In the Global South, severe shortages in healthcare professionals mean that community health workers (CHWs) play a significant role in supporting individuals unable to access primary healthcare. However, the nature of their work means they have limited medical resources, inadequate training, and minimal support. We collaborated with a major Indian health network to investigate how a virtual Community of Practice (VCoP) could address the distinctive challenges faced by CHWs around professional support and development. This paper examines our design and deployment of a VCoP involving 30 CHWs in training. Our findings illuminate complex cultural perceptions and preferences surrounding peer learning, while revealing the challenges of integrating digital platforms in contexts marked by heterogeneous digital literacy levels. We contribute design considerations for VCoPs that address systemic, interpersonal, and technological dimensions of peer learning, underscoring the necessity for structured, methodical approaches to supporting CHWs in global health settings.
While the term global development suggests development efforts spanning the entire globe, in practice, such projects are predominantly associated with the Global South. As a result, development initiatives have been criticized for reinforcing paternalistic and colonial narratives of progress, deepening the divide between the “developed” West and the “less developed” rest. Similarly, HCI4D research is largely focused on the Global South, often overlooking the challenges faced by marginalized communities in high-income countries. In this article, we examine an underexplored context for HCI4D: culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in Australia. Drawing on interviews with 10 non-profit practitioners experienced in working with CALD communities, we report on key challenges encountered in Development work. Our findings highlight the need to (i) secure genuinely informed consent, (ii) recognize the mediating role of local volunteers, and (iii) address cross-cultural communication gaps to support authentic community representation. While grounded in a specific setting, our insights offer broader implications for both HCI4D and the wider HCI community.
As technology-rich maker and DIY practices proliferate globally, we need to understand how to capture and articulate the complex and sometimes conflicting factors involved in enabling and supporting them in different contexts. In this article, we describe a study investigating the design tensions, priorities, and considerations of creating an accessible makerspace in Puerto Rico. We organized two workshops with local and non-local experts to discuss cultural, contextual, practical, and pedagogical factors involved in creating a site for technology-rich informal learning. Based on our findings, we propose a model for systematically articulating and considering design tensions involved in creating public-facing makerspaces that prioritize accessibility and community engagement. Additionally, we offer insights into the possibilities of future accessible making and DIY practices in the Caribbean, taking into account local cultural, historical, and infrastructural characteristics.
Adopting sustainable consumption practices in households is challenging due to the complexities of everyday life. Although eco-feedback technology supports people’s environmental actions in households through the provision of feedback about resource consumption, people still find it difficult to use these systems in relation to their everyday lives. We present the results of a field study in which participants from 15 households used a mobile application, Eco-Garden, for three weeks. Eco-Garden provides information about household resource consumption and encourages sustainable practices at home. Our findings show how Eco-Garden encouraged members of the households to reflect, shift consumption practices, and support planning for future usage. Family involvement played a major role in driving social accountability and fostering sustainable habits. Our results show the gendered nature of domestic work, where women often take more responsibility for household management and sustainable activities. We noted goal-setting, self-motivation and an individual sense of responsibility motivated through Eco-Garden encouraged sustainable practices in households. We discussed how self-reporting and goal-setting features can enhance self-motivation and a sense of responsibility, encouraging sustainable practices in households. We suggest that future eco-feedback systems need to help bridge the gender divide in household sustainable activities while balancing comfort and consumption reduction.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to significantly improve how Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) utilize their limited resources for societal benefits, but evidence about how NGOs adopt AI remains scattered. In this study, we systematically investigate the types of AI adoption use cases in NGOs and identify common challenges and solutions, contextualized by organizational size and geographic context. We review primary literature on AI adoption in NGOs related to social impact between 2020 and August 2025 in English. Following the PRISMA protocol, two independent reviewers conduct study selection, resulting in a final literature body of 65 studies. Leveraging a thematic and narrative approach, we identify six AI use case categories in NGOs – Engagement, Creativity, Decision-Making, Prediction, Management, and Optimization – and extract common challenges and solutions within the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework. By integrating our findings, this review provides a novel understanding of AI adoption in NGOs, linking specific use cases and challenges to organizational and environmental factors. Our results demonstrate that while AI is promising, adoption among NGOs remains uneven and biased toward larger organizations. Nevertheless, following a roadmap grounded in literature can help NGOs overcome initial barriers to AI adoption, which may ultimately improve effectiveness, engagement, and social impact.
