Call for Provocations and Works in Progress

The aim of the DIS 2025 call for Provocations and Works in Progress is to provide a platform for authors to propose novel, in-progress and thought-provoking research that challenges the status quo.

Important Dates

PWiP Submissions due21 March 2025
Acceptance Notifications6 May 2025
Camera-ready due16 May 2025
DIS 2025 Conference5-9 July 2025

Deadlines are specified as Anywhere on Earth time.

The PWiP track invites small but significant contributions that can point to new directions and spark discussion at the conference.

While Works-in-Progress report on initial insights from unfinished studies, Provocations present novel ideas, critiques, and arguments without requiring the rigour of a supporting user study or fully documented design project and the associated citation practice. We welcome submissions related to the design of interactive systems to position design as a force for transformation in times of uncertainty, including reimagining or critiquing conventional design practices and proposing undisciplined, playful and pluriversal design approaches.

The PWiP track particularly welcomes design research contributions that value:

  • Novelty over evidence (You do not need a finished user study)
  • Provocation over consensus (You do not need to please everyone)
  • Design making over design guidelines (Why not show us, rather than tell?)
  • Playful over convergence (You can value open-endedness)
  • Pluralistic over single-sided (Cultivate relational and ontological perspectives)

PWiP papers must represent original content that is not replicated in concurrent submissions under review elsewhere. We accept submissions that build upon prior work by offering a substantively new contribution (but please follow the anonymisation guidelines). We encourage authors to look at previously published PWiP papers from DIS2019 DIS2020, DIS2023, and DIS2024.

All PWiP submissions will be peer-reviewed, and acceptance decisions will be made by a Programme Committee. Accepted PWiP submissions will be published in the DIS 2025 companion publication and appear in the ACM Digital Library (adjunct proceedings).

NB. DIS 2025 will be an in-person-only event, and attending online or with a video will not be possible. We encourage you to ensure you can make it to Madeira the second week of July 2025 before you submit

Please note: a PWiP publication is not considered an archival publication.

Preparing and Submitting

A PWIP paper is a maximum of six pages in length (excluding references). Submissions that are over the required length will be rejected. All submissions should be formatted using the ACM Primary Article Template AND Publication Workflow. Proposers should use the one-column version of the designated ACM template (see below). All figures, tables, appendices, and an abstract of fewer than 150 words, must fit within the six-page limit.

PWiP submissions should be as close to their publication-ready versions as possible since authors will have limited time to make changes to their papers following acceptance. Papers that require major changes may not be accepted.

Submissions must be ANONYMISED according to the guidelines (Please see the DIS25 call for papers) and should be submitted via the Precision Conference submission system (PCS)

Quick Links to Paper Templates

Formatting your Submission

It is important that your submission is formatted correctly. Incorrectly formatted submissions might be rejected. Online guidance is available from the ACM: (https://www.acm.org/publications/authors/submissions)

All paper submissions should be formatted using the templates described on this webpage, so please read the instructions here: (https://www.acm.org/publications/taps/word-template-workflow)

The ACM workflow requests authors to produce final publications (PDF and HTML5) by themselves using TAPS. 

PWiP submissions must be submitted in PDF. First, authors prepare their manuscripts in the designated one-column format in PDF using LaTeX or Word. LaTeX users should use \documentclass[manuscript, review]{acmart}. 

For an anonymous submission use \documentclass[manuscript,review,anonymous]{acmart}
to automatically replace the authors with “ANONYMOUS AUTHOR(S)”. The authors then submit the PDF and the source files via PCS. (https://new.precisionconference.com/submissions)

Creating an Accessible ACM Conference Submission

ACM publications are reviewed and read by many people. Making your paper accessible will help promote equal participation for people with disabilities. The accessibility chairs have provided additional guidance on making submissions accessible that we encourage submitters to use when preparing their submissions. Please refer to the accessibility guidelines in the call for papers and pictorials for creating accessible submissions/PDFs as well as guidelines for creating accessible figures and tables.

Upon Acceptance

Authors of accepted PWiP submissions will be required to register for the full conference and present a poster during the conference with the option to additionally present a designed artefact relating to the work. Details regarding presentations of work will be provided with acceptance notifications. Accepted submissions will be encouraged to create and submit an optional short teaser video, approximately one minute in length, to promote their contributions at the conference and share their work with the broader community.

Provocations and Works-in-Progress Program Chairs

  • Hwajung Hong, KAIST
  • Hugo Nicolau, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon
  • EunJeong Cheon, Syracuse University

pwip@dis2025.acm.org