1. Design Charettes as a Resource: A
Case Study with Students at the
University of Nairobi
Susan P. Wyche, Ph.D. Candidate
Human-Centered Computing
School of Interactive Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology
Globi-Comp Workshop 2009

2. Overview
• The Study
• What are Design Charrettes?
• Preliminary Findings
• Discussion

3. Study: Site Selection, Participants, and
Design Charrette
• Summer 2007
• Part of a larger
project examining
religion and
technology use (see
Wyche, Aoki, and
Grinter, CHI 2007)

5. Art and Design Dept. at U of N

6. Design Charrette

12. So you can take this shape, it is curved
and will fit your hand well . . .this is a
very popular thing in Africa, and the
other [mobile phone form factors] are
shaped like a square box, geometrical ,
this is more of an African shape.

13. Discussion
• Local
Designers as a
Resource
• Understanding
the needs of
educated and
higher income
users

14. Acknowledgments
The students I worked with at the
University of Nairobi.
Dr. Suki Mwendwa, Director School of the
Art and Design
Paul Aoki, Intel Labs Berkeley