The role of cultural forms in tangible interaction design

Abstract

I suggest an approach to tangible interaction design that builds on social and cultural foundations. Specifically, I propose that designers can evoke cultural forms as a means to tap into users' existing cognitive, physical, and emotional resources. The emphasis is less on improving the usability of an interface and more on improving the overall experience around an interactive artifact by cueing productive patterns of social activity. My use of the term cultural form is derived from the work of Geoffrey Saxe and his form-function shift framework. This framework describes a process through which individuals appropriate cultural forms and restructure them to serve new functions in light of shifting goals and expectations. I describe Saxe's framework and then illustrate the use of cultural forms in design with three examples.

Using a Tangible Versus a Multi-touch Graphical User Interface to Support Data Exploration at a Museum Exhibit

“…They theorize that unlike technologies such as purely multi-touch surfaces, large projections, or individual display devices, TUIs enable direct, hands-on interaction with physical objects. This technology can thereby provide novices with familiar physical objects and actions to manipulate and make sense of more abstract and less familiar digital representations [8,14,9,15]. In addition to aiding usability, these physical objects may make interactions appear more playful, thereby promoting use and engagement [24,17].…”

Wrapping Cultural Values: using Social Embodiment as Stimulus in Designs

“…This work connects to Horn's (2013) suggested implementation of Saxe's cultural forms in interaction design as a means to activate existing patterns of social activity with associated cognitive, physical and emotional resources. Other work that is connected is Börütecene et al (2016)'s study in which a cultural ritual becomes a foundation for interaction.…”

Material and Meaning in Tangible Interactions

“…This functioning, however, may not be as clean as simply applying affordances to interaction -with physical materials giving the perception of interactions that may not be supported by the system they control [10]. Similarly looking at the relationship between materials and perceptions, Horn et al describe the use of cultural forms -"social constructions or conventions that are linked to recurrent patterns of activity" [9]. Taking "form" as the "visual, physical, or temporal appearance of a design" [12], physical materials can be seen as related to the social constructions and conventions of cultural forms.…”