Call for Participation


Death is an inevitable part of being alive. Approaching end of life, death and bereavement have implications for almost all users of digital technologies. We are living in an age with unforeseen capabilities to make both physical and digital “things” and where each person’s life has an unavoidable associated trail of media and personal data. New opportunities to curate data and media to support others after our future death or to support ourselves in bereavement are substantial. The contexts of anticipating end of life and living with bereavement are changing as digital technologies become more embedded in our cultures. While it is easy to recognize that these opportunities for design are significant, and that the need is substantial and largely unaddressed, the barriers to working in a such sensitive context can be perceived by many HCI researchers as daunting. 

In this workshop we aim to: develop discussion and design thinking around the opportunities for digital technologies; explore ethical concerns; and share design methodologies and methods to support the level of sensitivity and self-reflection required in this space.

We invite attendees to submit 2-4 page statements of interest (in ACM Extended Abstract format) in .pdf format to jayne.wallace@northumbria.ac.uk

Submissions can take one of several forms in relation to the workshop topic:

1. Standard academic positions.

2. Personal reflections from lived experience that have impacted the way that you research.

3. A design response/concept (a combination of sketches and written reflection/description akin to a DIS Pictorial).

Please note, the workshop will involve design ideation activities and necessarily assume pre-event engagement with resources in order to meaningfully support the activities on the day.

Submissions will be reviewed by a committee of experts and selected on the basis of relevance to the workshop themes, quality of presentation, and potential to stimulate discussion. At least one author of each accepted submission must register for the workshop and at least one day of the main conference.

Mark Call for Submissions