Reflections from CHIWORK 2023
13–16th June — The picturesque city of Oldenburg, Germany, welcomed experts from various disciplines for the 2nd Annual Meeting of CHIWORK. The three-day event, co-chaired by Susanne Boll (University of Oldenburg, Germany) and Anna L. Cox (University College London, UK) centered around the exploration of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and its role in shaping the future of work. As an attendee, a member of the organizing team, and a co-organizer of the hybrid events workshop, I had the opportunity to reflect on some of the thought-provoking discussions and presentations that unfolded during this gathering.
Engaging with Hybrid Events:
The first day commenced with a morning session where PhD students engaged in insightful discussions with mentors about their research. They didn’t confine themselves to indoor spaces but also embraced nature by practicing walking meetings. Shoutout goes to the Doctoral Consortium chairs, Carine Lallemand, Horia Alexandru Maior, and Sandy Gould.
In the afternoon, two workshops took place (Alina Lushnikova and Abdallah El Ali did a fantastic job curating them). The first one was about the co-creation process of the collaboration process (unfortunately I didn’t participate due to co-organizing the other workshop).
The second workshop focused on hybrid events, expanding upon the discussions held earlier this year at CHI. The discussions were centered around current best practices and tools for organizing hybrid events. We explored the definition of a successful hybrid event experience and explored methods for measuring it, and delved into the broader implications for access, inclusion, and sustainability efforts. Adriana S Vivacqua opened the workshop with her keynote on challenges faced when running hybrid conferences. She discussed factors like costs, attendance, and paywalls, highlighting the ongoing quest for optimal solutions. While several guidelines have been published on running hybrid events (just to name a few, see “Making the First Hybrid CHI in 2022” by David A. Shamma, “Doing Hybrid — Thoughts after CHI2022 and more” by Max L Wilson, “Exploring Hybrid: A (hybrid) SIG to discuss hybrid conferences” by SIGCHI Executive Committee et al., “Human-Computer Interaction and the Future of Work” by CHIWORK Collective et al., and “Reflecting on Hybrid Events: Learning from a Year of Hybrid Experiences” by Ansah et al.) further exploration and innovation are still required to achieve success.
Opening Keynote and a Flavor of Papers:
The main program kicked off with an inspiring keynote by mc schraefel from the University of Southampton. She challenged the traditional perception of work, advocating for a paradigm where work itself supports and enhances our health and wellbeing, rather than being a source of recovery. This thought-provoking perspective set the stage for the subsequent paper sessions.
The papers were split into two days, across five sessions — here’s the full list of papers (soon available on ACM DL). Thank you, Thomas Ludwig and Marta Cecchinato, for curating such a fantastic program (and, of course, thanks to all the PC members).
The first session focused on remote engagement. One paper explored the experiences of design facilitators in remote settings (Gu et al.), while another examined how spatial audio can enhance the dynamics of video meetings, improving turn-taking and social presence (Nowak et al.). The second session covered papers at the intersection of AI and Work. It opened with a paper discussing human-AI collaboration (He et al.), followed by an engaging discussion on the limitations of Language Models (LLMs) in tasks requiring divergent thinking, such as generating personas (Goel et al.). The third session delved into tracking work, showcasing some really cool stuff! One paper offered a critical analysis of quantified-self technologies and their potential effects on human well-being (Gerdenitsch et al.), while another demonstrated how sensor kits deployed in the workplace allow individuals to gain insights into their work behaviors and optimize their office environment (van den Heuvel and Lallemand). The session concluded with a paper on the automatic generation of “focus” time in Office 365 (Saha and Iqbal). The fourth session focused on home, office, and hybrid work. It began with a paper challenging the notion that fixed time in the office enhances creativity, suggesting that flexibility may be more conducive to fostering innovative thinking (Xu et al.). This was followed by a computational approach to optimizing home office time, considering both the employer’s and employee’s perspectives (Colley et al.). The session ended with an exploration of hybridity in telerehabilitation care, highlighting the potential for improved healthcare delivery (Akinsiku et al.). The fifth session centered around gig work. It started with a discussion on the heterogeneity of skill-building experiences on digital labor platforms, emphasizing the need for individualized support (Kim and Sawyer). This was followed by a mind-blowing presentation on AI’s impact on the creativity of knowledge work, challenging conventional viewpoints and opening new avenues for thought (Sarkar). The session concluded with the best paper (🏆) on tailored policy and technological interventions to enhance the working conditions of gig workers (Hsieh et al.).
From theory to practice: Blending remote and in-person participants.
According to the old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” I was glad to see how smoothly the Work-in-Progress (WiP) & Demos session went, seamlessly integrating remote and in-person participants and creating a blended experience. Kudos to the hybrid chairs, Alberta A. Ansah (University of New Hampshire), Michael Muller (IBM Research), Mikołaj P. Woźniak (University of Oldenburg), and the WiP & Demos chairs (Anna Rudnicka and myself 😊) for curating the program.
Closing Keynote: CORE — A Hub for Innovation:
The annual meeting concluded with a keynote by Jannik Wiggers-von Staa (the director of CORE) and Deike Petrack. Jannik and Deike shared their journey of building a vibrant hub that fosters research, coworking, and public engagement. CORE serves as a testament to the vision of creating a central space where collaboration thrives within an agile and vibrant environment that is specifically designed to foster innovation.
CHIWORK 2024:
Last but not least, Marta E. Cecchinato and I are excited to welcome you all in Newcastle, UK next year for the 3rd edition of CHIWORK’s Annual Meeting.
If you are interested in being part of the @CHIWORKsymp community, please let us know if you would like to volunteer.
