Hipsters , Trendies and Rebels : If Fun is Cool , is Game Design Cool Design ?

Recent discussions within the HCI community around designing software and devices for “coolness” have identified the importance of playfulness as an aspect of cool products. Game studies, as a field of inquiry, has long been occupied with understanding playfulness, so it stands to reason that findings from this field might also support playfulness and therefore coolness outside the context of games. In this paper, we briefly explore potential overlaps between the research into designing for coolness and that of designing for playfulness. An example of an overlap in terms of motivation is presented and potential future directions are discussed. Author