DIAL research prioritises
- listening
- lived experience
- marginalised communities
- feminist futures
- women in tech
- low-literacy users
- digital safety
- rural health
- computing education
- mental wellbeing
- the next researcher
Design Inclusion and Access Lab · North South University, Dhaka
Technology for communities design usually misses.
DIAL studies how people live with technology in low-resource, high-stakes settings, then builds inclusive systems with the communities who will use them.
- 191Publications
- 8Awards
- 9Years of research
In collaboration with
About DIAL
Locally appropriate, low-cost, explainable.
DIAL—the Design Inclusion and Access Lab at North South University—builds technology for inclusion and access in Dhaka.
We do research with communities, through field visits, interviews, participatory design, and iterative prototyping, then translate findings into tools people can actually use.
About the labResearch
Where social need and technical systems meet
Nine areas, ranked here by how much of the lab's work sits in each. The three with the most projects and papers behind them lead.
- Gender & Feminist HCI
Participatory research on safety, dignity, agency, and digital voice.
8 projects · 52 publications - ICT for Development
Technology interventions grounded in language, trust, bandwidth, and devices.
7 projects · 44 publications - IoT & Low-cost Hardware
Affordable sensors and devices for places with limited infrastructure.
5 projects · 42 publications
Projects
What the work looks like on the ground
- 01
জ্যোতি
Jyoti
Context aware technology solution for the visually impaired people of Bangladesh.
- Status
- Ongoing
- Research Themes
- Accessibility & Inclusion
- Lead
- Led by Ifti Azad Abeer
- Records
- 3 people
- 02
Mon Majhi
Supporting wellbeing, specifically mental health — a topic that is ignored in low-resource regions.
- Status
- Ongoing
- Research Themes
- Mental Health & Wellbeing, Explainable AI & Machine Learning
- Lead
- Led by Md. Sabbir Ahmed
- Records
- 5 publications · 2 people
- 03
Next Billion Users
Research with Google on women's access to technology in South Asia. South Asian women have less access to personal devices; they often share phones with family members whose monitoring reduces their online privacy. The study covered 195 people across India, Bangladesh (N=55), and Pakistan to understand social norms and improve privacy controls.
- Status
- Ongoing
- Research Themes
- Gender & Feminist HCI, Safety & Security
- Lead
- Led by Nova Ahmed
- Records
- 4 publications · 2 people
- Award
- Best Paper Award (Best of CHI) · 2019
Publications
Selected work
CHI EAConference
Preprint
CHI EAConference
JMIR Human FactorsJournal
JMIR Form ResJournal
Technology that is locally appropriate, low-cost, and explainable.
Work with us
Research with purpose. Join the lab.
DIAL welcomes people who want rigorous technology work to stay accountable to real human needs.
- Students
- Undergraduate and graduate researchers learning to build with care.
- Collaborators
- Researchers who want co-authored, co-designed work.
- Partners
- Universities, NGOs, funders, and community groups.