CHIWORK is an annual symposium focused on how HCI will support future work. This year, the CHIWORK’24 symposium was hosted by the University of Northumbria in the charming city of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. There are quite a few cool-looking bridges over the river and across the city
I arrived in Newcastle with an early train from London and enjoyed the beautiful English countryside. Pro tip: the view of Durham Castle from the train is stunning and worth every second of window-gazing. Unfortunately, I did not manage to capture it as I was absorbed by the view but here is a photo from the web. It was a great train ride.
The first event was the student’s consortium where twelve students talked about their research experience, interests and got feedback and advice from mentors, such as Advait Sarkar from Microsoft, Andrew Kun from University of New Hampshire, Carine Lallemand from University of Luxemburg, and others. We presented posters to all attendees of the conferences and got to know each other better. Here is me talking about the studies I’ve conducted during my PhD.
What set this consortium apart was its inclusivity. Unlike typical events focusing solely on doctoral students, this one welcomed student from all levels. I met Audrey Chang from Harvard, an undergraduate student interested in democratizing knowledge who gave me great feedback on my own ideas. Interacting with students from all levels must surely be great for fostering research creativity.
In my talk during the consortium, I reflected on my doctoral journey, now in its fourth and final year, and raised questions about the skills to develop considering the recent AI boom. Horia Maior encouraged me to embrace my unique interdisciplinary expertise and rely on my broad skill set, which, while not easily labeled, allows me to identify and explore HCI research questions. This encouragement made me feel accepted and reassured me. Even if all I got out of the conference was this feeling, it would have been worth it. However, I gained so much more.
During discussions with mentors, I had a brief conversation with Carine Lallemand (in the photo above), who questioned the specific user experience I am designing for. These discussions were among the first to address a common theme: what does it mean to design for worker-centric productivity? Throughout the conference, I was pleasantly surprised to find a consensus on the importance of focusing on wellbeing at work. This includes considering health, work-life balance, and overall job satisfaction as crucial elements of productivity. Realizing that the “HCI for work” community strongly prioritizes these values made me feel a strong sense of belonging to this community.
The first day was followed by an opening key-note speech and a conversations panel, providing a great mix of experiences. My research presentation was during the second day. In our paper, we studied the functionalities which are useful for supporting users of to-do list apps to make more realistic plans. You can read more about this study here.
I thoroughly enjoyed giving the talk and engaging with the questions that followed. It was encouraging to hear from attendees who shared that they enjoyed the presentation. That’s another great thing about attending and presenting at conferences – you get to feel appreciated and valued by the broader community.
During the breaks, we shared lunch and coffees, and presented posters about our doctoral research. The size of the conference was just right to be able to get to know most people well enough (50 attendees).
One of the interesting presentations of the day was about “Trinity: A Design Fiction to Unravel the Present and Future Tensions in Professional Informatics and Awareness Support Tools” by Carine Lallemand and her co-authors. This study introduces Serenity, Affinity, and Capacity—three AI-driven tools. Serenity is like your personal wellbeing coach, monitoring stress and heart rates to keep you zen. Affinity acts as the ultimate team therapist, tracking moods and engagement to ensure everyone is on the same page. Capacity, the productivity guru, keeps tabs on project progress and potential risks, like a bossy but helpful project manager. The narrative humorously shows scenarios where these tools blend into daily work, making us really think (and often laugh) about the tech-driven future of collaboration.
Another interesting study was “Non-Expert Programmers in the Generative AI Future” by Molly Feldman and Carolyn Anderson. This study looks at how AI tools that turn natural language into code can help people who aren’t trained programmers. They studied non-programmers and found that while these tools are promising, beginners struggle with technical language and understanding the code that AI generates. The study also showed that regular computer science classes don’t fully prepare students to use these AI tools. The authors suggest focusing on teaching “code-building” skills, so more people can use AI to create and tweak code easily, making programming more accessible for everyone.
I had several chats with Molly, the author of the paper, who is a kind-hearted and warm person. She gave me useful advice on how to start getting myself educated in LLMs, for example, by learning the terminologies (as opposed to the tech side of things) and by taking a course specifically dedicated to LLMs that may be introduced in the coming fall term. I came out of the conference feeling prepared with more specific long-term goals.
The conference concluded with a town hall where all attendees got a chance to express their ideas about the future of the conference itself, reinforcing the sense of inclusivity. We also got to learn about how the conference came about, and after the closing key-note speech, we found out where next year’s conference will be and how to get involved in helping organize it.
CHIWORK’24 was a great experience, filled with inspiring talks, meaningful connections, and plenty of laughs. I left Newcastle feeling motivated, valued, and ready to dive back into my research with fresh ideas and perspectives. ‘Till next year in Amsterdam!
