The Experiential Design Move: an approach to reflective practice for embodied and movement based interaction

Recent examples in the design of embodied and movement based interfaces have benefited from the use of reflection in action cycles that have their genesis within established forms of design practice such as Architecture and Industrial Design. What both of these established disciplines share are the use of sketches and models that form artefacts supporting arguments for a particular approach to the design problem. These are established and understood means for reflection and iteration. Designers of embodied and movement based interfaces have begun to apply this reflection in action approach, however the static representations used in Architecture and Industrial design are not sufficient to account for the temporal and experiential concerns of Interaction design and Human Computer Interaction. So the challenge, and the position of this paper, is to open a discussion on what means and tools enable a reflection on the experiential and technological challenges within Interaction Design. This paper gives an account of a recently commissioned interface prototype, the Musical Staircase, which has moved through its first design cycle of Problem Framing, Design Response and User Evaluation to encourage this discussion.