Form and materiality in interaction design
Heekyoung Jung, Erik Stolterman · 2011
This paper is motivated by the increasing significance of form in design and use of interactive artifacts. The objective of this paper is to conceptualize what we mean by form in the context of interaction design and HCI research and how we can approach it in regard to emerging type of digital materiality. To do this, we first examine conceptual dimensions of form in interactive artifacts through the lens of three existing perspectives with their respective focus on: material, meaning, and making. We then apply these perspectives in our analysis of specific forms of interactive artifacts. Based on this analysis, we suggest a model of four different types of forms: the cognitive, embodied, expressive, and exploratory forms. Reflecting on this model, we propose form-driven interaction design research with its epistemological and methodological implications.