Digital myths and delusions: an approach to investigate interaction aesthetics

Journal article, 2008

Digital myths and delusions is here suggested as a way of working with interaction aesthetics of computational products. It is a critical design approach introducing alternative design proposals in three steps. In the first step we define myths and delusions of digital products restricting interaction and awareness. In the second step we introduce critical myth exposures reading, exposing, reviewing and demystifying the myths. In the third step we design 'transformers to explore design alternatives, i.e. we transform the myths by changing the design and the way the product is being presented in use. The aim is to question what counts as normal and intuitive with respect to all those everyday computational products we are getting more and more used to. Defining and questioning digital myths is here seen as one form of design critique.