related stakeholders found that, alongside the scarcity of high-precision machinery and access to advanced software, data repair work is constrained by cross-language learning resources and the protective nature of documenting, curating, and sharing the experiences and knowledge among local peers. Repairers turning to external resources such as foreign forums and LLMs also revealed their frustrating experiences and the postcolonial ethical tensions they encountered. We noted that both anticipated technical labor and the emotionality of data were taken into account for pricing the data repair job, which contributed to their market sustainability strategies. Engaging with repair, infrastructure, and data poverty discourse, we argue that data repair practices represent a crucial challenge and opportunity for HCI in advancing global efforts toward data equity.2026ARA.T.M Mizanur Rahman et al.University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignDeveloping Countries & HCI for Development (HCI4D)Privacy & Data Ownership in Self-TrackingCHI
UnWEIRDing Peer Review in Human-Computer InteractionPeer review determines which scholarship is legitimized; however, review biases often disadvantage scholarship that diverges from the norm. Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) lacks a systemic inquiry into how such biases affect underrepresented Global South (GS) scholarship. To address this critical gap, we conducted four focus groups with 16 HCI researchers studying the GS. Participants reported experiencing reviews that confined them to development research, dismissed their theoretical contributions, and questioned situated knowledge from GS communities. Both as authors and reviewers, participants reported experiencing the epistemic burden of over-explaining why knowledge from GS communities matters. Further, they noted being tokenized as "cultural experts'' when assigned to review papers and pointed out that the hidden curriculum of writing HCI papers often gatekeeps GS scholarship. Using epistemic oppression as a lens, we discuss how review practices marginalize GS scholarship and outline actionable strategies for nurturing equitable epistemological evaluation of HCI scholarship.2026HNHellina Hailu Nigatu et al.UC BerkeleyDeveloping Countries & HCI for Development (HCI4D)Technology Ethics & Critical HCICHI
Embodying Facts, Figures, and Faiths in Narrative Artistic Performances in Rural BangladeshThere is an increasing interest in telling serious stories with data. Designers organize information, construct narratives, and present findings to inform audiences. However, many of these practices emerge from modern information visualization rhetoric and ethical frameworks which may marginalize communities with low digital and media literacy. In a ten-month-long ethnographic study in three Bangladeshi villages, we investigated how these communities use entertainment and cultural practices, namely Puthi, Bhandari Gaan, and Pot music, to instruct, communicate traditional moral lessons and recall history. We found that these communities embrace polyvocality and multiple ethical frameworks in their performances, construct narratives combining factuality, emotionality, and aesthetics, and adapt their performances to changing technology and audience needs. Our findings provide HCI, visualization, and ethical data practitioners with implications for the design of accessible and culturally appropriate ways of presenting data narratives in data-driven systems.2026SSSharifa Sultana et al.University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignData StorytellingInclusive DesignDeveloping Countries & HCI for Development (HCI4D)CHI
"Deprived of support because we're born women": Emerging Socio-Technical Pathways and Evolving Struggles for Women Entrepreneurs in BangladeshWomen's entrepreneurship is a key driver of socio-economic empowerment in the Global South, yet patriarchal sociocultural contexts limit entrepreneur’s autonomy and, despite increasing attention to gender issues in HCI, shifting digital infrastructures cause privacy, security, and logistical challenges. We conduct 15 interviews with women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh who rely on digital technology, offering insight into who they are, their business and supply chains, technology use, and the gendered challenges of balancing work with family. We present women’s accounts of navigating in-person and online harassment and crime, including through payment platforms, and banking tools that legally enforce gender discrimination. We discuss how digital technology design must adapt to these pervasive issues and propose digital interventions to support developing their businesses and achieving financial independence. Our work contributes to understanding how HCI can take a transformative role in overcoming barriers and advancing mechanisms for women's financial empowerment in the Global South.2026MSManika Saha et al.Monash UniversityDeveloping Countries & HCI for Development (HCI4D)AI Ethics, Fairness & AccountabilityPrivacy by Design & User ControlCHI
Data Migration in HCI: The Politics of Invisible Borders, Informal Networks, and Immigrants’ DataHost countries' infrastructures often challenge the legitimacy of immigrants' data from their home country, resulting in limiting their access to civic services. Drawing on interviews with 32 immigrants in Canada, we conceptualize Data Migration as the socio-technical, political, and infrastructural process in which immigrants make their data legitimate in their host country. Our findings show how credit bureaus, credential evaluators, healthcare databases, immigration portals, and other digital governance systems gatekeep immigrants’ civic rights and opportunities. We also highlight the crucial role of community-mediated informal networks in sustaining access where formal infrastructures fail. Using Ribot and Peluso’s Theory of Access, we demonstrate that systemic biases in policies and technical standards often privilege some immigrants while constraining others. Our work calls on HCI to critically examine migration governance and design data ecosystems that are equitable, pluralistic, and capable of supporting immigrant agency.2026YRYasaman Rohanifar et al.University of TorontoDeveloping Countries & HCI for Development (HCI4D)Privacy by Design & User ControlPrivacy Perception & Decision-MakingCHI
Perfectly to a Tee: Understanding User Perceptions of Personalized LLM-Enhanced Narrative InterventionsStories about overcoming personal struggles can effectively illustrate the application of psychological theories in real life, yet they may fail to resonate with individuals' experiences. In this work, we employ large language models (LLMs) to create tailored narratives that acknowledge and address unique challenging thoughts and situations faced by individuals. Our study, involving 346 young adults across two settings, demonstrates that personalized LLM-enhanced stories were perceived to be better than human-written ones in conveying key takeaways, promoting reflection, and reducing belief in negative thoughts. These stories were not only seen as more relatable but also similarly authentic to human-written ones, highlighting the potential of LLMs in helping young adults manage their struggles. The findings of this work provide crucial design considerations for future narrative-based digital mental health interventions, such as the need to maintain relatability without veering into implausibility and refining the wording and tone of AI-enhanced content.2025ABAnanya Bhattacharjee et al.Human-LLM CollaborationMental Health Apps & Online Support CommunitiesDIS
Talking About the Assumption in the RoomThe reference to assumptions in how practitioners use or interact with machine learning (ML) systems is ubiquitous in HCI and responsible ML discourse. However, what remains unclear from prior works is the conceptualization of assumptions and how practitioners identify and handle assumptions throughout their workflows. This leads to confusion about what assumptions are and what needs to be done with them. We use the concept of an argument from Informal Logic, a branch of Philosophy, to offer a new perspective to understand and explicate the confusions surrounding assumptions. Through semi structured interviews with 22 ML practitioners, we find what contributes most to these confusions is how independently assumptions are constructed, how reactively and reflectively they are handled, and how nebulously they are recorded. Our study brings the peripheral discussion of assumptions in ML to the center and presents recommendations for practitioners to better think about and work with assumptions.2025RMRamaravind Kommiya Mothilal et al.University of Toronto, Faculty of InformationAI-Assisted Decision-Making & AutomationAI Ethics, Fairness & AccountabilityComputational Methods in HCICHI
The Politics of Fear and the Experience of Bangladeshi Religious Minority Communities Using Social Media PlatformsDespite significant research on online harm, polarization, public deliberation, and justice, CSCW still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the experiences of religious minorities, particularly in relation to fear, as prominently evident in our study. Gaining faith-sensitive insights into the expression, participation, and inter-religious interactions on social media can greatly contribute to CSCW's literature on online safety and interfaith communication. In pursuit of this goal, we conducted a six-month-long, interview-based study with the Hindu, Buddhist, and Indigenous communities in Bangladesh. Our study draws on an extensive body of research encompassing the spiral of silence, the cultural politics of fear, and communication accommodation to examine how social media use by religious minorities is influenced by fear, which is associated with social conformity, misinformation, stigma, stereotypes, and South Asian postcolonial memory. Moreover, we engage with scholarly perspectives from religious studies, justice, and South Asian violence, offering important critical insights and design lessons for the CSCW literature on public deliberation, justice, and interfaith communication concerning religious minorities.2024MRMohammad Rashidujjaman Rifat et al.Session 3e: Content Moderation and Marginalized ExperiencesCSCW
Understanding the Role of Large Language Models in Personalizing and Scaffolding Strategies to Combat Academic ProcrastinationTraditional interventions for academic procrastination often fail to capture the nuanced, individual-specific factors that underlie them. Large language models (LLMs) hold immense potential for addressing this gap by permitting open-ended inputs, including the ability to customize interventions to individuals' unique needs. However, user expectations and potential limitations of LLMs in this context remain underexplored. To address this, we conducted interviews and focus group discussions with 15 university students and 6 experts, during which a technology probe for generating personalized advice for managing procrastination was presented. Our results highlight the necessity for LLMs to provide structured, deadline-oriented steps and enhanced user support mechanisms. Additionally, our results surface the need for an adaptive approach to questioning based on factors like busyness. These findings offer crucial design implications for the development of LLM-based tools for managing procrastination while cautioning the use of LLMs for therapeutic guidance.2024ABAnanya Bhattacharjee et al.University of TorontoHuman-LLM CollaborationAI-Assisted Decision-Making & AutomationCHI
Computing and the Stigmatized: Trust, Surveillance, and Spatial Politics with the Sex Workers in BangladeshThe sex workers in the Global South represent a significant portion of the world sex industry. However, when compared to the relevant HCI literature on sex work and computing, there exists a noticeable gap in comprehending the experiences and circumstances of the sex workers in this region. This study fills the void by presenting the findings of a three-month-long ethnography with 25 legal sex workers in Daulatdia brothel, Bangladesh, revealing their struggles with stigma, low-tech literacy, and the emerging threats of online security, along with their skills and creativity to bypass those. Drawing on the previous literature on South Asian feminism, postcolonial computing, and critical urban studies, we demonstrate how these findings are deeply rooted in the country's history and culture and propelled by a modernist vision of ''development'' that marginalizes such communities. Our discussion advances HCI's discourse on sexuality, privacy, equity, and generates implications for design and policy changes.2024PSPratyasha Saha et al.University of DhakaEmpowerment of Marginalized GroupsTechnology Ethics & Critical HCIDeveloping Countries & HCI for Development (HCI4D)CHI
Towards a Non-Ideal Methodological Framework for Responsible MLThough ML practitioners increasingly employ various Responsible ML (RML) strategies, their methodological approach in practice is still unclear. In particular, the constraints, assumptions, and choices of practitioners with technical duties--such as developers, engineers, and data scientists---are often implicit, subtle, and under-scrutinized in HCI and related fields. We interviewed 22 technically oriented ML practitioners across seven domains to understand the characteristics of their methodological approaches to RML through the lens of ideal and non-ideal theorizing of fairness. We find that practitioners’ methodological approaches fall along a spectrum of idealization. While they structured their approaches through ideal theorizing, such as by abstracting RML workflow from the inquiry of applicability of ML, they did not systematically document nor pay deliberate attention to their non-ideal approaches, such as diagnosing imperfect conditions. We end our paper with a discussion of a new methodological approach, inspired by elements of non-ideal theory, to structure technical practitioners’ RML process and facilitate collaboration with other stakeholders.2024RMRamaravind Kommiya Mothilal et al.University of TorontoAI Ethics, Fairness & AccountabilityAlgorithmic Fairness & BiasCHI
\textit{Cohabitant}: The Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Virtual Reality Application for Interfaith Learning and Empathy BuildingLack of interfaith communication often gives rise to prejudice and group-based conflict in multi-faith societies. Nurturing this communication via interfaith learning may reduce this conflict by fostering interfaith empathy. HCI has a dearth of knowledge on interfaith coexistence and empathy building. To address this gap, we present the design, implementation, and usability of \textit{Cohabitant}: a virtual reality (VR) application that promotes interfaith learning and empathy. \textit{Cohabitant}'s design is theoretically underpinned by Allport's intergroup contact theory and informed by insights from a participatory workshop we ran with members of three religious groups: Christians, Hindus, and Muslims. Our evaluation study, combining quantitative and qualitative data from 30 participants, suggests that \textit{Cohabitant} may enhance general interpersonal empathy, but falls short for ethnocultural empathy. We discuss the possible design and policy implications of using this kind of VR technology for interfaith learning and empathy building.2024MRMohammad Rashidujjaman Rifat et al.University of TorontoSocial & Collaborative VRMental Health Apps & Online Support CommunitiesEmpowerment of Marginalized GroupsCHI
In-Between Visuals and Visible: The Impacts of Text-to-Image Generative AI Tools on Digital Image-making Practices in the Global SouthThis paper joins the growing body of HCI work on critical AI studies and focuses on the impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) tools in Bangladesh. While the West has started to examine the limitations and risks associated with these tools, their impacts on the Global South have remained understudied. Based on our interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), and social media-based qualitative study, this paper reports how popular text-to-image GAI tools (ex., DALL-E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, Firefly) are affecting various image-related local creative fields. We report how these tools limit the creative explorations of marginal artists, struggle to understand linguistic nuances, fail to generate local forms of art and architecture, and misrepresent the diversity among citizens in the image production process. Drawing from a rich body of work on critical image theory, postcolonial computing, and design politics, we explain how our findings are pertinent to HCI's broader interest in social justice, decolonization, and global development.2024NMNusrat Jahan Mim et al.Harvard UniversityGenerative AI (Text, Image, Music, Video)AI Ethics, Fairness & AccountabilityTechnology Ethics & Critical HCICHI
Hearing Community Voices in HCI4D: Establishing Safe Places to Co-Create Counter-Collective Narratives with Women Farmers in BangladeshAlthough listening to community voice is a core value in HCI4D, we have limited methods to capture the community voice of marginalized groups within disadvantaged communities. Working with NGOs and 24 marginalized women farmers in Bangladesh, we promoted psychological safety and empowerment through our configuration of the process. Our stakeholders decided to record and produce a radio-style audio recording that presented their counter-collective narratives for development projects. We reflect on this process using the Benefits of Community Voice framework to document rich insights into community contexts, lived experiences, local knowledge, and building trust and buy-in and through interviews with three NGO workers. We discuss the fundamental need of stakeholders for a safe place to share, the value of letting stakeholders guide method selection, the significance of counter-collective narratives, the benefits of participatory audio to hear community voices for democratizing and sustaining development and design implications of our work for HCI4D.2024MSManika Saha et al.Monash UniversityEmpowerment of Marginalized GroupsDeveloping Countries & HCI for Development (HCI4D)Participatory DesignCHI
Politics of the Past: Understanding the Role of Memory, Postmemory, and Remembrance in Navigating the History of Migrant FamiliesThe importance of history as an HCI method has been gaining increasing attention in HCI literature. However, the mainstream historical sources (books, documentaries, etc.) and methods often risk (re)producing western colonial biases potentially providing a narrow one-sided perspective on history and detaching “sanitized facts” from people’s emotional accounts. While oral history and similar alternative methods are often used as a countermeasure, their applicability has remained underexplored in HCI, especially in a sensitive context, such as migration. We build on the rich body of social science work on collective memory to introduce a complementary way of navigating the past of the migrant families, and also reveal the corresponding challenges to advance this literature. Our interview study with 17 migrant families highlights how the politics of remembrance, family dynamics, and postmemory shape the past stories of migrant families. We discuss how these findings inform the HCI literature on migration, design, and postcolonial computing.2024NCNabila Chowdhury et al.University of TorontoCognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)Developing Countries & HCI for Development (HCI4D)User Research Methods (Interviews, Surveys, Observation)CHI
A Matter of Time: Anticipation Work and Digital Temporalities in Refugee Humanitarian Assistance in TurkeyScholarly work interrogating time and temporality in CSCW predominantly focuses on the temporal coordination of work in high-resource settings and is usually based in Global North. This paper aims to complicate and complement this scholarship by investigating the temporal entanglements of digital humanitarian work with refugees and asylum seekers in Turkey during COVID-19. We interviewed 22 humanitarian workers to understand their experiences and concerns as well as strategies they employed to support refugees and immigrants at a distance. The data reveal the complex temporal, informational, and infrastructural dimensions of technologically-mediated refugee support work, challenging the trope of “pivot to remote work”, as popular in western countries. Our findings contribute to the CSCW research on the theory of anticipation work and its relationship with the concept of collaborative rhythms to explicate the relational and situated aspects of the temporal experiences of humanitarian workers in low-resource settings.2023CECansu Ekmekcioglu et al.CSCW Across BordersCSCW
Communicating Consequences: Visual Narratives, Abstraction, and Polysemy in Rural BangladeshInformation communication and visualization practices reflect two centuries of developments of conventions and best practices which may not be reflective of global audiences’ methods for conveying information. Contrasting between rural traditional visual culture and contemporary HCI and data-visualization, we argue that an understanding of traditional practices for information visualization is required for building rich data-narratives and making data-driven systems more accessible and culturally situated. Our ten-month ethnographic study investigates how rural Bangladeshi communities construct narratives through visual media. \footnote{Caution: This paper contains visually disturbing images.} Our observation, interviews, and FGDs (n=54) expose how participants convey risk management, decision-making, and monetary management practices to their peers. We find that villagers used a rich network of polysemic symbols and abstractions to manifest subjectivity, factuality, consequence, situatedness, and uncertainty; varied visual attributes for constructing narratives; and emphasized material relations among components in visuals. These findings inform the design of future systems for decision support in a culturally situated manner.2023SSSharifa Sultana et al.Cornell UniversityGeospatial & Map VisualizationData StorytellingCHI
Community Voice as Data: Affordances of Participatory Videos for International Program DevelopmentInternational program development is a complex process involving many stakeholders. Current international practice affords limited, if any, opportunities for direct community-led input into the program commissioning process, resulting in programs that may not meet the specific needs of communities on the ground. Community voice is one source of data that could help focus the design of effective development programs and interventions. However, development programs are primarily formulated based on representative and often quantitative data conducted by experts from outside the community. Through a participatory video production process with disadvantaged women farmers in rural Bangladesh, we explore the opportunities for including meaningful community voices in these institutionalized processes. We present practical design implications for how community-generated voices can act as rich data, establishing confidence, community bonds and senses of accountability to inform early stages of project development, and to specifically augment and contextualize other data sources.2023MSManika Saha et al.Monash UniversityCommunity Engagement & Civic TechnologyDeveloping Countries & HCI for Development (HCI4D)Participatory DesignCHI
User Perceptions and Experiences of Targeted Ads on Social Media Platforms: Learning from Bangladesh and IndiaWhile people's perceptions of targeted ads have been studied extensively from a Western perspective (e.g., North America, Europe), we know little about users’ perceptions in the South Asian region. We interviewed 40 participants from two South Asian countries, Bangladesh and India, to explore their perceptions and practices regarding targeted ads on social media platforms. Participants identified emerging ad types, such as influencer-based ads and soft ads, through articles. In addition, participants often outweighed discounts over product quality when viewing ads. We also observed novel user mental models of targeted ads based on mobile app permissions and excessive AI usage. Participants often preferred ad control over transparency. While most participants rarely used ad settings, some controlled ads by changing mobile app permissions or muting ads on social media platforms. Participants also raised concerns about fraudulent targeted ads and privacy violations due to device sharing. We present potential design ideas to mitigate these concerns.2023TSTanusree Sharma et al.University of Illinois at Urbana ChampaignAI Ethics, Fairness & AccountabilitySocial Platform Design & User BehaviorCHI
Be Our Guest: Intercultural Heritage Exchange through Augmented Reality (AR)This paper explores how interactive applications can help mitigate the adversity of facing cultural differences between migrants and the host community, and between migrants of diverse backgrounds to foster intercultural exchange. Based on literature about situated cognition, immersive theater, and affordance, we designed and built \textit{Be Our Guest}: an augmented reality application where a user is invited to the houses of people from different cultures and is asked to help with one of their cultural rituals around simple everyday objects. We detail the various phases we took to collect the cultural stories and construct the application. We then report the results of a user study with the developed application. Our findings show that participants were easily immersed in the augmented space due to the app's narrative, visuals, and interactive nature. Moreover, they enjoyed exploring cultural rituals, including their own, and felt more confident connecting with people from other cultures.2023DSDina Sabie et al.University of TorontoAR Navigation & Context AwarenessMuseum & Cultural Heritage DigitizationInteractive Narrative & Immersive StorytellingCHI