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Giving form to computational things: developing a practice of interaction design

Author:

Anna VallgårdaAuthors Info & Claims

Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, Volume 18, Issue 3

Pages 577 - 592

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-013-0685-8

Published: 01 March 2014 Publication History

Abstract

The computer is no longer the center of attention. Thus, what we design is no longer the interface to the computer. Rather, what we design is a thing or an environment in which a computer might be used to create certain desired effects. Indeed, interaction design in a sense becomes the practice of giving form to artifacts or environments rather like any of the other design disciplines that we have know for centuries. However, giving form to computational things is highly complex and somewhat different than most other form-giving practices due to its temporal form element--its ability to change between states. Thus, an interaction design practice needs to encompass this temporal form giving in combination with physical form giving and performances of the interaction gestalt. In this paper, I propose this trinity of forms as a framework to unfold the practice of interaction design. I further demonstrate how computational composites present a way to work with the temporal form and the physical form in a process not too different from any traditional form-giving practice. Lastly, I point to some tools and techniques to deal with the interdependencies of the three form elements and thereby also demonstrate that a form-giving practice of interaction design is already well under way.

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Cited By

Ciobanu PFernaeus Y(2024)Material Deconstructions of Time: Posthumanist Interventions Through Media ArtACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/368526731:6(1-47)Online publication date: 6-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3685267
Xing SVan Dijk BAn PBruns MChuang YWang S(2023)Puffy: A Step-by-step Guide to Craft Bio-inspired Artifacts with Interactive MaterialityProceedings of the Seventeenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction10.1145/3569009.3572800(1-14)Online publication date: 26-Feb-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3569009.3572800
Gagnon-King DJones LNabil S(2023)Interactive Stained-Glass: Exploring a new design space of traditional hybrid crafts for novel fabrication methodsProceedings of the Seventeenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction10.1145/3569009.3572796(1-15)Online publication date: 26-Feb-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3569009.3572796
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Giving form to computational things: developing a practice of interaction design
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. Interaction paradigms

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Published In

cover image Personal and Ubiquitous Computing

Personal and Ubiquitous Computing Volume 18, Issue 3

March 2014

263 pages

ISSN:1617-4909

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © Copyright © 2014 Springer-Verlag London.

Publisher

Springer-Verlag

Berlin, Heidelberg

Publication History

Published: 01 March 2014

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Cited By

Ciobanu PFernaeus Y(2024)Material Deconstructions of Time: Posthumanist Interventions Through Media ArtACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/368526731:6(1-47)Online publication date: 6-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3685267
Xing SVan Dijk BAn PBruns MChuang YWang S(2023)Puffy: A Step-by-step Guide to Craft Bio-inspired Artifacts with Interactive MaterialityProceedings of the Seventeenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction10.1145/3569009.3572800(1-14)Online publication date: 26-Feb-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3569009.3572800
Gagnon-King DJones LNabil S(2023)Interactive Stained-Glass: Exploring a new design space of traditional hybrid crafts for novel fabrication methodsProceedings of the Seventeenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction10.1145/3569009.3572796(1-15)Online publication date: 26-Feb-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3569009.3572796
White JOdom WBrand NZhong C(2023)Memory Tracer & Memory Compass: Investigating Personal Location Histories as a Design Material for Everyday ReminiscenceProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3581426(1-19)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544548.3581426
Padalak MGehrchen THansen SPedersen PJenkins T(2022)aural-visualiser 1000: physical interaction design for materializing momentsAdjunct Proceedings of the 2022 Nordic Human-Computer Interaction Conference10.1145/3547522.3547722(1-3)Online publication date: 8-Oct-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3547522.3547722
Vallgårda AWagner-Eckert CMølhave CBewley H(2022)PregnancyCubes: A design process to cultivate tensionsNordic Human-Computer Interaction Conference10.1145/3546155.3547284(1-13)Online publication date: 8-Oct-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3546155.3547284
Stepanovic MBoer LJenkins T(2022)Reconfiguring the Smartphone to Support Intentional UseNordic Human-Computer Interaction Conference10.1145/3546155.3546675(1-9)Online publication date: 8-Oct-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3546155.3546675
Nabila AMa HYamaoka J(2022)4D Embroidery: Implementing Parametric Structures in Textiles for Sculptural EmbroideryAdjunct Proceedings of the 2022 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing and the 2022 ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers10.1145/3544793.3560358(88-90)Online publication date: 11-Sep-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544793.3560358
Ghajargar MBardzell JSmith-Renner AHöök KKrogh P(2022)Graspable AI: Physical Forms as Explanation Modality for Explainable AIProceedings of the Sixteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction10.1145/3490149.3503666(1-4)Online publication date: 13-Feb-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3490149.3503666
Zhong C(2021)Designing and Deploying Shape-changing Artifacts in Everyday Settings Over Time: Extending Practices and Methodologies for Materiality in HCICompanion Publication of the 2021 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3468002.3468229(1-4)Online publication date: 28-Jun-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3468002.3468229
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