Conférence exceptionnelle de Kerem Rızvanoğlu HCI for Social Impact: Designing for Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

Prof. Kerem Rızvanoğlu is a faculty member and the current Dean of the Faculty of Communication at Galatasaray University.

Since 1999, he's been teaching and publishing in the area of human-computer interaction (HCI), specifically on user experience research and design. He received numerous national and international awards for his publications.

Since 2001, Rızvanoğlu has been teaching UX research and design at undergraduate, graduate, and certification levels in various universities, including past roles at Boğaziçi University and Koç University, which are also pivotal universities in Turkey.

He is the founding president and current board member of the Turkish chapter of the User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA).

Additionally, he co-founded Xedzone Research and Consulting, the first private research company in Turkey, which was dedicated to UX centered research, consultancy, and training. Over two decades, he's been providing UX research, design, education, and strategy consulting to prominent sectors like e-commerce, digital banking, and telecommunications.

In recent years, Rızvanoğlu's research interests focused on "Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility." Through different initiatives he contributes to the efforts in understanding and improving how diverse user groups-such as individuals from different cultures, elderly users, children, and people with disabilities-interact with platforms like websites, mobile apps, VR environments, wearable technologies, and generative AI platforms. His work focuses on enhancing UX through these platforms while generating new ideas to improve the quality of life for such communities through human-centered design.

Believing in the deontological importance of diversity and inclusion, Rızvanoğlu also highlights the competitive commercial advantages of offering inclusive experiences to these communities.

He is a columnist in Mediacat (https://mediacat.com/yazar/kerem-rizvanoglu/) and has a podcast named "Deneyim Stüdyosu (Experience Studio)", which is streaming on Apple Podcast and Spotify (https://shorturl.at/YMSwd)"

Title: "HCI for Social Impact: Designing for Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility"

In this seminar, Prof. Rızvanoğlu will present an overview his recent studies, which outline a comprehensive research agenda in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) focusing on Interdisciplinary HCI for Social Impact, specifically leveraging the critical and trans-disciplinary frameworks of the later HCI paradigms. The central theme is "Improving Quality of Life through Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DIA)", addressing how diverse user groups, including older adults, children, and people with disabilities, interact with technology.

The studies demonstrate how DIA principles can be systematically applied across emerging technologies-from voice assistants and gen AI systems for older adults to virtual reality environments and urban mobility solutions. Key research streams involve the design of Human-Centered AI (HCAI) including the iMuse model for cultural heritage accessibility and empathic voice assistant design for elder users. Through other complementary studies on "digital identity and experience" such as gender stereotypes in educational games, queer player experience in virtual worlds, and feminist identity on dating platforms, the seminar illustrates how interdisciplinary HCI research can bridge theory and practice to improve quality of life for vulnerable populations.