Achiel Standaert

Touching the dematerialized

Smart phones and tablet computers have flooded the world. With their seemingly intuitive multi-touch interface, they seem to be a step towards embodied interaction. But are they really? In this paper we take off with an analysis of these products and our interaction with them from the perspective of dematerialization. We claim that the multi-touch display is the outcome of a dematerialization process. As it is applied today, it fails to fulfil the promise of embodied interaction, since it results in an impoverished, standardized and computer-like interaction. Next, we introduce our own design perspective, the third stand, which aims to consciously guide dematerialization instead of blindly applying it. We believe this perspective leads to a fresh way of thinking about the multi-touch display. By presenting the design of a novel alarm clock, we emphasize the single-purpose character of the third stand and reveal its own specific nature. Next, in two design projects, we confront the third stand with the multi-touch display and enhance the latter with specific, meaningful and rich actions. We discuss the results of these two design projects and end this paper by reflecting on the third stand.

The enriching limitations of the physical world

In this paper, we investigate the third stand, our perspective on embodied interaction with digital products and systems. First, we discuss its background of dematerialization, an ongoing evolution in which physical products and information carriers disappear, and become immaterial information packages and on-screen applications. We establish how dematerialization influences both design research and design practice. Next, we present a digital payment terminal that we designed in order to explore the added value of our third stand perspective. In an experiment, we compare it with an existing payment terminal. The results of the experiment reveal that the third stand terminal scores higher on hedonic values, like beauty and stimulation. The existing terminal scores higher on pragmatic values, like ease-of-use and efficiency. We position the third stand as a design approach that pleas for embodiment from a hedonic perspective and propose to extend the argument for embodiment beyond pragmatic values. Finally, we suggest that the third stand celebrates the limitations of the physical world instead of trying to overcome them, and gives rise to specific emotional values like attentiveness, profundity, and preciousness.

Gearing up!: a designer-focused evaluation of ideation tools for connected products

When physical products become increasingly digitally connected, the traditional design space of an industrial designer becomes a blend of physical and digital elements. As a consequence of this evolution, products become a network of tangible artifacts and intangible services. While this opens a lot of design opportunities, it becomes challenging to keep track of the user and system interactions during the ideation process. Therefore, there is a need to revise the design ideation and conceptualisation tools available to design products and systems that allow interaction with both digital and physical product elements. Starting by identifying the challenges currently faced by designers, the research presented in this paper introduces and compares two creativity support tools that focus on the generation and definition of connected products. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, the comparison results in a set of requirements of what a creativity support tool for connected products concept generation should consist of in order to be useful for industrial designers.