1. & Sara Johansson, Fredrik Nilsson, Pär Stenberg, Paula Thorin IT University of Göteborg Mapping Fabrics to Music: Lessons Learned Sus Lundgren Interactive Institute (PLAY)

2. The Interactive Quilt: Original aim The original aim of the Interactive Quilt project was to create an intuitive tangible interface, which was at the same time a beautiful object. The idea was to create a patchwork quilt that worked as a jukebox; the fabric of each patch being mapped to music genres to give the user a clue of what type of song would be played when touching a patch. Outcome… 

4. Mapping fabrics to music… or not We did user tests, asking 12 users to map 18 different fabrics to music genres –They didn’t agree! –Only two of the fabrics were easy to map

6. Final design decisions Making loudspeakers more visible Using more extreme variants of mapped fabrics, e.g. actually using a piece of a pair of Levi’s jeans instead of the more anonymous pieces of demin fabric Unable to make the quilt ”beautiful”; the fabrics didn’t match  vulgar approach

8. Two user tests First test at the IT University of Göteborg Second test at a café in the center of Gothenburg Later, more informal observations support these first findings

9. Test results Users were surprised that the quilt played music, and astonished by the fact that each patch could play several songs Users did notice connections between fabrics and the different music genres; however it was not obvious to them which fabric was associated to which genre –They could not predict what kind of music a certain patch would play –This didn’t seem to matter!

10. Test results (continued) Users often interrupted a song to hear a new one, and they often pressed the same patch a number of times, trying to analyze the outcome If they liked a song the took a few steps back and stood watching the quilt while listening

11. Lessons learned Why were the mappings so hard to make? Well, we toyed with three highly subjective and ambiguous dimensions –The comprehension of fabrics –The comprehension of musical genres We ourselves couldn’t always agree on which genre a certain song belonged to –The comprehension of songs –(The comprehension of beauty)

12. Did we fail?!? “The original aim of the Interactive Quilt project was to create an intuitive tangible interface, which was at the same time a beautiful object.” Easy to use in the sense that all users quickly understood that the patches were buttons Intuitive fabric-music mappings? No! Beautiful object? Well… :)

13. Real lesson learned We saw it as a problem that the mappings didn’t work, but none of the users complained about this. They just happily played on!

14. Surprise guests! Hallnäs & Redström (2001): Slow Technology –A design agenda for technology aimed at reflection and moments of mental rest, rather than efficiency and performance –There is a need for objects that challenge our intellects –Slow technology should stimulate reflection, thought and exploration

15. Surprise guests! Gaver et al (2003): Ambiguity in a system may be a virtue… –…when the goal is to create designs that are engaging, inspiring and/or thought provoking –One way to achieve this is to create objects that are not clearly one type of object but rather a merger of two or more, making it impossible to classify it as being one or the other

16. Conclusion The ambiguity of an interface can, (occasionally?) be a strength A way to achieve this is to integrate highly subjective dimensions/parameters in a design  We are satisfied with the project and its outcome! :)

17. Thanks! Any questions?