Transgender Inclusive and Affirming Design in Computing

Abstract

This paper seeks to bring further attention to transgender experiences and issues in the context of software applications. Research on transgender experiences has generally been quite limited, and the majority of that work has focused on non-digital environments. However, we argue that transgender individuals encounter several unique human-computer interaction challenges that are not typically experienced (or perhaps even considered) by cisgender individuals. This paper first articulates general challenges for transgender persons, and then discusses specific manifestations in computing: name display and updating, demographic data forms, and automating gendered assumptions. Potential recommendations are offered.