Designing for affective and ludic experiences with empathy

Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2019

Experience Centred Design (ECD) implores us to develop empathic relationships and understanding of participants, to actively work with our senses and emotions within the design process. However, theories of experience-centred design do little to account for emotion work undertaken by design researchers when doing this. As a consequence, how a design researcher's emotions are experienced, navigated and used as part of an ECD process are rarely published. So, while emotion is clearly a tool that we use, we don't share with one another how, why and when it gets used. This has a limiting effect on how we understand design processes, and opportunities for training. Here, we share some of our experiences of working with ECD. We analyse these using Hochschild's framework of emotion work to show how and where this work occurs. We use our analysis to question current ECD practices and provoke debate. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → Interaction design process and methods; • Social and professional topics → Employment issues;

2005

We have built eMoto, a mobile service for sending and receiving affective messages, with the explicit aim of addressing the inner experience of emotions. eMoto is a designed artifact that carries emotional experiences only achieved through interaction. Following on the theories of embodiment, we argue emotional experiences can not be design in only design for. eMoto is the result of a user-centered design approach, realized through a set of initial brainstorming methods, a persona, a Laban-analysis of body language and a twotiered evaluation method. eMoto is not a system that could have been designed from theory only, but require an iterative engagement with end-users, however, in combination with theoretical work. More specifically, we will show how we have managed to design an ambiguous and open system that allows for users' emotional engagement.

In this contribution we discuss the value of empathic experience as a result to achieve through design driven solutions. Following a phenomenological framework, we draw attention on empathy as an intersubjective experience human relationships are grounded in. Accordingly, we argue that design approach should address the issue of how to create the conditions for the empathic experience, for it is “the very means by which we create social life and advance civilization” (Rifkin, 2010, Chapter 1, Section 2)). From this perspective we reconsider the role of empathy as it is acknowledged in design, shifting it from being a tool for designing more ‘marketable’ and human centred products and/or services, to a pursued effect for products and/or services concerned with relational issues. To achieve this shift we will review the literature about empathy and design, on the one hand, and the application of the Relational Aesthetics theory to design, on the other.

Proceedings of the European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics, 2016

Counter to prior claims that empathy is required for higher levels of engagement in human-computer interaction, our team has previously found that, in an analysis of 844 stimulus presentations, empathy is sufficient for high engagement, but is not necessary. Here, we ran a carefully controlled study of human-computer interactions with musical stimuli-with and without visuals, and with and without recognizable people-to directly test whether we could design an engaging stimulus that did not elicit empathy, by avoiding human faces or personal interaction. We measured subjective responses by visual analogue scale and found that the faceless stimulus was as engaging as the face-containing stimulus, but much less empathy-provoking. Therefore, we propose that empathy and engagement be considered independently during interaction design, because they are not monotonically related. CCS Concepts • Information systems~Multimedia information systems • Humancentered computing~HCI design and evaluation methods • Human-centered computing~Laboratory experiments

We take as our starting point the distinction between two perspectives on products: designer and user. There is often a mismatch between these two perspectives, but both matches and mismatches constitute a major source of the affective reactions that people have to products and their interactions with them. These reactions extend over a wide range and include not only (relatively short-term) emotions, but also longer term reactions such as moods, preferences, and attitudes. 2

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2005

We have built eMoto, a mobile service for sending and receiving affective messages, with the explicit aim of addressing the inner experience of emotions. eMoto is a designed artifact that carries emotional experiences only achieved through interaction. Following on the theories of embodiment, we argue emotional experiences can not be design in only design for. eMoto is the result of a user-centered design approach, realized through a set of initial brainstorming methods, a persona, a Laban-analysis of body language and a twotiered evaluation method. eMoto is not a system that could have been designed from theory only, but require an iterative engagement with end-users, however, in combination with theoretical work. More specifically, we will show how we have managed to design an ambiguous and open system that allows for users' emotional engagement.

The success of a professional designer is intrinsically tied to their ability to empathize with the client or issue. In my paper, I will discuss a methodology to best empathize with both sides of a polarizing issue in effort to holistically understand the challenge, and grow as a professional.

… Transactions of the Royal Society B: …, 2009

ProbeTools --open-source computational devices for cultural probe studies View project

Applied Ergonomics, 2006

To develop product portfolios and affective design we need to understand the diversity in user needs. The challenge is how to predict what users want and how they will behave. One approach is to understand user emotions and affective needs, and predict successful product design that can match the needs. This paper discusses affect and its link to cognition. To provide a context, several theories are presented. A framework is described that incorporates characteristics of users, tasks, products, and use environment. The goal is to highlight the importance of emotions in enhancing the value of products. This research field, which we call Hedonomics, is new. There are many challenges in developing valid and reliable measurements of affect, which can influence human factors research as well as design.

2020

Nowadays it is possible to use technology to achieve emotion-oriented products related to the user experience. The aim of this paper is to address a design exploration that combines the use of algorithmic modeling in order to create a design that seeks to express meaning through emotional bonds with people. Life Lamp was created to represent a life cycle as a sensitive object consisting of three layers and a unique shade that produces a complex image, expressing the paths and surprises of our existence. The design process is a hybrid between top-down and bottom-up approaches. The designers worked both with a predefined heart-like 3D model as the design base and with agent-based modeling, widely explored by Craig Reynolds in the 1980s. Life lamp is a product that emerged as a result of Estudio Guto Requena's research that investigates the impact of digital culture through design by seeking to merge technology and affection.