Interactivity Attributes for Expression-oriented Interaction Design

Media, tools, and methods for expression have traditionally been essential for design (Stolterman, 2008). The size of a knowledge pool of expression often defines the level of skillfulness of a designer in practice. The more expression methods and tools designers are comfortable with using, the more they feel confident and skillful in designing and expressing the aesthetic qualities of their ideas. Redström (2008) claims that the aesthetics of a material can be defined by “what the expressiveness of the material is and what its boundaries are like” (p.16:3). The materials we manipulate, or by extending the idea, the tools we use for expression have significant impacts on the possibility of creating rich aesthetic qualities. In the area of human-computer interaction (HCI), the notion of aesthetics has only recently become a central issue to be explored and researched, in contrast with other traditional design fields such as architecture, product design, graphic design, and fashion design where aesthetics has long been a primary concern. The term “The Aesthetic Turn” was coined by Udsen and Jørgensen (2005), who summarized the trends of HCI research toward the emphasis of aesthetics into the following classes: 1) the cultural approach, which emphasizes the importance of the critical and reflective qualities of interactive artifacts in order to raise cultural questions and issues in the humanities and in new media areas (Dunne, 2000; Dunne & Raby, 2001; Johnson, 1997; Laurel, 1986; Manovich, 2000); 2) the functionalist approach, which emphasizes the role of aesthetics in increasing the usability of interactive artifacts primarily addressed by the traditional HCI and usability areas (Jordan, 2000; Norman, 2004; Zhang & Li, 2005); 3) the experience-based approach, which emphasizes the aspect of how meaningful an object is to people at the moment of interaction or how its presence is influential in their lives following a pragmatist’s point-of-view (Bertelsen & Pold, 2004; Gaver et al., 2004; McCarthy & Wright, 2004; Petersen, Iversen, Krogh, & Ludvigsen, 2004); and 4) the techno-futurist approach, which emphasizes the role of expression and the bodily embodiment of digital technologies (Dourish, 2001; Hallnäs & Redström, 2002). The perspective we take can be positioned between the experience-based approach and the techno-futurist approach. We believe that the areas of these approaches are more closely related to the practice of designers than are the other approaches because the ideas of experience and embodiment are essential and natural factors of the craftsmanship origins and quality-centered mindset of design aesthetics. When it comes to interaction design, the qualities of interactive products have more space to be expressive. Interactive surfaces are no longer merely panel-like collections of controls to access functions of static products (Djajadiningrat, Wensveen, Frens, & Overbeeke, 2004). Many interactive products now DesIgn Case stuDIes