Interactions - March/April 2014

yvonne Rogers Matt Jones
Gary Marsden, professor of computer science at he University of Cape Town, pioneer and passionate advocate of
HCI for development and community
builder, died suddenly of a heart
attack on December 27, 2013, at the
age of 43. Disciplinary divisions,
bureaucratic firewalls, pomp, and
pretension—all were anathema to his
playful mind. He cared passionately
about his work; impact truly was
at the heart of what he did and
stood for, whether it was teaching
programming to undergraduates,
tinkering and DIY projects with
rural communities, or walking the
talk with top brass in industry.

Gary began his academic career at
Stirling University, Scotland. During
his final year as an undergraduate,
Harold Thimbleby piqued his interest
in the seemingly strange—to a self-
confessed geeky computer scientist—
field of HCI. While being a convert to
human-centered computing, Gary had
a natural gift for understanding what
made a good user experience and the
value of participatory design. One of
his vacation jobs was as a character
actor at a U. S. theme park, where
he deftly made paper-boat hats with
visitors. He once explained why this
summer job made him so happy: It
was fun but serious, hands-on, helped
people learn, and, importantly, made
them laugh. This was Gary’s leitmotif
throughout his academic life—as
anyone who attended his lecture
courses, keynotes, and workshops
around the world will know.

Gary was awarded a Ph.D. for his thesis on interface tools for end users and took up a lectureship in HCI at Middlesex University, London, in the mid-1990s, where he helped to establish the Interaction Design Centre. He was a research entrepreneur from those early days; it was clear to those around him that he was full of joyful energy and enthusiasm, making connections and seeking out opportunities to make the world a better place. In London he did some of the earliest work on mobile information access, which led to his popular book co-authored with Matt Jones, Mobile Interaction Design.

During his time at Middlesex, Gary
was seconded to teach HCI in Cairo
for several weeks each year. One night,
on returning from class, he joined a
table of older academics from around
the world, all strangers but brought
together through this assignment. One
of the guys, cigar and whiskey in hand,
looked across the table and said, “Boys,
enjoy this, it is as good as it gets!”
Gary would later regale others with
this story, and with a wry smile and
while imitating the guy, one-up him by
saying, “The best is yet to come.”
After four years of spending his
working life inside a metal box with
limited windows on the North Circular
Road in London, Gary escaped to
the open skies and sunshine of South
Africa, where he took up a lectureship
post in 1999 at the University of Cape
Town. While many were going in
the opposite direction because of the
political events happening at that time,
Gary strode forth where others dared
not. In just a few years, he had managed
to put HCI in South Africa and South
Africa in HCI.

Gary became internationally
known for his work in mobile
interface design, design, and ICT for
development (ICT4D)—for which
he was a recipient of ACM SIGCHI’s
Social Impact Award in 2007. He went
to great lengths to show how mobile
technologies were revolutionizing how
developing countries were advancing
apace. In doing so, he raised the
profile of what developing world
actually meant. Most important, he
stressed throughout his research,
his many hands-on activities, and
his writings that those who were
privileged like himself should not try
to help others who were worse off, but
instead should find ways of working
alongside them. His approach was
to promote empowerment through
technology, enabling other people
to become better equipped to the
In Memory of Gary Marsden