Interactional empowerment

Abstract

We propose that an interactional perspective on how emo- tion is constructed, shared and experienced, may be a good basis for designing affective interactional systems that do not infringe on privacy or autonomy, but instead em powers users. An interactional design perspective may make use of design elements such as open-ended, ambiguous, yet famil- iar, interaction surfaces that users may use as a b asis to make sense of their own emotions and their communication with one-another. With such tools, users are provid ed with power over their own data and the interpretation of it - pro- viding for privacy and autonomy. We describe the in terac- tional view on design for emotional communication, and provide a set of orienting design concepts and meth ods for design and evaluation that help translate the inter actional view into viable applications. From an embodied int eraction theory perspective, we argue for a non-dualistic, n on- reductionist perspective on affective interaction d esign.