Weaving Indigeneity and Culture into the Fabric of HCI Futures: African Threads

Abstract

Interconnectedness and relationality have become central to technology development and innovation, highlighting the growing importance of indigenous and cultural philosophies in shaping effective and inclusive design practices. This workshop seeks to challenge the dominant paradigms in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) by exploring how African indigeneity and culture can inform and transform design methodologies. We invite participants to reflect on how these approaches can steer HCI research toward more inclusive, culturally diverse, and mutually beneficial collaborations. We welcome HCI researchers, practitioners, indigenous scholars, and cultural experts who are interested in disrupting traditional methods and embracing indigenous and cultural perspectives to join this vital conversation. Together, we aim to reimagine HCI practices through the lens of cultural and indigenous knowledge, fostering innovation that respects and integrates diverse world-views.

Citation

Jaydon Farao, Ajit G. Pillai, Hafeni Mthoko, Marly Muudeni Samuel, Houda Elmimouni, Manar Atwa, Chris MuAshkele, Cat Kutay, and Shaimaa Lazem. 2025. Weaving Indigeneity and Culture into the Fabric of HCI Futures: African Threads. In Proceedings of the 5th Biennial African Human Computer Interaction Conference (AfriCHI '25). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 409–414. https://doi.org/10.1145/3757232.3757276