Rapid technological progression results in exciting new ways of interacting with our world whilst simultaneously limiting our experiences. Due to the pervasiveness of emerging technologies, designers are constantly faced with complexities and challenges, which necessitate the use of various tools and methodologies. This paper combines inspiration from the fields of aesthetics of interaction (Overbeek 1999), somaesthetics (Shusterman, 1999), design ethnography (Salvador, 1999), design fiction (Bleecker, 2009) and speculative design (Auger, 2013), to explore a designerly way of overcoming the complexity of implementing technologies into our daily life. We propose a holistic design approach to envision possibilities for emerging technology, integrating the physicality of human bodies with technological materiality. Further, we present a plausible narrative, containing visionary aspects and the investigated methodologies, alongside a series of design concepts that drive the storyline and form the basis for examining social implications, design and future contexts, and improving the way in which designers handle the limitations of a technology driven design approach.
In design, a wide range of design tools and techniques that are derived from theoretical frameworks have been developed. However, there are only a few that consider the perceptual qualities involved in interaction. Although existing tools are widely adopted, designer's need for considering theoretical notions of ecological perception (Gibson, 1986), embodied interaction (Dourish, 2011) and affordances (Gibson, 1986Norman, 1988;Hartson, 2003) has not been addressed in the context of design tools. This paper describes the development of an experiential design method card system based on the Interaction Frogger framework (Wensveen, 2004). The design method card supports designers to better understand the perceptual qualities of interaction design and convey this knowledge into their design processes. First, we introduce various theoretical frameworks that deal with perceptual qualities within interaction design, particularly focusing on the Interaction Frogger framework. Consequently, we investigate how a complex theoretical framework can be translated into practice utilising a design tool, by examining a case study of developing a set of design method cards. This set of method cards was examined by means of focus group sessions with design researchers and redesign exercises with designers and design students from various backgrounds. Throughout the redesign exercise, the experiential nature of the method cards system helped designers and design students to gain insights into perceptual information exchanges that emerge between objects and users. Furthermore, the method cards gave them a systematic platform for these insights to be reapplied into their design process. Overall, the design method card system provides opportunities for design practitioners, researchers, and students to explore perceptual qualities within the interaction design space and further an opportunity to utilize theoretical knowledge in a practical design process.
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