Human-centered design (HCD) and global development courses often ask students to design technologies for the Global South. Yet these courses frequently reinforce narratives that depict Africans as passive users rather than innovators, while overlooking the lived expertise of people on the continent. The result is an incomplete understanding of global technology use and design.
Susan Wyche,
Michigan State University
Drawing on more than 18 years of research in rural Kenya, I discuss how these insights shaped the redesign of Michigan State University’s ICTD course, supported by Mozilla’s Responsible Computing Challenge. The course brings African perspectives to the center by integrating African studies topics such as history, postcolonialism, and multilingualism, and by building collaborations with students and faculty at Kenya’s Egerton University. Through the Technologists-in-Residence program, Egerton students joined MSU classes virtually and in person, contributing to prototype projects addressing real-world challenges including rural telemedicine, smart metering, and digital tools for farmers.
The talk concludes with practical lessons for HCI educators, urging them to integrate global and cross-cultural perspectives into their own courses to challenge narrow assumptions, expand student learning, and support responsible technology design.
Dr. Susan Wyche (she/her) is an associate professor in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. Her research contributes to the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) fields. She is interested in developing an understanding of technology use (e.g., mobile phones) in Sub-Saharan Africa, that is grounded in people’s experiences. To achieve this goal, she conducts fieldwork in—primarily Kenyan sites—that she has been visiting since 2008. Her research has received funding from Google, Facebook, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Prof. Wyche is also a 2015 recipient of an NSF CAREER Award. She earned her Ph.D. in human-centered computing from Georgia Tech, an MS from Cornell University, and a bachelor’s degree in industrial design from Carnegie Mellon University. Before pursuing her Ph.D., she worked as a professional designer in the housewares industry.