PLIABILITY AS AN EXPERIENTIAL QUALITY: EXPLORING THE AESTHETICS OF INTERACTION DESIGN

Abstract

Digital design materials are temporal as much as they are spatial, which means that specific concepts are needed for understanding the use experi- ences of digital artifacts and the aesthetics of interaction design. In this paper, the quality of pliability is introduced to characterize the degree to which interaction feels involving, malleable, and tightly coupled—and hence to which degree it facilitates exploration and serendipity in use. Three sets of contrasting artifact examples from different domains (on- line maps, digital-image management, and online thesaurii) are analyzed with respect to pliability. It is argued that the use of everyday digital products, normally perceived as instrumental and utility-oriented, has an important experiential-aesthetic dimension consisting of temporal and visuo-tactile qualities (including pliability). The paper concludes with a discussion of related work and the role of experiential qualities in interac- tion design.