Communicating by Products: From Sensory Features to Digital Interfaces

This chapter presents a critical literature review of the types of communication performed by products. This is indeed an interesting area to explore, for communication can occur at different levels, with different aims, and can rely on diverse media. The aim of this chapter is to highlight and analyse how objects can act as communicative means able to transmit various types of information. Artefacts’ ability to convey bits of information to users is an issue product design has widely investigated in the last decades. Products can be understood as communication media by different points of view. On the one hand, they are able to convey implicit messages through their mere sensory appearance (shape, colour, texture, weight, etc.). On the other hand, they have acquired the ability to transmit digital information to users thanks to displays or visual interfaces. This chapter focuses on the analysis of products as media, by exploring and describing the ways products convey voluntary or involuntary messages by their physical or digital features. The different levels of product-based communication will be analysed, with a particular attention to their features and their effects on the overall user experience.

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