CMU Human-Computer Interaction Institute Seminar

Speaker: Oliver Haimson

Title: Designing Trans Technology

Description: Transgender and nonbinary people face substantial challenges in the world, ranging from social inequities and discrimination to lack of access to resources. Though technology cannot fully solve these problems, technological solutions may help to address some of the challenges trans people and communities face. In this talk I will discuss what “trans technology” means, and how it can be designed. Drawing from participatory design research with trans and nonbinary people, I detail four types of technologies trans people envision: technologies for changing bodies, technologies for changing appearances and gender expressions, technologies for safety, and technologies for finding resources. I show how centering trans people in the design process enabled inclusive technology design that primarily focused on sharing community resources and prioritized connection between community members. Next, I will discuss some of my research conceptualizing life transitions more broadly and people's online sharing behaviors surrounding them. Finally, I will describe next steps for trans technology design and life transitions research.

For more information on this seminar, see https://www.hcii.cmu.edu/news/seminar/event/2021/03/seminar-oliver-haimson

For all upcoming CMU HCII seminars, see https://www.hcii.cmu.edu/news/seminars