ACM SIGDOC 2019: 37th ACM International Conference on the Design of Communication Portland State University Portland, OR, United States, October 4-6, 2019 |
Conference website | https://sigdoc.acm.org/conference/2019/ |
Submission link | https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=acmsigdoc2019 |
Abstract registration deadline | January 25, 2019 |
Submission deadline | January 25, 2019 |
OVERVIEW
The ACM Special Interest Group on the Design of Communication (ACM SIGDOC) invites proposals for a research paper, industry insight paper, experience report, poster, panel session, or workshop. These proposals should examine how disciplinary, social, geographic, technical, cultural, and ethical boundaries shape our professional experiences and civic lives in communication design, professional and technical communication (PTC), and user experience (UX) and/or how these boundaries might be questioned, broken down, or reassembled.
Boundaries can mark and hold space in crucial ways, but they can also divide us from each other. Boundaries can mark sites of tension that demarcate our disciplines, practices, or physical locations. When they are rigidly enforced and policed, boundaries adversely affect our professional communities and civic lives, straining the forms of trust that are essential for promoting inclusive, participatory, and collaborative design cultures. These boundaries can separate designers from users, researchers from stakeholders, academia from industry, people from policy, and ourselves from the better angels of our nature. For SIGDOC 2019, we ask attendees to reconsider and re-mark the boundaries of their professional and civic lives, old and new, that inhibit connections. We encourage attendees to rethink how more inclusive research, methods, and habits could bring about further innovation and justice within the design of communication. We invite designers, researchers, practitioners, and educators to submit proposals that think along or across the following axes: social, methodological, theoretical, and pedagogical.
Social
- How can communication design, PTC, and UX professionals and academic researchers continue to work together to embrace inclusion, accessibility, and disability? What is currently being overlooked in these relationships?
- In what ways can intercultural communication design apply principles of UX?
- How do we operationalize, make space for, value, and translate the importance of social justice in our theories, scholarship, curricula, and industry?
- How do social conditions and the contexts of local communities shape how industry and academia can or ought to partner together to prepare students to meet current industry demands?
- What academic and practical relationships exist or might exist between communication design, PTC, UX, risk communication, civic, and community rhetorics?
Methodological
- What methodologies from other disciplines might inform communication design, PTC, and UX research? What do these fields stand to gain?
- What current research methodologies can inform our assumptions and practices about information and communication design?
- How can UX theory be applied, measured, and evaluated in the workplace?
- How can collaborative and project management platforms (e.g. Microsoft Sharepoint, Cisco WebEx, Adobe Connect, etc.) and methods make use of principles of information and communication design?
- What affordances and limitations are there in agile and design thinking methodologies when applied in communication design, PTC, and UX work and research contexts?
Theoretical
- What new or overlooked theoretical frameworks can inform our practices and assumptions about information and communication design, PTC, and UX?
- What design strategies help us transgress, reshape, or change a particular boundary?
- What new research opportunities have emerged out of cross-disciplinary approaches and collaborations?
- Which boundaries do our current theoretical allegiances construct? Should these boundaries continue to remain constructed in this way?
- What are the social and ethical implications of adhering to a particular theoretical model, framework, or concept?
Pedagogical
- What are the differences and/or similarities in teaching information and communication design skills in online or hybrid courses and face-to-face courses?
- How can academics and industry professionals work together to re-think the structure, pedagogy, and future of technical communication programs?
- How can service learning, community engagement, and other experiential practices be used in communication design, PTC, and UX classes?
- How can we leverage design thinking in communication design, PTC, and UX courses? How can we use design thinking to augment our curricula?
- What curricular assumptions do PTC programs make about the knowledge, skills, abilities industry and government partners desire?
SUBMISSION TYPES
Submissions can take the form of any of the six (6) options below. Authors of accepted proposals for all types (except workshops) will be given the opportunity to write up their work for the peer-reviewed proceedings.
Research Papers (7-10 pgs.)
Research papers present integrative reviews or original reports of substantive new work: theoretical, empirical, and/or in the design, development and/or deployment of novel systems. Papers will be reviewed for academic standards, relevance, conceptual quality, innovation, and clarity of presentation. Proposals are not to exceed 500 words. The results described must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Final papers are not to exceed ten pages in length in ACM SIGDOC conference format, including figures and references. Note: At least one author from a paper must register and attend the conference in order for the paper to be included in the proceedings. Multiple papers and/or reports will be grouped thematically by the Program Chair into 75 minute panels at the conference.
Industry Insights (2-3 pgs.)
Industry insights present lessons learned from an industry-situated experience with a project, concept, technology, or trend that is of interest to scholars, researchers, teachers, and practitioners in communication design, PTC, UX, or other related field. Proposals in this category should be written from the perspective of a practitioner and should focus on one or two key “insights” learned during the process of an experience in industry. This insight should be situated within the larger field of practice and highlight specifically why this insight is significant for industry moving forward. Attention might also be paid to practical steps audience members and readers can take in light of the experience. Proposals are not to exceed 500 words. The results and experiences described must not be under consideration for publication elsewhere, and should not focus solely on promoting proprietary tools. Final papers not to exceed three pages in length in ACM SIGDOC conference format, including figures and references. Note: At least one author from an industry insight must register and attend the conference in order for the insight to be included in the proceedings. Multiple papers and/or insights will be grouped thematically by the Program Chair into 75 minute panels at the conference.
Experience Reports (4-6 pgs.)
Experience reports present experiential-based reflections on a particular case, methodology, or design idea from projects and deployments. Reports are reviewed for usefulness, clarity, reflection, and larger contextualization within the academic fields of communication design, PTC, or UX. Strong experience reports discuss both benefits and drawbacks of the approaches used and clearly call out lessons learned. Reports may focus on a particular aspect of technology usage and practice, or describe broad project experiences. Proposals are not to exceed 500 words. Final papers not to exceed six pages in length in ACM SIGDOC conference format, including figures and references. Note: At least one author from an experience report must register and attend the conference in order for the report to be included in the proceedings. Multiple papers and/or reports will be grouped thematically by the Program Chair into 75 minute panels at the conference.
Posters (1-2 pgs.)
Posters are a less formal presentation of work in progress, theories, experimental work, new concepts, late-breaking research results, or work that is best communicated visually and in conversation. Poster proposals may describe original research or novel designs. Successful applicants should bring their completed posters (up to 3 x 4 feet in size) to the conference where they will be displayed at a special session during the conference. Proposals are not to exceed 250 words. Final extended abstracts not to exceed 2 pages in ACM SIGDOC conference format. Note: Poster presenters must attend the poster session in person.
Panel Sessions
Panels should be comprised of multiple presenters organized around a specific topic relevant to the SIGDOC audience. Proposals are not to exceed 500 words. Final extended abstracts are not to exceed 2 pages in ACM SIGDOC conference format. Note: All members of the panel must register for and attend the conference for the extended abstract to be included in the Proceedings.
Workshops
Workshops provide opportunities for engaged introductions to new developments in the field and participatory discussion of current ideas and practices. Successful workshop proposals explain clearly how attendees will participate in workshop activities and must include a schedule indicating times, registrant activities, and speakers. Proposed workshops with no evidence of active participation by registrants will not be accepted. Proposals are not to exceed 500 words.
PROCEEDINGS
We offer four different types of submissions for the conference proceedings:
- Research Papers (7-10 pgs.);
- Industry Insights; (2-3 pgs.);
- Experience Reports (4-6 pgs.); and
- Extended Abstracts and Poster Abstracts (for poster and panel submissions; 1-2 pgs.)
All authors who receive acceptance of their proposal can submit to the peer-reviewed conference proceedings. After notification of acceptance, full-length papers and extended abstracts will then be reviewed and sent back to authors for final edits and ACM formatting. Authors will then re-submit papers and abstracts as “camera-ready” submissions. Papers and extended abstracts will be published in the Conference Proceedings and in the ACM Digital Library. SIGDOC will be leading webinars for authors on the LaTex formatting of the proceedings. For examples of previous work published in the proceedings, please see the conference website.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Proposals should not exceed 500 words and should include the following:
- The name, affiliation, and email of the primary submitter; if a collaborative proposal, include the names and email addresses of collaborators (not included in word count).
- Title or titles
- The focus/topic of the proposed paper, insight, report, poster, panel or workshop
- The connection of the topic to the conference theme
- The approach/method used to examine this topic
- The connection of the topic to prior work/research in the field
- The takeaway attendees can gain from this proposed paper, insight, report, or poster and use in their own work
- An explanation and schedule of workshop activities (if workshop)
You may submit a proposal for a research paper, industry insight, experience report, poster, panel session, or workshop. Submit your proposal here.
IMPORTANT DATES
The timeline for the conference is as follows:
- January 1, 2019, Submissions open.
- January 25th, 2019 11:59pm PST: Proposals due. Please submit to the online proposal system.
- February 15th, 2019 11:59pm PST: Notification of acceptance/request to submit full-length paper or extended abstract
- April 5th, 2019 11:59pm PST: Drafts of initial papers and extended abstracts due
- May 3rd, 2019 11:59pm PST: Reviews of/comments on papers and extended abstracts returned
- June 21st, 2019 11:59pm PST: Papers and extended abstracts (final version) due
- October 4th-6th: SIGDOC 2019 Conference
QUESTIONS
Questions on the CFP or the process described here should be emailed to the Program Co-Chairs, Tim Amidon, Ehren Pflugfelder, and Daniel Richards at sigdocacm@gmail.com.