Designs on dignity

TLDR

Technology is argued to improve everyone's life, from the workplace to entertainment to easing chores around the home. The study seeks to understand how technology impacts homeless individuals and to promote broader awareness of their social context in design. The authors conducted a qualitative study of homeless residents in a metropolitan U.S. city, examining how cell phones, bus passes, and other technologies influence their daily lives. The study identifies opportunities for tech interventions that empower homeless individuals and highlights the need to reassess HCI assumptions about technology use.

Abstract

Technology, it is argued, has the potential to improve everyone's life: from the workplace, to entertainment, to easing chores around the home. But what of people who have neither job nor home? We undertook a qualitative study of the homeless population in a metropolitan U.S. city to better understand what it means to be homeless and how technology--from cell phones to bus passes--affects their daily lives. The themes we identify provide an array of opportunities for technological interventions that can empower the homeless population. Our investigation also reveals the need to reexamine some of the assumptions made in HCI about the relationship people have with technology. We suggest a broader awareness of the social context of technology use as a critical component when considering design innovation for the homeless.