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@inproceedings{bib_Unve_2025, AUTHOR = {Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Unveiling Algorithmic Bias: Gender Disparities in Gaming and Dating Platforms in India}, BOOKTITLE = {Indian Journal of Gender Studies}. YEAR = {2025}}

Description Anti-discrimination is a crucial focus for researchers, policymakers and designers of technical systems. Leveraging insights from AI fairness and inclusion studies, we examine algorithmic bias and its tendency to perpetuate discrimination (Selbst et al., 2019, Fairness and abstraction in sociotechnical systems, pp. 59–68) through two case studies: one in a gaming environment and another on a dating platform. Our research on gaming explores the manifestation of toxicity, particularly its impact on gender identities. We examine the normalisation of toxic behaviours within gaming spaces, negatively influencing gendered perceptions and experiences. In the second study, we conduct an experiment on the Bumble dating platform to uncover and address discrimination within the matching algorithms, which influence the profiles shown to users as potential dates. These interactions in user discovery pose significant risks …

@inproceedings{bib_Qual_2025, AUTHOR = {Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Qualitative Methods for Digital Social Research: Studies from the Global South}, BOOKTITLE = {Studies from the Global South}. YEAR = {2025}}

This volume offers a series of practical methods to study digital behaviours considering the socio-cultural realities of the global south. It includes methodologically rigorous applied research chapters from leading international researchers offering information on gold mines and blind spots in researching the digital in the global south. It develops a tri-sectional format based on distinct areas of research, geographical variability and diversity of methods and approaches. The first section focuses on Dissecting Research Fractures–which disrupts the established research ideologies and practices, user behaviors, theoretical perspectives, and field methods in the study of digital social research. The second section on Innovating Methods proposes and extends mixed methodologies that go beyond research boundaries to produce novel possibilities for study. The final section on Re-Imagining the Field breaks new ground in exploring the social-digital where a transient research field is contextualized and stabilized through the social, infrastructural, and digital interweaving. The book offers the reader an inside view of studying marginal yet emerging users and consumers of digital technologies. The three sections together purport to draw textual, graphical, temporal, and ethnographic insights via innovative and hybrid observational tools to record, annotate and formulate everyday experiences of digital life. The volume addresses scholars interested in hybridizing methods, early career researchers, and graduates working on connecting humans and digital technologies. It also holds considerable appeal for digital marketers and strategists, offering practically …

@inproceedings{bib_Why__2025, AUTHOR = {Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Why a Volume on Qualitative Methods for Digital Social Research from the Global South?}, BOOKTITLE = {Studies from the Global South}. YEAR = {2025}}

his volume presents fourteen critical explorations in digital studies, grounding qualitative approaches to digital social research within the often-overlooked geographies of the Global South. Digital social research operates within complex sociotechnical landscapes, encompassing a wide array of technologies, products, users, and contexts of use. This diversity is exemplified by the rise of Web 2.0 technologies leveraging digital and stored data from varied social platforms and digital ecosystems. Digital technologies have transformed the research field into a dynamic, co-constructed space shared by users, researchers, and digital artifacts, marking a significant move toward more adaptive and qualitative approaches in digital social research. By re-evaluating the role of technology in society, this volume provides diverse perspectives and methodologies, offering both innovative theoretical frameworks and practical …

@inproceedings{bib_Proc_2025, AUTHOR = {Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Proceedings of 15th Indian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction Design and Research, IndiaHCI 2024}, BOOKTITLE = {India Conference of Human-Computer Interaction}. YEAR = {2025}}

his two-volume proceedings, set CCIS 2337-2338, constitutes of the proceedings of 15th Indian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction Design and Research, IndiaHCI 2024, held in Mumbai, India, during November 7–9, 2024. The 30 full papers and 12 short papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 235 submissions. These papers belong to various tracks which have been divided between the two volumes as follows:-Part I: Paper Track. Part II: Game Design Track, Student Research Consortium Track; Posters and demos Track; Artworks and installations Track.

@inproceedings{bib_The__2025, AUTHOR = {Suvarnapathaki, Pratyay Kedar and Shah, Viral Kalpesh and Negi, Saarthak and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {The Boring and the Tedious: Invisible Labour in Indias Gig Economy}, BOOKTITLE = {Human Computer Interaction Across Borders}. YEAR = {2025}}

India's gig-based food delivery platforms, such as Swiggy and Zomato, provide crucial income to marginalised communities but also entrench workers in cycles of invisible labour. Through 14 semi-structured interviews, we analyse waiting time and repetitive UI itneractions as key burdens that contribute to 'digital discomfort' for gig based food delivery agents. We find that workers employ creative strategies to navigate algorithmic management, yet remain constrained by platform-side 'gamification' and system opacity. We propose worker-centered GUI automation as a potential intervention to reduce friction while preserving agency. In conclusion, this position paper argues for rethinking HCI approaches in the Global South to prioritise worker autonomy over efficiency-driven design optimisations.

@inproceedings{bib_Brid_2025, AUTHOR = {NANAVATI, SNEHA and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Bridging Data Gaps and Building Knowledge Networks in Indian Football Analytics}, BOOKTITLE = {Human Computer Interaction Across Borders}. YEAR = {2025}}

The global rise of football analytics has rapidly transformed how clubs make strategic decisions (morgulev2018sports,). However, in India, the adoption of analytics remains constrained by institutional resistance, infrastructural limitations, and cultural barriers—challenges that grassroots innovation and low-cost data solutions have the potential to overcome. Despite the increasing popularity of the Indian Super League (scroll2020isl,; chatterjee2021isl,), resource scarcity and fragmented governance continue to hinder the widespread adoption and impact of analytics. This mixed-methods study explores how informal, decentralized analytics communities—comprising amateur analysts and Twitter-based “data sleuths”—navigate these constraints through peer mentorship and grassroots innovation. Drawing on extensive digital ethnography, participant observation, and interviews, the study illustrates how these informal networks mitigate data scarcity, limited digital infrastructure, and institutional indifference while fostering skill development and professional growth. Building on these insights, the paper proposes HCI interventions such as decentralized knowledge platforms to facilitate structured, cross-border peer mentorship and low-cost data solutions—including AI-assisted player tracking and mobile analytics dashboards—rooted in principles of frugal innovation (shauloff2023ai,). These interventions aim to bridge the data divide, support inclusive technical engagement in sport, and enhance analytics-driven decision-making in resource-constrained environments. This paper contributes to HCIxB’s focus on cross-border collaboration by highlighting how community-driven technological adaptation in the Global South can foster meaningful participation, skill-building, and long-term sustainability through informal learning networks and scalable, context-sensitive tools (vashistha2017cve,; nawaz2021farming,).

@inproceedings{bib_Extr_2025, AUTHOR = {Mahajan, Sarthak and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Extreme Speech Classification in the Era of LLMs: Exploring Open-Source and Proprietary Models}, BOOKTITLE = {The International Conference on information systems and management science}. YEAR = {2025}}

In recent years, widespread internet adoption and the growth in user base of various social media platforms have led to an increase in the prolifera tion of extreme speech online. While traditional language models have demon strated proficiency in distinguishing between neutral text and non-neutral text (i.e. extreme speech), categorizing the diverse types of extreme speech presents significant challenges [1][2]. The task of extreme speech classification is par ticularly nuanced, as it requires a deep understanding of socio-cultural contexts to accurately interpret the intent of the language used by the speaker. Even hu man annotators often disagree on the appropriate classification of such content, emphasizing the complex and subjective nature of this task [3]. The use of hu man moderators also presents a scaling issue, necessitating the need for auto mated systems for extreme speech classification. The recent launch of ChatGPT has drawn global attention to the potential applications of Large Language Models (LLMs) across a diverse variety of tasks. Trained on vast and diverse corpora, and demonstrating the ability to effectively capture and encode contex tual information, LLMs emerge as highly promising tools for tackling this spe cific task of extreme speech classification. In this paper, we leverage the Indian subset of the extreme speech dataset from [3] to develop an effective classifica tion framework using LLMs. We evaluate open-source Llama models against closed-source OpenAI models, finding that while pre-trained LLMs show mod erate efficacy, fine-tuning with domain-specific data significantly enhances per formance, highlighting their adaptability to linguistic and contextual nuances. Although GPT-based models outperform Llama models in zero-shot settings, the performance gap disappears after fine-tuning.

@inproceedings{bib_Clos_2024, AUTHOR = {Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Closing the Loop: Embedding Observability in the GenAI Product Lifecycle for Systematic Bias Mitigation}, BOOKTITLE = {CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Workshop}. YEAR = {2024}}

@inproceedings{bib_Dich_2024, AUTHOR = {Garg, Rahul and Deshbandhu, Aditya and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Dichotomy of Game Design and Gaming Practice: Examining Gaming Toxicity and Online Gaming Communities in India}, BOOKTITLE = {India Conference of Human-Computer Interaction}. YEAR = {2024}}

This paper contributes to the expanding research on toxicity in online games, exploring the relationship between game design and player behaviours in India. Using an ethnographic approach and in-depth interviews with gamers, we capture firsthand accounts of toxic gaming experiences, delving into game design, game mechanics, and player interactions intersecting to shape player behaviours. While previous research on toxicity in gaming environments has largely focused on the role of game design, aspects of gender and, to a lesser extent, race, primarily within the context of the Global North, our study shifts the focus to India and, by extension, the Global South. We seek to uncover broader dimensions of gaming toxicity that go beyond design and gender. Our analysis examines the underlying factors contributing to the prevalence and persistence of toxic behaviours in Indian gaming environments by highlighting the influence of cultural and contextual elements in producing toxic behaviours. Expanding the scope of research to include these overlooked aspects, our study aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the complexities of toxicity in online gaming spaces within the Indian context.

@inproceedings{bib_Adap_2024, AUTHOR = {Goyal, Tanmay and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Adapting to Uncertainty: A Deep Dive into Job Insecurity and Indian food delivery workers}, BOOKTITLE = {European Association of Social Anthropologists}. YEAR = {2024}}

From an study of food delivery workers, we examine the precarity and consolidation of working conditions driven by the platform economy in the context of Urban India. The study considers the apparent threats in ‘gigging’, informalisation of labour and the obvious need to reconceptualise worker well-being, risks, stress and the eventuality of workplace and worker alignment in food delivery labour.

@inproceedings{bib_Unra_2024, AUTHOR = {Goyal, Tanmay and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Unravelling Data Power Dynamics in a Food Delivery Platform: A Perspective on Labour Management}, BOOKTITLE = {Data Power Conference}. YEAR = {2024}}

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@inproceedings{bib_Unve_2024, AUTHOR = {Goyal, Tanmay and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Unveiling Two-Fold Gamification: Exploring the Agency Of Delivery Workers in Urban India}, BOOKTITLE = {SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies}. YEAR = {2024}}

The evolving landscape of gig labor, particularly within food delivery platforms, has been influenced by a shift towards algorithmic management, emphasizing performance metrics as a daily burden to be carried through delivery work. Through a study of Indian food delivery agents, our paper suggests an emerging gamification culture between delivery platforms and workers. Agents gradually yet consistently adapt to stringent algorithmic management to overcome everyday work's precarity. Despite the challenges of performance pressure on food delivery labor, we capture the daily rhythms and routines of delivery work punctuated by flashes of agenting, revealing small capacities to make choices and influence work outcomes. By employing a qualitative research framework, we uncover the mechanisms through which delivery platforms manipulate labor, simultaneously exploring delivery agents' tactics to extract agency and exploit the platforms' rules. We develop the notion of 'agency’ to disentangle the idea of `gamification by agents’ as a socio-technical derivative governing food delivery agents in urban India. The findings highlight the potential of platform work empowering, albeit with limits, delivery agents with agency and decision-making authority.

@inproceedings{bib_Unve_2024, AUTHOR = {Kalra, Ritvik Aryan and Garg, Rahul and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Unveiling Algorithmic Bias and Bridging Gender Disparities- Case Studies from a Gaming and a Dating Platform in India}, BOOKTITLE = {Indian Journal of Gender Studies}. YEAR = {2024}}

Anti-discrimination represents a critical area of study for researchers, policymakers, and designers of technical systems. Drawing on AI fairness and inclusion studies research, we analyse algorithmic bias and their propensity to reproduce bias [Selbst et al., 2019] on two types of platforms- a gaming environment and a dating platform. On the gaming platform we conduct research on toxicity to comprehend its manifestations, diverse interpretations of toxicity, the conditions fostering toxic gaming, specifically affecting gendered identities. We also investigate if toxic behaviours are normalised within gaming domains, adversely impacting gendered perceptions and experiences. For the second platform, we offer results from an experiment on the Bumble dating platform to identify and address the presence of discrimination in the matching algorithms the platform pushes to its users in the form of profiles for potential dates in the real world. Forms of Interactions of user discovery pose a significant risk of sexual violence and other forms of harm for diverse communities of gender on dating platforms. By reporting experiences of non-binary individuals using dating platforms we contribute to a largely unexplored research field. This study not only highlights the discrepancies and potential biases in dating algorithms but also serves as a catalyst to foster more inclusive design principles, thereby acknowledging the diverse needs across genders and communities.

@inproceedings{bib_Buil_2023, AUTHOR = {Dedhia, Yug and Singh, Anjali and Tomar, Vaibhav Singh and Rangaswamy, Nimmi and Thakur, Dev Singh }, TITLE = {Building AI and Human Capital for Road Safety}, BOOKTITLE = {AIS SIG GlobDev Pre-ICIS Workshop}. YEAR = {2023}}

AI is about learning algorithms and huge amounts of data and are drivers of economic growth -- what does this mean for the field of development studies? Can we re-orient to twin AI studies and development theory and practice to generate how development challenges are identified and researched? To do this a good grasp is needed of AI internal mechanisms and outcomes in addressing development issues -- this argument will be developed through a case study of the ADAS [Advanced Driver Assistance System] deployment in India. Over and above discussing the ADAS we bring an anthropological lens to understand the social context that surrounds the system. Focusing on bus drivers, we offer findings from a qualitative and ethnographic study of drivers in a collaborative effort to achieve road safety by deploying AI-driven technology and empowering stakeholders in the transport industry in India especially, bus drivers as critical actors in the city transport network.

@inproceedings{bib_Expl_2023, AUTHOR = {Kalra, Ritvik Aryan and Gupta, Pratham and Varghese, Ben Paul and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Exploring Gender Disparities in Bumbles Match Recommendations}, BOOKTITLE = {AIS SIG GlobDev Pre-ICIS Workshop}. YEAR = {2023}}

We study bias and discrimination in the context of Bumble, an online dating platform in India. Drawing on research in AI fairness and inclusion studies we analyze algorithmic bias and their propensity to reproduce bias. We conducted an experiment to identify and address the presence of bias in the matching algorithms Bumble pushes to its users in the form of profiles for potential dates in the real world. Dating apps like Bumble utilize algorithms that learn from user data to make recommendations. Even if the algorithm does not have intentions or consciousness, it is a system created and maintained by humans. We attribute moral agency of such systems to be compositely derived from algorithmic mediations, the design and utilization of these platforms. Developers, designers, and operators of dating platforms thus have a moral obligation to mitigate biases in the algorithms to create inclusive platforms that affirm diverse social identities.

@inproceedings{bib_Unde_2022, AUTHOR = {CHAUHAN, SWARAJ SINGH and Loganathan, Ramesh and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Understanding researcher’s role in enabling or inhibiting innovation clusters in emerging Indian economy.}, BOOKTITLE = {R&D Management Conference}. YEAR = {2022}}

This paper presents a descriptive analysis to understand how researchers play a significant role within emerging innovation clusters. We highlight reasons that enable or inhibit researchers towards productization within scientific institutes in India. The paper focuses on understanding the above from a researcher’s point of view by analysing their motivation and concerns. Most research work from deep-tech computer science domains contain a shelf life when it comes to productization. Therefore, associated activities have a designated time period related to productization to avoid research leading to the product from falling into the Valley of death. As a result, researchers who work on projects resulting in potential productization become a crucial part of a successful research to productization flow of work. Our paper develops an understanding of and evaluates different aspects of a researchers’ journey as they relate to productization of deep-tech Computer Science research work. Index Terms - Innovation Clusters, Productization, Emerging Economy, Deep-tech Computer Science, India

@inproceedings{bib_Is_T_2022, AUTHOR = {Vohra, Ishita and Nigam, Meher Shashwat and Sakaria, Aryan and Kudari, Amey and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Is Twitter Enough? Investigating Situational Awareness in Social and Print Media during the Second COVID-19 Wave in India}, BOOKTITLE = {IEEE International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining}. YEAR = {2022}}

The COVID-19 pandemic required efficient allocation of public resources and transforming existing ways of societal functions. To manage any crisis, governments and public health researchers ex-ploit the information available to them in order to make informed decisions, also defined as situational awareness. Gathering situational awareness using so-cial media, has been functional to manage epidemics. Previous research focused on using discussions during periods of epidemic crises on social media platforms like Twitter, Reddit, or Facebook and developing NLP techniques to filter out important/relevant discussions from a huge corpus of messages and posts. Social media usage varies with internet penetration and other socio-economic factors, which might induce disparity in an-alyzing discussions across different geographies. How-ever, print media is a ubiquitous information source, irrespective of geography. Further, topics discussed in news articles are already ‘newsworthy’, while on social media ‘newsworthiness' is a product of techno-social processes. Developing this fundamental difference, we study Twitter data during the second wave in India focused on six high-population cities with varied macro-economic factors. Through a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods, we further analyze two Indian newspapers during the same period

@inproceedings{bib_Resi_2022, AUTHOR = {Rangaswamy, Nimmi and Tivasuradej, Tiffany }, TITLE = {Resilience in Acute Contexts}, BOOKTITLE = {Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference Proceedings}. YEAR = {2022}}

Resilience in Acute Contexts

@inproceedings{bib_Cont_2022, AUTHOR = {Mangurkar, Isha and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Controlled empowerment of women: intersections of feminism, HCI and political communication in India}, BOOKTITLE = {Feminist Theory Journal}. YEAR = {2022}}

witter played a dominant role during the 2014 general elections in India, ushering a right-wing party into power. Political leaders employed Twitter to augment their public image and push right-wing campaign agendas to millions of followers. A prominent and strategic use of Twitter was credited to Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, portrayed as a visionary leader supporting economic development, social empowerment and good governance. Within this narrative, women's empowerment debates underwent multiple transformations. Through this article, we aim to establish the nature of discussions lying at the intersections of feminist thinking and internet technology. We study the discursive trajectory of women's empowerment against the backdrop of a right-wing political (Hindutva) ideology playing out on Twitter. Utilising the qualitative methods of Thematic Analysis and Feminist Relational Discourse …

@inproceedings{bib_The__2022, AUTHOR = {Rangaswamy, Nimmi and Narasimhan, Haripriya }, TITLE = {The Power of Data Science Ontogeny: Thick Data Studies on the Indian IT Skill Tutoring Microcosm}, BOOKTITLE = {New Perspectives in Critical Data Studies}. YEAR = {2022}}

Now you can pursue world class courses on Indian soil… we are grooming a new generation of global Indians.… Join now and be the best.(A ‘computer institute’brochure in small town India) India’s large under-twenty-five adult population has stoked huge demand for technical, IT job-ready education. India is home to the largest undertwenty-five demographic profile in the world, 604,394,787 people and 49.91 per cent of the total population (Census, 2011), requiring a

@inproceedings{bib_Book_2022, AUTHOR = {Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Book review: Lives of data: essays on computational cultures from India}, BOOKTITLE = {Online Information Review}. YEAR = {2022}}

Lives of Data is an intellectual response to the birth and evolution of data societies as instruments of knowledge and everyday infrastructures. The book, in a pioneering effort, charts the development and immersion of data infrastructures across socio-economic and institutional contexts in India through the articulation of social, political, economic, cultural worlds–and “data worlds”. Lives of data offers a unique contemporary snapshot of what is at once India’s data world and the digital every day. It does the above by connecting historical journeys of small and big data, their embodiments in model building and in their impacts on human socio-economic sustenance. Editor Sandeep Mertia focusses on “relationality” and “lineages, affinities, and relations of data in context-sensitive ways” to centre and ground questions and debates in the 14 essays that make up this volume. Beginning the collection of essays with a …

@inproceedings{bib_Is_T_2022, AUTHOR = {Vohra, Ishita and Nigam, Meher Shashwat and Sakaria, Aryan and Kudari, Amey and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Is Twitter Enough? Investigating Situational Awareness in Social and Print Media during the Second COVID-19 Wave in India}, BOOKTITLE = {IEEE International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining}. YEAR = {2022}}

The pandemic required efficient allocation of public resources and transforming existing ways of societal functions. To manage any crisis, governments and public health researchers exploit the information available to them in order to make informed decisions, also defined as situational awareness. Gathering situational awareness using social media has been functional to manage epidemics. Previous research focused on using discussions during periods of epidemic crises on social media platforms like Twitter, Reddit, or Facebook and developing NLP techniques to filter out relevant discussions from a huge corpus of messages and posts. Social media usage varies with internet penetration and other socioeconomic factors, which might induce disparity in analyzing discussions across different geographies. However, print media is a ubiquitous information source, irrespective of geography. Further, topics discussed in news articles are already newsworthy, while on social media newsworthiness is a product of techno-social processes. Developing this fundamental difference, we study Twitter data during the second wave in India focused on six high-population cities with varied macroeconomic factors. Through a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods, we further analyze two Indian newspapers during the same period and compare topics from both Twitter and the newspapers to evaluate situational awareness around the second phase of COVID on each of these platforms. We conclude that factors like internet penetration and GDP in a specific city influence the discourse surrounding situational updates on social media. Thus, augmenting …

@inproceedings{bib_Abso_2022, AUTHOR = {Patro, Tapaswini and Mukherjee, Kaushiki and Siddiqui, Mohd Asad and Chakrabarty, Indranil and Ganguly, Nirman }, TITLE = {Absolute fully entangled fraction from spectrum}, BOOKTITLE = {European Physical Journal D}. YEAR = {2022}}

Fully entangled fraction (FEF) is a significant figure of merit for density matrices. In bipartite d ⊗ d quantum systems, the threshold value FEF > 1/d, dictates prominent implications for tasks like teleportation and entanglement distillation. Like separability, the value of FEF is also related to the choice of global basis of the underlying Hilbert space. A state having its FEF ≤ 1/d, might give a value > 1/d in another global basis. A change in the global basis corresponds to a global unitary action on the quantum state. In the present work, we find that there are quantum states whose FEF remains less than 1/d, under the action of any global unitary i.e., any choice of global basis. Based on the fixed spectrum of density matrices, we provide necessary and sufficient criteria in two qubit systems which also prove to be sufficient in any d⊗d dimensions, to identify such states. Further, we prove that states having their FEF bounded by 1/d under any global unitary, form a convex and compact set. This entails the distinction of states whose FEF can be increased beyond 1/d, through unitary action. The demarcation is of paramount importance as it provides for the identification of states which can prove to be useful in teleportation and entanglement distillation after the action of global unitary operators, as underpinned by illustrations in our work.

@inproceedings{bib_The__2021, AUTHOR = {SEHRAWAT, UJJWAL and Sawhney, Namit and TEJASWINI, YELESWARAPU and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {The Everyday HCI of Uber Drivers in India : A Developing Country perspective}, BOOKTITLE = {Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction}. YEAR = {2021}}

Uber drivers in India are witnessing a slow emergence of everyday work formalization predominantly through their engagement with the Uber platform. If a vast segment of the informal employment sector in a country resembles gig work, can companies like Uber bring organisational ability and wage regularity to employment? Despite Uber’s economic model being challenged on several labour fronts in scholarship from the global North, we argue everyday interactions with the Uber platform are ushering organised work practices and improved financial stability for drivers who formerly hail from the informal employment sector in India. The everyday driving for Uber is filtered through a conceptual and practical work model drivers gain with due experience of Uber’s platform features. Our study uncovers the relationship between the controlling demands of the Uber platform and ensuing driver work adaptations. We present findings from a qualitative investigation of Uber ride-hailing services impacting drivers to 1. optimize earnings, 2. link work effort to wages, and 3. converge towards platform compliance. We posit engaged and persistent interactions with the Uber platform bring structure and formality to the profession of driving for Indian Uber drivers

@inproceedings{bib_“S_2021, AUTHOR = {TEJASWINI, YELESWARAPU and Nair, Pranav and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {“Should We Meet IRL?": Gauging Matches in Virtual Reality}, BOOKTITLE = {European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work}. YEAR = {2021}}

Virtual Reality has evolved as a powerful, embedded and immersive technology medium to transform dating experiences. However, there is no rigorous CSCW research examining ‘dating’ in VR, despite social interaction being a serious topic of exploration. We aim to push the CSCW discourse on social interaction further by analyzing the dynamics of romantic reciprocality in a fully immersive VR application. Through a qualitative study of 30 participants in 15 pairs, we examine a customizable VR application ‘RecRoom’ as a dating technology medium to analyze how dimensions of interaction - including but not limited to voice, haptics and spatiality - influence dynamics of dating experiences. We employ Tinder as a contrasting chat based medium to situate and deepen our learnings about dating in VR. Our study finds VR allowing users to efficiently and effectively ‘gauge’ matches resulting in well informed decisions to meet (or not) virtual partners ’IRL’ or in real life than existing chat based mediums like Tinder. We believe this leads to improved experience of first dates.

@inproceedings{bib_Good_2020, AUTHOR = {Jain, Siddhartha and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Good Digital Identity: The Case of Aadhaar in India}, BOOKTITLE = {ACM COMPASS}. YEAR = {2020}}

The attempt to enroll citizens under the umbrella of effective governance is being accomplished by bringing digitization to the pedestal of identity. The paper unfolds the story of India’s biometric based digital identity programme, Aadhaar, in fulfilling its goals of facilitating national security, financial inclusion and entitlement delivery. Using the socio-technical framework of ‘Good ID’, a user-centric approach to digital identity, we critique the intricacies of the design of Aadhaar as a bridge between citizen beneficiaries and the government and propose suggestions to forward the case of Aadhaar as ‘good’ digital ID.

@inproceedings{bib_Good_2020, AUTHOR = {JAIN, SIDDHARTHA and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Good Digital Identity: The Case of Aadhaar in India}, BOOKTITLE = {SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies}. YEAR = {2020}}

The attempt to enroll citizens under the umbrella of effective governance is being accomplished by bringing digitization to the pedestal of identity. The paper unfolds the story of India’s biometric based digital identity programme,Aadhaar, in fulfilling its goals of facilitating national security, financial inclusion and entitlement delivery. Using thesocio-technical framework of ‘Good ID’,a user-centric approach todigital identity, we critique the intricacies of the design of Aadhaar as a bridge between citizen beneficiaries and the government and propose suggestions to forward the case of Aadhaar as ‘good’ digital ID.

@inproceedings{bib_Long_2019, AUTHOR = {PRABHAT, SHANTANU and MOTWANI, ADITYA SURESH and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Longitudinal analysis of a #boycottmovement on Indian online platforms: Case of collective action and online boycott}, BOOKTITLE = {European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work}. YEAR = {2019}}

Lately, Indian online platforms have witnessed recurring consumer boycott calls in forms of uninstalling/down-voting applications on the app stores. For our exploratory study, we conduct a longitudinal analysis of one of these controversies involving online boycotting of an e-commerce company (Snapdeal) over a controversial statement issued by their brand ambassador (Aamir Khan) which hurt religious and nationalist sentiments of users on Twitter. Through the lens of this study, we try to understand emergent collective user behaviour and how collective action has begun to play out in online (troll) communities. We call the user behaviour in our study as trolling behaviour as - the call to boycott appears in order to silence an influential voice which challenges a nationalist narrative of these users. A broader implication of such behaviour seems to be strong arming any counter narrative with a threat of potential backlash and financial harm. This analysis is important as online deviant and trolling behaviour by group of users is increasingly influencing socio-political agendas online. It contributes to broader CSCW understanding of online platforms and collective behaviour. We also situate our work in online consumer boycotting behaviour.

@inproceedings{bib_Indi_2019, AUTHOR = {PRABHAT, SHANTANU and NANAVATI, SNEHA and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {India's "Uberwallah": profiling Uber drivers in the gig economy}, BOOKTITLE = {International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development}. YEAR = {2019}}

Narratives of the gig economy are largely perspectives from the global North and the nature of their ride-hailing market. Freelancing or gigging offer contrasting connotations depending on the market and the labour it is situated in. India, with its demographic dividend and employment challenges, view opportunities arising out of the gig- economy differently. To investigate the impact of ride-hailing apps in the Indian market, and the challenges and opportunities it has brought in, we offer learnings from an ethnographic study of Uber drivers in India.

@inproceedings{bib_Indi_2019, AUTHOR = {PRABHAT, SHANTANU and NANAVATI, SNEHA and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {India’s “Uberwallah”: Profiling Uber Drivers in the Gig}, BOOKTITLE = {International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development}. YEAR = {2019}}

Narratives of the gig economy are largely perspectives from the global North and the nature of their ride-hailing market. Freelancing or gigging offer contrasting connotations depending on the market and the labour it is situated in. India, with its demographic dividend and employment challenges, view opportunities arising out of the gig- economy differently. To investigate the impact of ride-hailing apps in the Indian market, and the challenges and opportunities it has brought in, we offer learnings from an ethnographic study of Uber drivers in India.

@inproceedings{bib_A_no_2019, AUTHOR = {Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {A note on informal economy and ICT}, BOOKTITLE = {The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries}. YEAR = {2019}}

This note offers a perspective on the informal markets as an assortment of human players and networks contributing to a socio‐business culture of economic survival. The note also offers a few thoughts on specific segments of the informal workforce in India based on ethnographic evidence and a sociological assessment. The author begins with an appraisal of the socio‐economic phenomenon of informality including an anthropological framing of the “informal.” An important focus is the IT‐based businesses and the variety of players ranging from middle‐range businesses to floating or freelancing actors. The note ends with a spotlight on the internet fuelled gig economy where ICTs move beyond being a product or a service and take over as the business platform ushering a new era of informal or gig economy.

@inproceedings{bib_Digi_2019, AUTHOR = {Joshi, Tanmay and Gupta, Sharmistha Swasti and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Digital Wallets ‘Turning a Corner’for Financial Inclusion: A study of Everyday PayTM Practices in India}, BOOKTITLE = {International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries}. YEAR = {2019}}

Financial transactions are intimately bound with social interactions and woven into everyday economic lives. In this paper we focus on PayTM, a digital wallet, and a specific set of users of PayTM, street vendors in urban India. Through an ethnographic investigation we offer to unpack two questions: 1. Can digital forms of money create financial inclusion by opening up access to the marginalized 2. Can digital platforms amplify socio-economic capacities of low literate users enhancing financial literacy? We argue that digital and financial literacy are an immersive component of digital wallet use acquiring ‘everyday life’ in specific socio-economic ecosystems. Our study captures daily practices of digital money staking a claim in advancing the understanding of financial inclusion as a lived process accumulating habits, practices and stakes to expand socio-economic capabilities.

@inproceedings{bib_Indi_2019, AUTHOR = {PRABHAT, SHANTANU and NANAVATI, SNEHA and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {India's" Uberwallah" profiling Uber drivers in the gig economy}, BOOKTITLE = {International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development}. YEAR = {2019}}

Narratives of the gig economy are largely perspectives from the global North and the nature of their ride-hailing market. Freelancing or gigging offer contrasting connotations depending on the market and the labour it is situated in. India, with its demographic dividend and employment challenges, view opportunities arising out of the gig-economy differently. To investigate the impact of ride-hailing apps in the Indian market, and the challenges and opportunities it has brought in, we offer learnings from an ethnographic study of Uber drivers in Indi

@inproceedings{bib_Syst_2019, AUTHOR = {Rarav, Gurulingesh and Kunde, Shruti and , Sharanya Eswaran and Chander, Deepthi and Rangaswamy, Nimmi and Benerji, Joy Deep and Ernala, Sindhu Kiranmai and , Meeralakshmi Radhakrishnan and Sharma, Priyanka }, TITLE = {Systems and methods for enhancing shopping experience in physical stores}, BOOKTITLE = {United States Patent}. YEAR = {2019}}

The present disclosure discloses methods and systems for enhancing shopping experience in physical stores. The method includes receiving at least one persona associated with a user based on one or more of: ethnographic data obtained from a user, demographic data associated with the user, buying behavioral data associated with the user, and social networking data associated with the user. After this, one or more historical activities of the user inside one or more physical stores are received. Also, one or more constraints associated with the user are received. Once received, the at least one persona, the one or more constraints, and the one or more historical activities are analyzed to generate a pre-defined number of personalized recommendations. Finally, the personalized recommendations are displayed to the user within a window of a user interface.

@inproceedings{bib_Fiel_2019, AUTHOR = {, Grace Eden and Sharma, Sumita and Roy, Debjani and , Anirudha Joshi and , José Abdelnour Nocera and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Field trip as method: a rapid fieldwork approach}, BOOKTITLE = {Conference on Human-Computer Interaction}. YEAR = {2019}}

Understanding people's attitudes towards and uses of technology is an essential aspect of a successful design process. Ethnography is a proven method for acquiring this understanding. However, there are challenges to incorporating fieldwork, most notably the time factor, considered by some as the greatest barrier. This is especially true for many technology companies whose turn-around time from concept to design to implementation is accelerated. We propose a solution to the dilemma between acquiring the benefits of fieldwork with the compressed timescales of many technology projects by using focused field trips as a method for gaining rich insights into peoples' uses of and attitudes towards technologies in real-world settings. In a short amount of time (one or two days), field trips sensitize design teams to the priorities of stakeholder groups. We outline a systematic approach to incorporating field trips as a …

@inproceedings{bib_Meth_2018, AUTHOR = {Mahapatra, Jyotirmaya and Shrivastava, Kundan and Rangaswamy, Nimmi and Srivastava, Saurabh }, TITLE = {Method and system for data processing to recommend medical intervention activities for caregivers and/or human subjects}, BOOKTITLE = {United States Patent}. YEAR = {2018}}

The disclosed embodiments illustrate methods and systems to recommend medical intervention activities for caregivers and/or human subjects. The method comprises receipt of medical data of a human subject and contextual data of a plurality of caregivers of the human subjects. The medical data includes periodic physiological data of the human subject received in real-time. A customized ontology is generated, from a pre-determined ontology related to a medical condition, based on the received medical data and the contextual data. Thereafter, a recommendation of medical intervention activities is generated for at least one of the plurality of caregivers and/or the human subject, based on analysis of the generated customized ontology, caregiver profiles, the received contextual data, and the periodic physiological data. The generated recommendation is transmitted to computing devices of the at least one …

@inproceedings{bib_Scal_2018, AUTHOR = {Joshi, Meghna and Joshi, Tanmay and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Scaling Classroom IT Skill Tutoring: A Case Study from India}, BOOKTITLE = {International Conference of Human Factors in Computing Systems}. YEAR = {2018}}

India is home to the largest under-25 demographic profile in the world, but lacks a job-ready educational system. It requires a wide-spread, skill-oriented educational model, equipping youth to thrive in highly dynamic job markets. As a response to the huge demand for technical education, a large private skill-tutoring ecosystem has sprung up in In-dia but remains geographically limited. This paper, drawn from a three-month ethnographic research conducted in Ameerpet (arguably India's largest IT skilling hub), probes the pedagogic style and characteristics of tutoring, and of-fers reasons why learners prefer to enroll into a physical model of classroom teaching over online courses. We make design suggestions for online learning platforms to attract students who are marginalized in the more formal and com-petitive education system, and opt for Ameerpet-like skill-hubs. Our primary offering is to suggest a shift in …

@inproceedings{bib_Meth_2018, AUTHOR = {Mahapatra, Jyotirmaya and Rasheed, Fabin and Shrivastava, Kundan and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Method and system for auto-generation of sketch notes-based visual summary of multimedia content}, BOOKTITLE = {United States Patent}. YEAR = {2018}}

The disclosed embodiments illustrate method and system for auto-generation of the sketch notes-based visual summary of the multimedia content. The method includes determining one or more segments, based on one or more transitions in the multimedia content. The method further includes generating a transcript based on audio content associated with each determined segment. The method further includes retrieving a set of images from an image repository based on each of the identified one or more keywords. The method further includes generating a sketch image of each of one or more of the retrieved set of images associated with each of the identified one or more keywords. The method further includes rendering the sketch notes-based visual summary of the multimedia content, generated based on at least generated one or more sketch images, on a user interface displayed on a display screen of the user …

@inproceedings{bib_Refl_2018, AUTHOR = {Abdelnour-Nocera, José and Rangaswamy, Nimmi }, TITLE = {Reflecting on the design-culture connection in HCI and HCI4D}, BOOKTITLE = {Interactions}. YEAR = {2018}}

The Interactions website (interactions.acm.org) hosts a stable of bloggers who share insights and observations on HCI, often challenging current practices. Each issue we'll publish selected posts from some of the leading and emerging voices in the field.