Interactivity Attributes for Expression-oriented Interaction Design

Abstract

This study proposes a new way of conceptualizing and designing interactive artifacts that emphasizes the importance of articulating sophisticated qualities of interactivity for promoting the design of aesthetic interaction. To make this possible, we introduce a set of attributes that solely describe the quality of interactivity, which is dynamic and invisible unlike other visual properties of an interactive artifact, and we call them interactivity attributes. In order to examine and explore the effects of applying interactivity attributes in interaction design, we conducted a series of studies in which we observed design students designing a set of interactive artifacts with and without the introduced interactivity attributes. We found that sensitizing the design students with these attributes changed their ways of approaching the design of interactivity of the artifacts. Designs became more expressive, quality descriptions were more sophisticated, both input-and output-behavior concepts of the interactive artifacts were considered consciously, and new materials and interaction styles were considered and applied.