A Systematic Literature Review on Equity and Technology in HCI and Fairness: Navigating the Complexities and Nuances of Equity Research

2025-01-24

AI Summary

The human-computer interaction (HCI) field lacks a systematic conceptual understanding and practical guidance for technological fairness. Method: Through a systematic literature review (SLR) of 202 HCI papers addressing fairness, this study develops the first integrative analytical framework for technological fairness, employing thematic coding, cross-framework comparison, and qualitative meta-synthesis. Results: It reveals (1) a structured motivation map for fairness research; (2) a taxonomy of fairness definitions and frameworks spanning procedural, distributive, recognition, and relational dimensions; and (3) a scalable, theory-informed framework for fairness-oriented HCI research—functioning simultaneously as a conceptual map and methodological guide. This work bridges a critical gap in translating fairness principles into actionable HCI practice.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Human-Computer Interaction
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Bias, Fairness & Equity
• Machine Learning: Ethics, Bias, and Fairness

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Fairness and ethical considerations in crowd work and in human-in-the-loop AI systems
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Fairness-aware retrieval and ranking
• Responsible Web: Fairness, accountability, transparency and ethics of web technologies

Abstract

Equity is crucial to the ethical implications in technology development. However, implementing equity in practice comes with complexities and nuances. In response, the research community, especially the human-computer interaction (HCI) and Fairness community, has endeavored to integrate equity into technology design, addressing issues of societal inequities. With such increasing efforts, it is yet unclear why and how researchers discuss equity and its integration into technology, what research has been conducted, and what gaps need to be addressed. We conducted a systematic literature review on equity and technology, collecting and analyzing 202 papers published in HCI and Fairness-focused venues. Amidst the substantial growth of relevant publications within the past four years, we deliver three main contributions: (1) we elaborate a comprehensive understanding researchers' motivations for studying equity and technology, (2) we illustrate the different equity definitions and frameworks utilized to discuss equity, (3) we characterize the key themes addressing interventions as well as tensions and trade-offs when advancing and integrating equity to technology. Based on our findings, we elaborate an equity framework for researchers who seek to address existing gaps and advance equity in technology.

Problem

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Fairness in Design
• Socio-technical Inequity

Innovation

• Fairness in Human-Computer Interaction
• Comprehensive Analytical Framework
• Definition and Dilemmas of Technological Equity