Putting ‘felt-life’ at the centre of human–computer interaction (HCI)

In this article, we argue that putting felt-life, that is life as lived, sensed and experienced, at the centre of human–computer interaction (HCI) both focuses attention on the sensual and emotional and throws new light on the cognitive and intellectual aspects of people’s interactions with technology. As a consequence, it offers an opportunity to address issues such as resistance, identity, and attachment that are not otherwise addressed in HCI. Some of the analytic and empirical possibilities for addressing issues such as these are described, and the methodological requirement for local, context-rich research discussed. Finally, the opportunity that a felt-life approach opens up to raise critically reflective questions about technology and self is discussed. In this context, a framework for exploring interaction by placing technologies and activities in relation to each other on felt-life dimensions, such as interpassive–interactive and mutual-one-sided, is exemplified. The framework is used here to address design and evaluation questions that relate to self and agency in human computer interactions.

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