This SIGCHI Finland spring seminar focuses on examining Dark UX design in interaction design practice and human-computer interaction scholarship. We will take a closer look at how designers intentionally and perhaps unintentionally design products and services that emphasise commercial benefit over user wellbeing. Invited speakers represent practitioners and scholars who are specialised in user experience, usability and user psychology.

The event is held online and it is free and open for anyone interested in the topics. Please note that the time of the event is in Finnish time (UTC +3).

Please register via this form at the latest on Monday 20.5.2024.
The Zoom link will be sent via email on Tuesday 21.5.2024.

For questions related to the event, please contact laura.havinen@uwasa.fi.

Program (time zone UTC+3, Finland)

12:00-12:15 Event opening
Laura Havinen, chair, and Johanna Silvennoinen, vice-chair, SIGCHI Finland

12:15-13:15 Cognitive Biases for the Design of Persuasive Technologies: Uses, Abuses and Ethical Concerns
ACM Distinguished Speaker Antonio Lieto, Associate Professor in Computer Science, University of Salerno

13:15-13:30 Break

13:30-14:00 Ethics of design, designer responsibility and dark side of design
Mikko Rajanen, University Lecturer, University of Oulu

14:00-14:30 Coming to the light side – Advocating for fair design as an UX designer
Emma Nevala, UX Designer, Gofore

14:30-15:00 Discussion and closing words
Laura Havinen, Johanna Silvennoinen and Saara Mäki, SIGCHI Finland

Speakers:

Antonio Lieto is an Associate Professor in Computer Science at the University of Salerno (Italy) and a research associate at the ICAR-CNR Institute in Palermo (Italy). He does research in Artificial Intelligence, Computational Cognitive Science and Human-Machine Interaction (and their intersections) with a focus on the following areas: knowledge representation and reasoning, semantic/language technologies, cognitive architectures for intelligent agents (embodied or not), persuasive technologies. Since January 2024, he is an elected member of the Scientific Board of the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence (AI*IA).

Previously, he has been Vice-President of the Italian Association of Cognitive Sciences (AISC, 2017-2022), the recipient of the “Outstanding BICA Research Award” from the Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architecture Society (USA) and, since 2020, is an ACM Distinguished Speaker. He has authored the book “Cognitive Design for Artificial Minds” (Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2021) and over 100 scientific publications.

Mikko Rajanen is university lecturer at the INTERACT Research Unit, University of Oulu, Finland. He holds a PhD in Information Systems and has over 25 years of experience in teaching and researching usability of software, systems, services and games. His research interests include usability in the context of open source software development, usability cost-benefit analysis, ethics of design, designer responsibility and dark side of design, climate change communication through gamification and usability in games and gamification, accessibility, as well as increasing safety in digital fabrication through safety culture. His motto and aim is to make the world a better place, one user interface at a time. http://interact.oulu.fi/mikko-rajanen

Emma Nevala is a UX design professional at Gofore, a digital transformation consultancy committed to pioneering an ethical digital world.

With a focus on user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design, Emma has contributed to a diverse range of projects, from enhancing municipalities’ knowledge of information security to developing information systems that promote the reuse and recycling of materials from construction sites.

Emma has a background in Information Systems and a master’s degree from the University of Jyväskylä, with a research focus on ethical technology and dark patterns. Her recent co-authored article, ”The Antecedents of Advertisement Scepticism and Its Effects on the User Experience of Social Influence Features in the Context of Online Shopping” (2024) delves into how consumers with varying levels of advertisement scepticism perceive the user experience of commonly used patterns in e-commerce.