DESIGNING ENGAGING INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENTS:
A PRAGMATIST PERSPECTIVE
PETER DALSGAARD

FROM WORK-RELATED CONCERNS TO OTHER SPHERES OF HUMAN INTEREST AND ACTIVITY
FROM A FOCUS FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS TOWARDS EXPERIENTIAL ISSUES
FROM DESKTOP COMPUTING TO INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENTS

HOW CAN WE CONCEPTUALISE THE DESIGN AND USE OF ENGAGING INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENTS?
1. A CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION A pragmatist perspective on interaction design
2. MEANS FOR DESIGN AND REFLECTION Techniques for doing design and design research
3. PROTOTYPES AND INSTALLATIONS Crystallizations of research questions and key concerns

DISSERTATION
RESEARCH APPROACH PROJECTS AND PROTOTYPES
PUBLICATIONS PRAGMATIST PERSPECTIVE

AGENDA
RESEARCH APPROACH PROJECTS AND PROTOTYPES
1 2
PUBLICATIONS PRAGMATIST PERSPECTIVE
3 4

EXPERIENCE-ORIENTED TECHNOLOGIES
MEDIA FAÇADES
DIGITAL URBAN LIVING
MAY 2006 APRIL 2009
PHD PROJECT
AGENDA
APPROACH PROJECTS
1 2
PUBLICATIONS PRAGMATISM
3 4

RESEARCH ON DESIGN Focus on the product of design
RESEARCH IN DESIGN Focus on the process of design
RESEARCH THROUGH DESIGN Employing a designerly approach in research
RESEARCH IN AND THROUGH DESIGN Directed at improving the understanding and practice of interaction design,
using involvement in design experiments and projects as a catalyst for knowledge generation
Motivation for this methodological choice:
- access
- closeness
- experimentation and reflection
- puts concepts and theories into play in practice

PROJECTS AND CASES
AGENDA
APPROACH PROJECTS
1 2
PUBLICATIONS PRAGMATISM
3 4

PROJECTS AND CASES

1. THE GUM FAÇADE
Business-to-business trade show
Provide product awareness and
engage trade show visitors by use
of interactive multi-user wall

2. BALDER’S FUNERAL PYRE
Center for Children’s Literature
Create engaging experiences for
children by conveying the mood
and narrative elements from
Scandinavian mythology through
the use of a corridor of flames

3. SILENCE AND WHISPERS
Suomenlinna, a UNESCO world
heritage site in Helsinki
Engage visitors in place-specific
storytelling using audio fragments
distributed in caves

4. WARSAW MUSEUM OF
MODERN ART
Proposal for architectural
competition
Present visitor information and
artwork visualizations by use of
interactive displays that employ
colour-changing concrete that is
integraged into the museum
building itself

5. AARHUS BY LIGHT
Concert hall and public park
Facilitate engaging, playful and
social interaction around a
media façade

OVERVIEW OF PROJECTS Interactive environments
Novel forms of interaction
Span a broad scope
- domains and situations
- users
- scales
- content
- levels of completion
My involvement is motivated by gaining insights to inform my research agenda

PUBLICATIONS
AGENDA
APPROACH PROJECTS
1 2
PUBLICATIONS PRAGMATISM
3 4

PUBLICATIONS

1. INSPIRATION CARD WORKSHOPS
Presents a workshop technique
in which cards that represent
different sources of inspiration
serve as tools to collaboratively
develop design concepts.
DIS 2006. Co-author: K Halskov

2. THE EMERGENCE OF IDEAS
Offers an in-depth analysis of
how ideas emerge during an
inspiration card workshop. The
paper highlights the ways in
which creativity is distributed
across the participants and the
inspiration cards, which in turn
scaffold the exploration and
transformation of emerging
design ideas.
International Journal of Co-Creation 2007. Co-author: Kim Halskov

3. MAPS FOR DESIGN REFLECTION
Presents three types of maps
for design reflection that
capture key aspects of the
design process and supports
reflection upon them. The maps
particularly focus on the ways
in which design concepts are
represented and transformed
throughout the design process.
Artifact 2009. Co-authors: K Halskov & R Nielsen

4. DESIGNING FOR INQUISITIVE USE
Presents the notion of “inquisitive
use” on the basis of pragmatism.
Inquisitive use proposes a view on
how to design for engaging
interaction when challenging
situations lead users to resourceful
exploration.
DIS 2008

5. PEEPHOLES AS MEANS OF ENGAGEMENT
IN INTERACTION DESIGN
Further explores the concept of inquiry
through the notion of “peepholes”, a
design strategy for developing engaging
interactive environments that on the
one hand reveal glimpses of hidden
phenomena to evoke users’ interest, on
the other hand offer ways of exploring
these hidden layers.
Nordes 2009. Co-author: Christian Dindler

6. STAGING URBAN INTERACTIONS
WITH MEDIA FAÇADES
Presents the development and study
of Aarhus by Light and the ways in
which the installation transformed
the practices and experiences
related to the concert hall and its
surroundings.
Interact 2009. Co-authors: M Brynskov, T Ebsen, J Fritsch, K Halskov, R Nielsen

7. PERFORMING PERCEPTION
Presents the notion of “performing
perception”, which states that when
a person uses interactive systems in
public spaces, he takes on the roles
of operator, performer, and
spectator at the same time. This has
consequences for how both users
and others experience interaction.
TOCHI 2008. Co-author: Lone Koefoed Hansen

OVERVIEW OF PUBLICATIONS Represent the scope and core activities of my research
Address concerns relating to both use and design
- understanding the use context is essential for design
Some contain specific techniques for design
Some contain means for reflecting upon design and use
Some present design strategies and considerations
They draw upon different strands of theory
- pragmatism most prominent

PRAGMATISM Primacy of practice
Emergence
Interaction
Experimentation
JOHN DEWEY Situation
Inquiry
Transformation
Technology
Experience
AGENDA
APPROACH PROJECTS
1 2
PUBLICATIONS PRAGMATISM
3 4

INQUIRY The creative and transformative process we undertake in order to change an
incoherent or undesirable situation into a meaningful and unifying one by
employing our own repertoire of knowledge and competences as well as
resources in the situation.
Technology and creativity are two salient façets of inquiry

TECHNOLOGY IN INQUIRY We draw upon available resources in inquiry, many of them technological
Technologies in inquiry have experiential and transformative traits
DESIGN SITUATIONS USE SITUATIONS
EXPERIENTIAL ASPECTS
Technologies in inquiry can frame
our experience of the situation
TRANSFORMATIVE ASPECTS
Technologies in inquiry can support
transformation of the situation

CREATIVITY IN INQUIRY Inquiry is creative; it marks the departure from habit and leads us to change
Creative inquiry has dialogical and distributed traits
DESIGN SITUATIONS USE SITUATIONS
DIALOGICAL TRAITS
Creative inquiry exhibits traits of
dialogue, both between imagination,
action and reflection, and between
person and environment
DISTRIBUTED TRAITS
Creativity may be distributed between
users, objects and the environment

SITUATION
INQUIRY
TRANSFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
EXPERIENCE

WHY PRAGMATISM? Addresses key themes with regards to my research question
- emergence, interaction, situation, inquiry, transformation, technology, experience
Strong affinity with designerly thinking
- intervention and transformation
- experimentation
- tradition and transcendence
Can yield insights into both design and use situations
Can inform design research
Existing contributions - towards a coherent conceptual scaffolding

SUMMARY HOW CAN WE CONCEPTUALISE THE DESIGN AND USE OF ENGAGING INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENTS?
DISSERTATION CONTRIBUTIONS
1. A CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION
RESEARCH APPROACH PROJECTS AND PROTOTYPES - A PRAGMATIST PERSPECTIVE
2. MEANS FOR DESIGN AND REFLECTION
- TECHNIQUES FOR DESIGN AND RESEARCH
PUBLICATION PRAGMATIST PERSPECTIVE
3. PROTOTYPES AND INSTALLATIONS
- CRYSTALLIZATIONS OF INQUIRIES

FURTHER PERSPECTIVES Further examinations of pragmatism in interaction design
AND FUTURE WORK
- experiential qualities in design and use
- dialogue with other conceptual framings
Design documentation and reflection
Creativity and innovation in design
Closed installations vs. open-ended interactive environments

THANK YOU!