Curiosity Portals: Designing Entryways for Tangible Exploration
Khushbu Kshirsagar, Michael S. Horn, Marcelo Bonilla Worsley · Proceedings. · 2025
Curiosity is a fundamental human drive that propels exploration, discovery, and learning.While extensively studied, a gap remains in understanding how curiosity is sparked in social settings during initial interactions with tangible objects.This research introduces the concept of Curiosity Portals as a framework for designing and understanding these initial moments of curiosity.Through interviews with staff, artists, and attendees at the Metro Independent Comics Expo (MICE), the study identifies configurations of invitational entryways or "portals" that catalyze curiosity.These portals, categorized as sensorial, novel, accessible, social, and aesthetic, are shaped by the distinct curiosities of each participant group.The study reveals how these portals foster curiosity by providing opportunities for hands-on engagement, surprise, social interaction, and exploration.The proposed framework provides a toolkit to understand and leverage these entry points of curiosity to enhance the design of tactile objects and playthings to foster continuous exploration and deeper learning.