DCitizens

DCitizens aims to build the capacity to conduct research in the field of Digital Civics. Digital Civics is a cross-disciplinary research area that posits the use of technology to empower citizens and non-state actors to co-create, take an active role in shaping agendas, make decisions about service provision, and make such provisions sustainable and resilient. Particularly how digital technologies can scaffold a move from transactional to relational service models and the potential of such models to reconfigure power relations between citizens, communities, and institutions. The project is funded by the European Commission (GA 101079116). The consortium includes partners from Italy (IIT), Germany (University of Siegen), and the UK (University of Northumbria).

Project Details

Title: DCitizens

Date: Dec 1, 2022

Authors: Hugo Nicolau

Keywords: digital civics, communities, co-creation

Website: https://dcitizens.eu/


Related Publications


    • Inclusion as a Process: Co-Designing an Inclusive Robotic Game with Neurodiverse Classrooms Best Paper Award Nominee
    • Patricia Piedade, Isabel Neto, Ana Cristina Pires, Rui Prada, and Hugo Nicolau. 2024. Inclusion as a Process: Co-Designing an Inclusive Robotic Game with Neurodiverse Classrooms. Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, Association for Computing Machinery. http://doi.org/10.1145/3663548.3675664
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • Neurodivergent children spend most of their time in neurodiverse schools alongside their neurotypical peers and often face social exclusion. Inclusive play activities are a strong vehicle of inclusion. Unfortunately, games designed for the specific needs of neurodiverse groups are scarce. Given the potential of robots to support play, we led a co-design process to build an inclusive robotic game for neurodiverse classrooms. We conducted five co-design workshops, engaging 80 children from neurodiverse classrooms in designing an inclusive game. Employing the resulting design insights, we iteratively prototyped and playtested a tabletop robotic game leveraging off-the-shelf robots. Reflecting upon our findings, we discuss how the longitudinal co-design process (rather than the resulting game) was key in allowing children the space to learn how to accommodate accessibility needs and create inclusive play experiences. We posit the use of co-design to enhance children’s interpersonal relationships, fosters feelings of ownership, and encourages appropriation practices as a strategy to sustain inclusive experiences that extend beyond project timelines or artefact designs.


    • Ethical Concerns when Working with Mixed-Ability Groups of Children
    • Ana O Henriques, Patricia Piedade, Filipa Rocha, Isabel Neto, and Hugo Nicolau. 2024. Ethical Concerns when Working with Mixed-Ability Groups of Children. Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, Association for Computing Machinery. http://doi.org/10.1145/3663548.3675648
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • Accessibility research has gained traction, yet ethical gaps persist in the inclusion of individuals with disabilities, especially children. Inclusive research practices are essential to ensure that research and design solutions cater to the needs of all individuals, regardless of their abilities. Working with children with disabilities in Human-Computer Interaction and Human-Robot Interaction presents a unique set of ethical dilemmas. These young participants often require additional care, support, and accommodations, which can fall off researchers’ resources or expertise. The lack of clear guidance on navigating these challenges further aggravates the problem. To provide a basis on which to address this issue, we adopt a critical reflective approach, evaluating our impact by analyzing two case studies involving children with disabilities in HCI/HRI research. Flowing from these, we call for a shift in our approach to ethics in participatory research contexts to one that is processual, situational, and community-led.


    • Enhancing Cancer Care through Design: Understanding Multidisciplinary Teams
    • Soraia F Paulo, Nuno Figueiredo, Daniel S Lopes, and Hugo Nicolau. 2024. Enhancing Cancer Care through Design: Understanding Multidisciplinary Teams. Companion Publication of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, Association for Computing Machinery, 135–139. http://doi.org/10.1145/3656156.3663718
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • The surge of Multidisciplinary Teams (MDTs) has transformed healthcare, moving from siloed medical teams to collaborative units comprising professionals from diverse medical specialties. Despite their global adoption and recognized benefits, there is a research gap regarding the current context and dynamics of MDT Meetings (MDTMs), hindering the design of systems tailored to this context. This study delves into cancer MDTMs, highlighting emerging practices and challenges. We conducted an observational study across three hospitals, uncovering the intricate interplay of organizational, technological, and interpersonal factors. Our insights emphasize the complexities of MDTMs, including physical infrastructure, MDTM’s discussion structure, and adaptability, revealing challenges in information management and turn-taking strategies. By addressing these dimensions, our aim is to inform the development of more efficient and effective MDTMs in healthcare.


    • Storytelling with ALMA: A Multisensory Approach to Enhance Kindergarteners’ Emotion Regulation
    • Katharina Buckmayer, Hugo Nicolau, and Ana Cristina Pires. 2024. Storytelling with ALMA: A Multisensory Approach to Enhance Kindergarteners’ Emotion Regulation. Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, Association for Computing Machinery, 887–891. http://doi.org/10.1145/3628516.3659412
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • This work-in-progress presents ALMA, an innovative prototype for storytelling with a smart soft toy inspired by Snoezelen principles. Its objective is to improve children’s emotion regulation while facilitating children’s exploration of sensory perceptions, emotion labeling, and self-reflection. While current methods in Child-Computer Interaction (CCI) frequently emphasize individual aspects like storytelling or multisensory experiences, there is a gap in interactive storytelling incorporating soft toys that integrate multisensory and Snoezelen principles, despite the well-documented advantages of such integration. By leveraging the synergies between multisensory experiences and storytelling, ALMA seeks to foster children’s emotion regulation and, therefore a holistic development.


    • Conveying Emotions through Shape-changing to Children with and without Visual Impairment
    • Isabel Neto, Yuhan Hu, Filipa Correia, et al. 2024. Conveying Emotions through Shape-changing to Children with and without Visual Impairment. Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Association for Computing Machinery. http://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642525
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • Shape-changing skin is an exciting modality due to its accessible and engaging nature. Its softness and flexibility make it adaptable to different interactive devices that children with and without visual impairments can share. Although their potential as an emotionally expressive medium has been shown for sighted adults, their potential as an inclusive modality remains unexplored. This work explores the shape-emotional mappings in children with and without visual impairment. We conducted a user study with 50 children (26 with visual impairment) to investigate their emotional associations with five skin shapes and two movement conditions. Results show that shape-emotional mappings are dependent on visual abilities. Our study raises awareness of the influence of visual experiences on tactile vocabulary and emotional mapping among sighted, low-vision, and blind children. We finish discussing the causal associations between tactile stimuli and emotions and suggest inclusive design recommendations for shape-changing devices.


    • The Effects of Observing Robotic Ostracism on Children’s Prosociality and Basic Needs Honorable Mention
    • Filipa Correia, Isabel Neto, Soraia Paulo, et al. 2024. The Effects of Observing Robotic Ostracism on Children’s Prosociality and Basic Needs. Proceedings of the 2024 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, Association for Computing Machinery, 157–166. http://doi.org/10.1145/3610977.3634997
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • Research on robotic ostracism is still scarce and has only explored its effects on adult populations. Although the results revealed important carryover effects of robotic exclusion, there is no evidence yet that those results occur in child-robot interactions. This paper provides the first exploration of robotic ostracism with children. We conducted a study using the Robotic Cyberball Paradigm in a third-person perspective with a sample of 52 children aged between five to ten years old. The experimental study had two conditions: Exclusion and Inclusion. In the Exclusion condition, children observed a peer being excluded by two robots; while in the Inclusion condition, the observed peer interacted equally with the robots. Notably, even 5-year-old children could discern when robots excluded another child. Children who observed exclusion reported lower levels of belonging and control, and exhibited higher prosocial behaviour than those witnessing inclusion. However, no differences were found in children’s meaningful existence, self-esteem, and physical proximity across conditions. Our user study provides important methodological considerations for applying the Robotic Cyberball Paradigm with children. The results extend previous literature on both robotic ostracism with adults and interpersonal ostracism with children. We finish discussing the broader implications of children observing ostracism in human-robot interactions.


    • "I’m Not Touching You. It’s The Robot!": Inclusion Through A Touch-Based Robot Among Mixed-Visual Ability Children Honorable Mention
    • Isabel Neto, Yuhan Hu, Filipa Correia, et al. 2024. "I’m Not Touching You. It’s The Robot!": Inclusion Through A Touch-Based Robot Among Mixed-Visual Ability Children. Proceedings of the 2024 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, Association for Computing Machinery, 511–521. http://doi.org/10.1145/3610977.3634992
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • Children with visual impairments often struggle to fully participate in group activities due to limited access to visual cues. They have difficulty perceiving what is happening, when, and how to act-leading to children with and without visual impairments being frustrated with the group activity, reducing mutual interactions. To address this, we created Touchibo, a tactile storyteller robot acting in a multisensory setting, encouraging touch-based interactions. Touchibo provides an inclusive space for group interaction as touch is a highly accessible modality in a mixed-visual ability context. In a study involving 107 children (37 with visual impairments), we compared Touchibo to an audio-only storyteller. Results indicate that Touchibo significantly improved children’s individual and group participation perception, sparking touch-based interactions and the storyteller was more likable and helpful. Our study highlights touch-based robots’ potential to enrich children’s social interactions by prompting interpersonal touch, particularly in mixed-visual ability settings.


    • Fostering Feminist Community-Led Ethics: Building Tools and Connections
    • Ana O Henriques, Hugo Nicolau, Anna R. L. Carter, et al. 2024. Fostering Feminist Community-Led Ethics: Building Tools and Connections. Companion Publication of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, Association for Computing Machinery, 424–428. http://doi.org/10.1145/3656156.3658385
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • This workshop proposal advocates for a dynamic, community-led approach to ethics in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) by integrating principles from feminist HCI and digital civics. Traditional ethics in HCI often overlook interpersonal considerations, resulting in static frameworks ill-equipped to address dynamic social contexts and power dynamics. Drawing from feminist perspectives, the workshop aims to lay the groundwork for developing a meta-toolkit for community-led feminist ethics, fostering collaborative research practices grounded in feminist ethical principles. Through pre-workshop activities, interactive sessions, and post-workshop discussions, participants will engage in dialogue to advance community-led ethical research practices. Additionally, the workshop seeks to strengthen the interdisciplinary community of researchers and practitioners interested in ethics, digital civics, and feminist HCI. By fostering a reflexive approach to ethics, the workshop contributes to the discourse on design’s role in shaping future interactions between individuals, communities, and technology.


    • Envisioning Collaborative Futures: Advancing the Frontiers of Embedded Research
    • Anna Rose Lucy Carter, Ana O. Henriques, Hugo Nicolau, et al. 2024. Envisioning Collaborative Futures: Advancing the Frontiers of Embedded Research. Proceedings of the Participatory Design Conference 2024: Exploratory Papers and Workshops - Volume 2, Association for Computing Machinery, 190–193. http://doi.org/10.1145/3661455.3669890
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • Participatory design initiatives, especially within the realm of digital civics, are often integrated and co-developed with the very citizens and communities they intend to assist. Digital civics research aims to create positive social change using a variety of digital technologies. These research projects commonly adopt various embedded processes, such as commissioning models [6]. Despite the adoption of this process within a range of domains, there isn’t currently a framework for best practices and accountability procedures to ensure we engage with citizens ethically and ensure the sustainability of our projects. This workshop aims to provide a space to start collaboratively constructing a dynamic framework of best practices, laying the groundwork for the future of sustainable embedded research processes. The overarching goal is to foster discussions and share insights that contribute to developing effective practices, ensuring the longevity and impact of participatory digital civics projects.


    • Participatory Design with Young Children: Failures, Challenges, and Successes
    • Katharina Buckmayer, Filipa Rocha, Elisa Rubegni, Reem Talhouk, Hugo Nicolau, and Ana Cristina Pires. 2024. Participatory Design with Young Children: Failures, Challenges, and Successes. Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, Association for Computing Machinery, 1038–1040. http://doi.org/10.1145/3628516.3661158
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • This paper introduces a hands-on workshop centered on participatory design (PD) approaches tailored for engaging young children, with a special focus on failures, challenges, and successes in prior experiences within the child-computer interaction (CCI) domain. Although previous efforts have highlighted the advantages of engaging young children in PD, research has overlooked their involvement as co-designers, leading to a lack of exploration and understanding of their unique perspectives and challenges in the design process. Through an interactive session and collaborative activities, this workshop will facilitate discussions surrounding challenges, successes, and lessons learned through PD with young children. By evaluating and exchanging experiences, we aim to enhance our understanding of PD and refine its methodologies for this particular population. By synthesizing the shortcomings, difficulties, and successes of past experiences, the workshop will bring together researchers and practitioners to initiate efforts toward closing this research gap. Together we will establish the groundwork for enhanced approaches and a deeper understanding of how to involve young children in PD, which will enhance future efforts in the field of CCI.


    • DCitizens Roles Unveiled: SIG Navigating Identities in Digital Civics and the Spectrum of Societal Impact
    • Anna R. L. Carter, Kyle Montague, Reem Talhouk, et al. 2024. DCitizens Roles Unveiled: SIG Navigating Identities in Digital Civics and the Spectrum of Societal Impact. Extended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Association for Computing Machinery. http://doi.org/10.1145/3613905.3643981
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • The DCitizens SIG aims to navigate ethical dimensions in forthcoming Digital Civics projects, ensuring enduring benefits and community resilience. Additionally, it seeks to shape the future landscape of digital civics for ethical and sustainable interventions. As we dive into these interactive processes, a challenge arises of discerning authentic intentions and validating perspectives. This exploration extends to evaluating the sustainability of future interactions and scrutinising biases impacting engaged communities. The commitment is to ensure future outcomes align with genuine community needs and address the ethical imperative of a considerate departure strategy. This dialogue encourages future researchers and practitioners to integrate ethical considerations and community-centric principles, fostering a more sustainable and responsible approach to technology-driven interventions in future urban regeneration and beyond.


    • PartiPlay: A Participatory Game Design Kit for Neurodiverse Classrooms
    • Patricia Piedade, Isabel Neto, Ana Cristina Pires, Rui Prada, and Hugo Nicolau. 2023. PartiPlay: A Participatory Game Design Kit for Neurodiverse Classrooms. Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, Association for Computing Machinery. http://doi.org/10.1145/3597638.3614496
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • Play is a central aspect of childhood development, with games as a vital tool to promote it. However, neurodivergent children, especially those in neurodiverse environments, are underserved by HCI games research. Most existing work takes on a top-down approach, disregarding neurodivergent interest for the majority of the design process. Co-design is often proposed as a tool to create truly accessible and inclusive gaming experiences. Nevertheless, co-designing with neurodivergent children within neurodiverse groups brings about unique challenges, such as different communication styles, sensory needs and preferences. Building upon recommendations from prior work in neurodivergent, mixed-ability, and child-led co-design, we propose a concrete participatory game design kit for neurodiverse classrooms: PartiPlay. Moreover, we present preliminary findings from an in-the-wild experiment with the said kit, showcasing its ability to create an inclusive co-design process for neurodiverse groups of children. We aim to provide actionable steps for future participatory design research with neurodiverse children.


    • Ethical Concerns when Working with Mixed-Ability Groups of Children
    • Patricia Piedade, Ana Henriques, Filipa Rocha, Isabel Neto, and Hugo Nicolau. 2023. Ethical Concerns when Working with Mixed-Ability Groups of Children. In Proceedings of ASSETS 2023 Workshop - Tackling the Lack of a Practical Guide in Disability-Centered Research. Retrieved from https://assets2023guide.mere.st/accepted-submissions/
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF] [LIBRARY]

      • Accessibility research has gained traction, yet ethical gaps persist in the inclusion of individuals with disabilities, especially children. Inclusive research practices are essential to ensure research and design solutions cater to the needs of all individuals, regardless of their abilities. Working with children with disabilities in Human-Computer Interaction and Human-Robot Interaction presents a unique set of ethical dilemmas. These young participants often require additional care, support, and accommodations, which can fall off researchers’ resources or expertise. The lack of clear guidance on navigating these challenges further aggravates the problem. To provide a base and address this issue, we adopt a critical reflective approach, evaluating our impact by analyzing two case studies involving children with disabilities in HCI/HRI research.


    • Frameworking for a Community-led Feminist Ethics
    • Ana Henriques, Hugo Nicolau, and Kyle Montague. 2023. Frameworking for a Community-led Feminist Ethics. In Proceedings of CSCW 2023 Workshop - A Toolbox for Feminist Wonder - Theories and Methods that can Make a Difference.
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF]

      • This paper introduces a relational perspective on ethics within the context of Feminist Digital Civics and community-led design. Ethics work in HCI has primarily focused on prescriptive machine ethics and bioethics principles rather than people. In response, we advocate for a community-led, processual approach to ethics, acknowledging power dynamics and local contexts. We thus propose a multidimensional adaptive model for ethics in HCI design, integrating an intersectional feminist ethical lens. This framework embraces feminist epistemologies, methods, and methodologies, fostering a reflexive practice. By weaving together situated knowledges, standpoint theory, intersectionality, participatory methods, and care ethics, our approach offers a holistic foundation for ethics in HCI, aiming to advance community-led practices and enrich the discourse surrounding ethics within this field.


    • That’s our game!: Reflections on Co-designing a Robotic Game with Neurodiverse Children
    • Patricia Piedade, Isabel Neto, Ana Pires, Rui Prada, and Hugo Nicolau. 2023. That’s our game!: Reflections on Co-designing a Robotic Game with Neurodiverse Children. In Proceedings of INTERACT 2023 Workshop - Designing Technology for Neurodivergent Self-Determination: Challenges and Opportunities, Springer International Publishing.
    • [ABSTRACT] [PDF]

      • Many neurodivergent children are integrated into mainstream schools alongside their neurotypical peers. However, they often face so- cial exclusion, which may have lifelong effects. Inclusive play activities can be a strong driver of inclusion. Unfortunately, games designed for the specific needs of neurodiverse groups, those that include neurodi- vergent and neurotypical individuals, are scarce. Given the potential of robots as engaging devices, we led a 6-month co-design process to build an inclusive and entertaining robotic game for neurodiverse classrooms. We first interviewed neurodivergent adults and educators to identify the barriers and facilitators for including neurodivergent children in main- stream classrooms. Then, we conducted five co-design sessions, engaging four neurodiverse classrooms with 81 children (19 neurodivergent). We present a reflection on our co-design process and the resulting robotic game through the lens of Self-Determination Theory, discussing how our methodology supported the intrinsic motivations of neurodivergent children

About

Hugo is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department (DEI) of Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon in Portugal. He's also Vice-President and researcher at the Interactive Technologies Institute / LARSyS.

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Instituto Superior Técnico,
Computer Science and Engineering Department,
Av. Rovisco Pais 1
1049-001, Lisbon
Portugal