DESIGNING ENGAGING INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENTS:A PRAGMATIST PERSPECTIVE

PETER DALSGAARD

FROM WORK-RELATED CONCERNS TO OTHER SPHERES OF HUMAN INTEREST AND ACTIVITY

FROM DESKTOP COMPUTING TO INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENTS

FROM A FOCUS FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS TOWARDS EXPERIENTIAL ISSUES

HOW CAN WE CONCEPTUALISE THE DESIGN AND USE OF ENGAGING INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENTS?

1. A CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION

2. MEANS FOR DESIGN AND REFLECTION

3. PROTOTYPES AND INSTALLATIONS

A pragmatist perspective on interaction design

Techniques for doing design and design research

Crystallizations of research questions and key concerns

DISSERTATION

RESEARCH APPROACH PROJECTS AND PROTOTYPES

PUBLICATIONS PRAGMATIST PERSPECTIVE

AGENDA

RESEARCH APPROACH PROJECTS AND PROTOTYPES

PUBLICATIONS PRAGMATIST PERSPECTIVE

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3 4

DIGITAL URBAN LIVING

EXPERIENCE-ORIENTED TECHNOLOGIES

PHD PROJECT

MAY 2006 APRIL 2009

MEDIA FAÇADES

AGENDA

APPROACH PROJECTS

PUBLICATIONS PRAGMATISM

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3 4

RESEARCH IN DESIGN Focus on the process of design

RESEARCH THROUGH DESIGN Employing a designerly approach in research

RESEARCH ON DESIGN Focus on the product of design

RESEARCH IN AND THROUGH DESIGN Directed at improving the understanding and practice of interaction design, using involvement in design experiments and projects as a catalyst for knowledge generation

Motivation for this methodological choice:

- access

- closeness

- experimentation and reflection

- puts concepts and theories into play in practice

PROJECTS AND CASES

AGENDA

APPROACH PROJECTS

PUBLICATIONS PRAGMATISM

1 2

3 4

PROJECTS AND CASES

1. THE GUM FAÇADE

Business-to-business trade show

Provide product awareness and engage trade show visitors by use of interactive multi-user wall

2. BALDER’S FUNERAL PYRE

Center for Children’s Literature

Create engaging experiences for children by conveying the mood and narrative elements from Scandinavian mythology through the use of a corridor of flames

3. SILENCE AND WHISPERS

Suomenlinna, a UNESCO world heritage site in Helsinki

Engage visitors in place-specific storytelling using audio fragments distributed in caves

4. WARSAW MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

Proposal for architectural competition

Present visitor information and artwork visualizations by use of interactive displays that employ colour-changing concrete that is integraged into the museum building itself

5. AARHUS BY LIGHT

Concert hall and public park

Facilitate engaging, playful and social interaction around a media façade

OVERVIEW OF PROJECTS Interactive environments

Novel forms of interaction

Span a broad scope

- domains and situations

- users

- scales

- content

- levels of completion

My involvement is motivated by gaining insights to inform my research agenda

PUBLICATIONS

AGENDA

APPROACH PROJECTS

PUBLICATIONS PRAGMATISM

1 2

3 4

PUBLICATIONS

1. INSPIRATION CARD WORKSHOPS

DIS 2006. Co-author: K Halskov

Presents a workshop technique in which cards that represent different sources of inspiration serve as tools to collaboratively develop design concepts.

2. THE EMERGENCE OF IDEAS

International Journal of Co-Creation 2007. Co-author: Kim Halskov

Offers an in-depth analysis of how ideas emerge during an inspiration card workshop. The paper highlights the ways in which creativity is distributed across the participants and the inspiration cards, which in turn scaffold the exploration and transformation of emerging design ideas.

3. MAPS FOR DESIGN REFLECTION

Artifact 2009. Co-authors: K Halskov & R Nielsen

Presents three types of maps for design reflection that capture key aspects of the design process and supports reflection upon them. The maps particularly focus on the ways in which design concepts are represented and transformed throughout the design process.

4. DESIGNING FOR INQUISITIVE USE

DIS 2008

Presents the notion of “inquisitive use” on the basis of pragmatism. Inquisitive use proposes a view on how to design for engaging interaction when challenging situations lead users to resourceful exploration.

5. PEEPHOLES AS MEANS OF ENGAGEMENT IN INTERACTION DESIGN

Nordes 2009. Co-author: Christian Dindler

Further explores the concept of inquiry through the notion of “peepholes”, a design strategy for developing engaging interactive environments that on the one hand reveal glimpses of hidden phenomena to evoke users’ interest, on the other hand offer ways of exploring these hidden layers.

6. STAGING URBAN INTERACTIONS WITH MEDIA FAÇADES

Interact 2009. Co-authors: M Brynskov, T Ebsen, J Fritsch, K Halskov, R Nielsen

Presents the development and study of Aarhus by Light and the ways in which the installation transformed the practices and experiences related to the concert hall and its surroundings.

7. PERFORMING PERCEPTION

TOCHI 2008. Co-author: Lone Koefoed Hansen

Presents the notion of “performing perception”, which states that when a person uses interactive systems in public spaces, he takes on the roles of operator, performer, and spectator at the same time. This has consequences for how both users and others experience interaction.

OVERVIEW OF PUBLICATIONS Represent the scope and core activities of my research

Address concerns relating to both use and design- understanding the use context is essential for design

Some contain specific techniques for design

Some contain means for reflecting upon design and use

Some present design strategies and considerations

They draw upon different strands of theory- pragmatism most prominent

PRAGMATISM Primacy of practice

Emergence

Interaction

Experimentation

Situation

Inquiry

Transformation

Technology

Experience

JOHN DEWEY

AGENDA

APPROACH PROJECTS

PUBLICATIONS PRAGMATISM

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3 4

INQUIRY The creative and transformative process we undertake in order to change an incoherent or undesirable situation into a meaningful and unifying one by employing our own repertoire of knowledge and competences as well as resources in the situation.

Technology and creativity are two salient façets of inquiry

TECHNOLOGY IN INQUIRY We draw upon available resources in inquiry, many of them technological

Technologies in inquiry have experiential and transformative traits

EXPERIENTIAL ASPECTS

DESIGN SITUATIONS USE SITUATIONS

TRANSFORMATIVE ASPECTS

Technologies in inquiry can frame our experience of the situation

Technologies in inquiry can support transformation of the situation

CREATIVITY IN INQUIRY Inquiry is creative; it marks the departure from habit and leads us to change

Creative inquiry has dialogical and distributed traits

DIALOGICAL TRAITS

DESIGN SITUATIONS USE SITUATIONS

Creative inquiry exhibits traits of dialogue, both between imagination, action and reflection, and between person and environment

DISTRIBUTED TRAITS

Creativity may be distributed between users, objects and the environment

SITUATION

INQUIRY

TRANSFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY

EXPERIENCE

WHY PRAGMATISM? Addresses key themes with regards to my research question

- emergence, interaction, situation, inquiry, transformation, technology, experience

Strong affinity with designerly thinking

- intervention and transformation

- experimentation

- tradition and transcendence

Can yield insights into both design and use situations

Can inform design research

Existing contributions - towards a coherent conceptual scaffolding

SUMMARY HOW CAN WE CONCEPTUALISE THE DESIGN AND USE OF ENGAGING INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENTS?

DISSERTATION

RESEARCH APPROACH PROJECTS AND PROTOTYPES

PUBLICATION PRAGMATIST PERSPECTIVE

1. A CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION - A PRAGMATIST PERSPECTIVE

2. MEANS FOR DESIGN AND REFLECTION - TECHNIQUES FOR DESIGN AND RESEARCH

3. PROTOTYPES AND INSTALLATIONS - CRYSTALLIZATIONS OF INQUIRIES

CONTRIBUTIONS

FURTHER PERSPECTIVES AND FUTURE WORK

Further examinations of pragmatism in interaction design

- experiential qualities in design and use

- dialogue with other conceptual framings

Design documentation and reflection

Creativity and innovation in design

Closed installations vs. open-ended interactive environments

THANK YOU!