Hot Topics in Affective Interaction:

Applications, Design & Evaluation methods

Tutorial at ACII 2007

Kristina Höök

Professor

Stockholm University

Hot Topics to be covered

> Applications needed> to show where and how affective interaction has a

place> to invent new interaction – not only improve what is

there> Studies of applications crucial

> for example, to realise the (obvious): emotion cannot and should not be separated from function, social setting, context in general

> Affective interaction requires:> new theoretical foundations> new design & evaluation methods> new criteria and metrics

> Usability of affective interfaces?> Not like “normal” usability in most cases

Applications

> Very few built> Very few in commercial use

> On the other hand, affect cannot (and should not) be isolated from the rest of the system

> Only in academia does it make sense to separate and purify interaction aspects of a system

> We now need to move on!

Applications - examples

In industry:> Games!> Simplistic interactive characters on websites

> …?

From academia:> Affector> Affective Diary

Affector – Sengers et al.

Design method: autobiographical!

> Two users (Phoebe and Simeon) are also designers and researchers!

> One observer, also researcher> Went from “mood exchange” to

> reflecting yourself in the system> aesthetic experience> sympathetic awareness of other

Affector - distortions

Affector – tool for design

Lessons learnt

> emotion is part of everything (see also Sundström et al., 2007, IJHCS)

> subjective experience hard to capture – ineffable even (?)

> requires entirely new methods> move from “designer being empathetic with other user groups” to “designer being part of design”

> … but is this the only way to deal with this?

Affective Diary

1.Collecting memories – including body memorabilia mingled with mobile materials (SMS, MMS, photographs, music listened to, video, …)

2.Offering a diary medium in which those memories can be mirrored and organised

3.Empowering the user to create meaning and alter those representations

Cultural probe

12 informants> Elderly> Teenagers> Dance teachers

Lessons learnt> About yesterday, today, tomorrow

> About someone/something> Brooding, shedding, take the lid off

Sketching

Carrying sensors

… demo!

Example: Affective DiaryMeaning-making, reflection and change

”[pointing at the first slightly red character] And then I become like this, here I am kind of, I am kind of both happy and sad in some way and something like that. I like him and then it is so sad that we see each other so little. And then I cannot really show it.”

How?

> Start from users’ social and bodily practices> Leave surfaces open to be filled by users’ own

content> Make others’ actions visible in the interface> Recognise that the artefact is a designed tool –

not natural> Trust users to create their own meaning and be

creative> Stage lived experiences> Start from the design material> Interact with and remind users of their bodily

practices

Lessons learnt

> emotion is part of life> bodily experience is part of emotional experience – but slightly mysterious to us?

> meaning is constructed as part of everyday life – not given!

Theoretical foundations

> Constructivist position – meaning is created by people in their everyday life – not given by system interpretation

> Avoiding dualism – emotion cannot be separated from:> body> cognition> social context

> Lived experiences – phenomenology?

Interaction design

> Affective Diary and Affector exemplifies an interactional approach to how emotions are created in context together with others (see Höök, 2006, NordiCHI and Sengers & Gaver, 2005, HCII)

> Several open surfaces that can be appropriated

> Meaning-making is done by users> Characters remind them of their bodily encounters with the world

Methodological implications

> Interpretative methods> autobiographical method> cultural probes> involving users in meaning-making> design-oriented rather than traditional usability testing-oriented

> involving users in a dialogue rather than studying them

> Emotion is not an add-on to existing interfaces> it is inseparable> entire context needs to be studied

Through user-centred design methods

Fantastic product!

Design

Interpretation Designstudy

In the Wild!

Brainstorming

Persona

Bodystorming

Early testing:staged lived experiences

Wizard of Oz

Cultural probes

Technical probes

Tiny fingers

Think aloud

Ethnography

In Situ Informants

Sensual Evaluation Instrument

Autobiographicaldesign

Sensual Evaluation Instrument

In Situ Informants: in search of ecological validity in the wild

Usability?

> Usability traditionally focuses on goals such as effectiveness, efficiency, safety, utility, learnability, and memorability

> Affective interaction focus on user experience goals – subjective qualities such as being fun, rewarding, motivating, satisfying, enjoyable, and helpful

> How do we design for user experiences – and make sure that it works?

For both design and evaluation

Two levels:

> Sending/receiving the indended signals

> Affective parts contribute to value of product

?

Value of application?

> Recognising users’ emotional states> To compute relevant response> To send info to surveillance system> To create compelling games> ...

> Design for interactive emotional experience> To sell more products (e-commerce)> To enhance learning> To create loyal relationship> ...

> Emotional expressions as a medium> To express yourself, be creative> To communicate with others> To create art> ...

Unique value of affect

> What is it?> How do we capture it in studies?> How do we know when we are breaking the illusion and thus we need to fix the system?

Criteria and metrics – models

http://www.xeodesign.com/xeodesign_whyweplaygames.pdf

Four pleasures

Tiger (1992) Jordan (2000):> Physio-pleasures> Socio-pleasures> Psycho-pleasures> Ideo-pleasure

Evaluation

> Not scientific evaluation of individual parts of an application/theory – those belong in your respective WPs and are only pre-requisites for usability of overall application

> (Scientific) evaluation of the value of the application: does affect contribute anything to learning/loyalty/fun/ selling stuff/keeping user happy/...

> Usable ≠ error-free

Hot Topics covered

> Applications needed> to show where and how affective interaction has a

place> to invent new interaction – not only improve what is

there> Studies of applications crucial

> for example, to realise the (obvious): emotion cannot and should not be separated from function, social setting, context in general

> Affective interaction requires:> new theoretical foundations> new design & evaluation methods> new criteria and metrics

> Usability of affective interfaces?> Not like “normal” usability in most cases

With Petra Sundström

Anna StåhlMartin Svensson

Åsa RudströmAlex Taylor

Phoebe SengersKatherine Isbister

and others

kia@sics.se