Challenges In Supporting The Emergent User

The aim of this theoretical note is to highlight some open challenges in supporting the design for emergent users. This preliminary note first situates the emergent user at the nexus of three main recent HCI trends: cultural/cross-cultural computing; HCI4D/ICT4D and postcolonial computing. Further based on a literature survey, it then highlights five interrelated challenges ranging from the need for the supporting the mental models of the emergent users to the devising of intermediate conceptual structures that support the activity of design.