Shaping HCI Research for Children's Care Ecosystem Involvement

Recent HCI research emphasizes the importance of considering children’s care ecosystems in the design of technologies, extending the focus beyond families to include teachers, peers, therapists, and institutions. While this ecosystem perspective opens opportunities for more inclusive and collaborative technologies, it also introduces challenges such as recruitment, power dynamics, reconciling diverse perspectives, and complex ethical considerations. This CHI 2026 workshop builds on prior community efforts at IDC 2023, CHI 2024, and IDC 2025. Its primary focus is on children’s care ecosystems, but we also welcome researchers working with other populations who wish to apply an ecosystem lens. The workshop will bring together researchers and practitioners to discuss opportunities, challenges, and methods, and to collaboratively articulate a research agenda for care ecosystem-centered HCI. Participants will engage in mapping and synthesis activities that produce care ecosystem maps and a shared artifact capturing priorities and open questions for care ecosystem-centered HCI, while also fostering collaboration and building community ties across disciplines and stakeholder contexts.