The Tactile Experience
Tangible Interaction =
Form + Computing
Mark Baskinger
Carnegie Mellon School of Design | [e-mail]
Mark Gross
Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture | [e-mail]

Interaction design melds traditional methods and approaches from other established disciplines. Many immediately think of digital technology or software, but the concepts of “interaction” are deeply rooted in classical industrial design— products are designed to actively engage people and mediate their relationships with systems, activities, information, and with each other. Today interaction design includes services, systems, and strategic planning and reflects core principles of human-system/human-object interaction.

Within the diverse landscape
of interaction exists a special-
ized area where physical form
and computing combine to yield
new paradigms of interaction.
This area, “tangible” interac-
tion design, broadens scope,
relevance, and application,
linking interaction designers
more directly with product
development. It provides a new
arena for industrial designers,
transdisciplinary thinkers, and
experimenters to develop arti-
facts that behave, react, and/or
interact with people. More than
computation or embedded intel-
ligence alone, tangible interac-
tion design focuses on human
behavior and experience that
guides the design of form and
establishes the roles an artifact
will play. Tangible interaction
designers use their work to ques-
tion and reflect on the integra-
tion of technology and its effects
on human experience.

it tangible enough? Why do avid texters prefer phones with physical keyboards? Does a vibrator motor provide enough feedback to make a virtual keyboard seem “real”? Asking questions like these is important in designing tangible products. Such questions challenge us to reflect upon how artifacts facilitate interaction and help us connect with people on deeper levels.

January + February 2010

interactions

The First Interaction Designers?

The Lower Paleolithic (Acheulian) hand ax (see Figure 1) discovered in northern Africa was designed with obvious intent and made specifically for a left-handed individual. It tells the story of how our hands inform our brains during interaction. Primitive humans (Homo ergaster) from eons ago were among the first to consider ergonomics and fit—they were early pioneers of good design, and yes, interaction. It was great product design and great interaction design all rolled into cutting-edge technology of the time, and it was intended to endure. This left-handed hand ax is an important example of how the physical form of our hands guides how we shape things and how we interact with and experience the world.

What products today will endure? Will the iPhone have the same impact as the hand ax? Is

Convergence, Synthesis,
and New Paradigms
The hand ax reminds us that
design has always been about
interaction, and interaction has
always been tangible. What’s
new is that physical interac-
tion is becoming computation-
ally mediated—or conversely,
that computational media are
becoming physically embodied.
Designers of physical things
and places must consider how
to embed software; designers
who work in software alone
must leverage the constraints
and affordances of the physical
world. New paradigms are aris-
ing through the investigation of
new embodiments of technology
that achieve seamless integra-
tion of form and interaction.
Integrated form and computa-
tion that enhances our experi-