Beyond the Benjamins: Toward an African interaction design

Localizing interaction design in Africa is critical for improving usability and user experience for African populations. Competition for enrolling in information technology in Southern Africa as part of higher and tertiary education is often severe, and with positive employment policies for Africans or nationals there is little shortage of IT employment for graduates at locally competitive salaries. Schools in Africa continue to favor instructive modes in which a teacher reads from a textbook and a student listens and repeat. Teachers, as other elders, have authority in knowledge transfer, and young people are not encouraged to explore independently or pursue curiosity-driven questions in learning. African students should be trained to analysis the relevancy of system design and development practices that originate in norms produced elsewhere. Investing in specialized advanced courses in Africa, for overseas students, may also begin to redress bias in curricula exerted by the need for African universities to gain international accreditation.