article

From use to presence: on the expressions and aesthetics of everyday computational things

Editor: Jonathan Grudin Authors: Lars Hallnäs, Johan RedströmAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), Volume 9, Issue 2

Pages 106 - 124

https://doi.org/10.1145/513665.513668

Published: 01 June 2002 Publication History

Abstract

The coming ubiquity of computational things urges us to consider what it means for something to be present in someone's life, in contrast to being just used for something. "Use" and "presence" represent two perspectives on what a thing is. While "use" refers to a general description of a thing in terms of what it is used for, "presence" refers to existential definitions of a thing based on how we invite and accept it as a part of our lifeworld. Searching for a basis on which these existential definitions are formed, we argue that the expressions of things are central for accepting them as present in our lives. We introduce the notion of an expressional, referring to a thing designed to be the bearer of certain expressions, just as an appliance is designed to be the bearer of a certain functionality. Aesthetics, as a logic of expressions, can provide a proper foundation for design for presence. We discuss the expressiveness of computational things as depending both on time structures and space structures. An aesthetical leitmotif for the design of computational things---a leitmotif that may be used to guide a normative design philosophy, or a design style---is described. Finally, we describe a practical example of what designing a mobile phone as an "expressional" might be like.

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Index Terms

From use to presence: on the expressions and aesthetics of everyday computational things
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction Volume 9, Issue 2

June 2002

101 pages

ISSN:1073-0516

EISSN:1557-7325

DOI:10.1145/513665

Editor:
Jonathan Grudin
Microsoft Research

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Copyright © 2002 ACM.

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 June 2002

Published in TOCHI Volume 9, Issue 2

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