Experiencing-in-the-world: using pragmatist philosophy to design for aesthetic experience

With the growing use of personal and ubiquitous computing technology, an increase is seen in utilizing aesthetic aspects for designing interactive systems. The use of aesthetic interpretations, however, has differed in different applications, often lacking a coherent and holistic meaning of aesthetics. In this paper we provide an account on aesthetics, utilizing the pragmatist perspective, which can be used as a framework to design for aesthetic experience in interactive systems. We discuss seven major themes of aesthetic experience. Using our framework we discuss two design examples. In the first example - Panorama, the framework is used to inform the design process and making design decisions for supporting aesthetic social awareness in an academic work environment. In the second example - Virtual Dancer, the framework is used to analyze the aesthetics of an entertainment experience and to elicit further improvements. In the end we discuss the role of aesthetics in the design of interactive systems.

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