The HCI After Hours
The HCI After Hours is a small independent event that brings together past, present and (potential) future HCI students at the University of Trento.
Students are invited to bring talks about the topics that most interest them, usually related to HCI, UX Design, Psychology and Computer Science.
Manifesto
The idea to create this event was born from my own desire to explore and share ideas on niche HCI concepts. Knowing that other students felt a similar desire and were passionate about different topics which were not covered in class, I decided to make it a reality.
The After Hours is a place for students to explore new ideas, to meet new people, and to engage in self-directed learning.
First Edition of the HCI After Hours
Anna Maschek during her talk on Web Accessibility
Gabriele Tangerini during his talk on soft skills
In its four editions, the HCI After Hours has managed to bring people together, to educate, inspire, and to provide an platform of expression for the speakers, who were usually not experts, but simply other students with a particular interest for topic. People shared ideas, thoughts and resources, and were able to meet with students from other years, alumni who are now professionals, and with potential future students interested in HCI.
All in all, the HCI After Hours was a fun and rewarding project, and as I leave the University of Trento, I'm arranging for ways to keep it going and to pass it on to next generations of HCI students.
Miraxh Tereziu during his talk on Design Systems
Talks
A wide range of topics was covered in the talks, including game design, web accessibility, AI, design systems, soft skills, gamification, design stories, and more.
Andrea Sartori during his talk on Gamification
Icaro Depaolini during his talk on Neural Nets
Tommaso Ceccherini during his talk on Game Design
The 1st edition of the HCI After Hours
Me during my talk on ballot design
Organizing the Event
Organizing this event proved more challenging than I would have thought. Even a small event like this had many moving parts, each needing to be addressed: booking a venue, finding speakers, selecting talks, ensuring interested people were aware of the event through a social media "campaign", handling gear and technical issues, providing food and drinks, getting feedback from attendees, cleaning up, and the list goes on.
It has been a lot of work, but of the rewarding kind, and I was lucky to have the help of my friends and classmates Gabriele, Teresio, Chiara, Tommaso, and Lucrezia.
