Postcolonial Interculturality Lilly Irani Ph.D. Student, Department of Informatics Advisor: Paul Dourish Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences University of California, Irvine

Abstract

Understanding both collaboration and design across cultures is a thorny problem in CSCW and HCI that grows ever more important as globalization increases intercultural interactions among individuals, groups, and technologies.

We suggest that Postcolonial Studies may offer richer frameworks for analysis than taxonomic models of culture such as Hofstede’s dimensions of difference. A postcolonial perspective sees culture as dynamic and always changing, stressing the importance of colonial histories, uneven economic relations, and local knowledge systems in framing and designing information technologies.

 

Bio

I am a second year PhD student working at the intersection of everyday ubiquitous computing and interactive and collaborative technologies, with a Graduate Feminist Emphasis. I study with Prof. Paul Dourish in the Laboratory for Ubiquitous Computing and Interaction. I also work with Prof. Gillian Hayes. My research interests are sociology and anthropology of design, CSCW, and feminist research practice. Previously, I spent four years at Google as a User Experience Designer on a range of products including AdWords, Page Creator, and Notebook.