ACM TOCHI Special Issue: First-Person Research in HCI (Sep 2020)

Website: First Person Research

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 8 Sep 2020

Guest Editors: Audrey Desjardins (University of Washington), Andrés Lucero (Aalto University), Marta Cecchinato (Northumbria University), Oscar Tomico Plasencia (ELISAVA and Eindhoven University of Technology) and Carman Neustaedter (Simon Fraser University)

As an addition to the array of HCI methodological tools, first-person research methods offer a chance for researchers to not only investigate the mundane, ongoing, and ubiquitous presence of technology in everyday life, but also to acknowledge their own positionality in research and design, and to rely on first-hand experience as a mode of knowing. This shift in epistemological commitments has the potential of yielding rich, honest, and authentic reflections and insights about our ongoing lives with technology. We have seen, for example, the benefits of researchers using methods such as autoethnography, duoethnography, autobiographical design, autoethnographical research through design, micro-phenomenology, someaesthetics, design memoirs, and more. The goal of this special issue is to draw together research using similar methodological practices—first person research methods—to further deepen the HCI community’s understanding of such practices, and provide further publication opportunities for those conducting research with first-person methods. The special issue will also seek to grow and build community amongst researchers who use first-person research methods.

So far, we have seen a glimpse of the potential benefits of using these first person research methods in HCI and interaction design for the rich data and fruitful insights they can bring around topics that are often difficult to access, such as long-term use of personal technology (e.g., mobile phones, wearables, self-tracking technologies), use of technology in the private sphere (e.g., the home), and over distance (e.g., long-distance relationships), in ethically challenging situations (e.g., couple technologies), around health and wellbeing conditions (e.g., diabetes, mental health) and body movement and dance. However, we also see the need to further explore, define, and investigate the practices, techniques, tactics, and implications of first-person research in HCI and interaction design.

We welcome contributions from articles that:

• Foster a deeper understanding of first-person research in HCI and interaction design
• Specifically discuss the origins of the methods, from a methodological and theoretical standpoint
• Identify valuable areas of interest and key opportunities for    first-person research
• Consider best strategies to conduct first-person research
• Examine ways to make the knowledge gained by using first-person methods more accessible and impactful
• Investigate connections between first person research methods and other complementary methods in HCI, thereby exploring the frictions and intersections between such methods
• Articulate the epistemological and theoretical underpinnings of first-person methods
• Report on studies, design investigations, or design evaluations using first-person methods, while also making a clear contribution in the discussion of the method used, its validity, and appropriateness.

We invite authors to first submit an abstract to show their interest. Authors will then have until October 22, 2020 to submit their full manuscript. Full manuscripts will undergo two rounds of reviews.

When submitting an abstract, authors are encouraged to describe:

• The motivation for their work
• The first-person research approach being employed or investigated and why. It is important for authors to take time to situate the methodological approach, and its theoretical and epistemological underpinnings
• Details of the outcome of the investigations, analysis, studies, or design work

Schedule:

Abstract submission (200-400 words) deadline: Friday, September 8, 2020

Full paper submission deadline: Thursday, October 22, 2020

First Round Reviews to Authors: Friday, December 18, 2020

First Round Revision Deadline: Friday, February 26, 2021

Second Round Reviews to Authors: Friday, April 23, 2021

Second Round Revision Deadline: Friday, June 4, 2021

Final Notification: Friday, June 25, 2021

Final Camera-Ready Deadline: Friday, July 16, 2021

Publication tentatively scheduled for Sept-Oct 2021

If you have questions you can send us an email us at: firstpersonhci@acm.org.