by julia.trummer -

#9 (10) Final Post

In this final post of the semester, I want to come back to some of the research questions I defined at the beginning of this journey, especially the two different directions this topic can take. I believe the challenge of older adults struggling with technology can be approached in two ways: one focuses on how interaction design can support them in learning digital skills, while the other asks how we, as designers, can make digital systems easier to understand in the first place.

Interaction design can support older adults in learning digital skills by acting as a something like a cognitive guide that reduces mental effort, aligns with their unique conceptual frameworks and fosters the trust for experimentation.

As Designers we can try:

1. Aligning with Seniors’ Mental Models

  • Older adults conceptual models of technology often differ significantly from the screen-centered logic used by younger generations. [1]
  • Linear Logic over Screen-Based Logic: Seniors frequently intuitively adopt a linear, storytelling-like approach to interactions. Interaction design can support learning by using step-by-step narratives rather than multi-layered, interactive screens that can be disorienting. [1]
  • Contextual Clarity: Older users may confuse similar UI elements, such as address bars and search fields. Design should use explicit, consistent wording and “polite” system feedback, to align with their social expectations and provide a sense of security. [1]
  • Separating Interface from Implementation: Seniors often struggle to distinguish between the frontend (what they see) and the backend (how it works). Design that clearly defines the interface as a “method of communication” might help them grasp the abstract nature of software. [1]

2. Teaching Strategies

Secondly it would be possible to teach elderly people about systems and how they work. Instruction for older adults is most successful when it moves away from standard methods and aligns with the cognitive preferences of the age group.[1]

  • Align with Linear Mental Models: Seniors often approach technology through a “storytelling” or linear logic rather than the screen-based, multi-layered logic common in modern software. Designing learning paths that follow a step-by-step narrative can help them internalise abstract concepts.[1]
  • Abstract Thinking Exercises: Before diving into software, starting with exercises like drawing symbols for abstract terms can prepare seniors for the conceptual nature of digital interfaces. [3]
  • Minimise Cognitive Friction: Instruction should focus on minimising friction by reducing the number of steps required to complete an action, which supports those who process fewer “discrete information bits” at one time. [4]
  • Provide Task Support: Using external cues, reminders and labels, known as environmental support, can compensate for memory decline and improve performance to the level of younger learners. [2]

Next Steps

I already have some ideas for the next steps. I’d like to dive deeper into the interaction side of this topic and as mentioned in the presentation, I’m also considering running a workshop. While researching similar projects, I found that when working with older adults, confidence and trust are often bigger hurdles than the technology itself.

Sources

[1] D. Orzeszek et al., ‘Beyond Participatory Design: Towards a Model for Teaching Seniors Application Design’, arXiv [cs.CY]. 2017.

[2] F. Craik, ‘Memory Changes in Normal Aging’, Current Directions in Psychological Science – CURR DIRECTIONS PSYCHOL SCI, vol. 3, pp. 155–158, 10 1994.

[3] Thefinchdesignagency, “Building User Trust in UX Design: Proven Strategies for Better Engagement,” Medium, Feb. 05, 2025. https://medium.com/@thefinchdesignagency/building-user-trust-in-ux-design-proven-strategies-for-better-engagement-c975aa381516

[4] G. A. Wildenbos, L. Peute, and M. Jaspers, “Aging barriers influencing mobile health usability for older adults: A literature based framework (MOLD-US),” International Journal of Medical Informatics, vol. 114, pp. 66–75, Jun. 2018, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2018.03.012.

[5] N. Halmdienst, M. Radhuber, and R. Winter-Ebmer, “Attitudes of elderly Austrians towards new technologies: communication and entertainment versus health and support use,” European Journal of Ageing, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 513–523, Apr. 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-019-00508-y.

[6] F. Craik, ‘Memory Changes in Normal Aging’, Current Directions in Psychological Science – CURR DIRECTIONS PSYCHOL SCI, vol. 3, pp. 155–158, 10 1994.

by julia🐨razumovskaia -

The City as a Designed System: Architecture, Space, and Pace 8/10

#slowness #slowliving #slowinteraction #digitalcalm #calmtechnology

In my last three blog posts, I want to focus more on the city and the human experience in the city, the moments when we slow down and speed up, why this happens, and how design can shape our experience. In the last 10th blog post, I will describe an idea that came to me while using maps for traveling, hiking, and using maps in the three countries where I have lived.

Cities often have a default sense of urgency. We rush through the streets, quickly moving between buildings and rarely stopping unless there is a clear reason to do so. This feeling of acceleration is usually associated with modern lifestyles or digital technologies. However, long before the advent of smartphones and notifications, the city itself was already shaping the speed at which we move.

🏛️ Architecture as an Invisible Script

“First we shape the cities — then they shape us.” — Jan Gehl, Life Between Buildings (2011) [1]

Urban planning determines not only where we can go, but also how we get there. Wide, straight streets encourage continuous movement. Narrow sidewalks discourage lingering. Long building facades with minimal variation encourage visual scanning rather than observation. Even the absence of benches, ledges, or secluded corners suggests that stopping is not expected.

[2] Vester Voldgade, Copenhagen.

🤳🏾 Cities as Interfaces

From an interactive design perspective, a city can be viewed as an interface consisting of physical components:

👉 streets as navigation paths;
👉 intersections as points of interaction;
👉 buildings as visual landmarks;
👉 public spaces as potential places to pause — or missed opportunities.

As in digital systems, default settings matter. When urban space is designed primarily for efficiency, throughput, and movement, speed becomes the implicit norm. There is little friction, but also little invitation to linger.

Urban planner Kevin Lynch in his book “The Image of the City” emphasized how spatial clarity aids orientation and movement, but also warned that excessive legibility can turn a city into a mere transportation environment rather than a place where new experiences can be had.

[3] Urban Planning Elements: Kevin A. Lynch.

🏃‍♀️ Designing for Flow, Not Staying

Modern cities are increasingly optimizing flows: transportation efficiency, pedestrian capacity, visibility, and safety. While these goals are valid, they often result in spaces that are difficult to inhabit at a leisurely pace. Transitional areas—entrances, plazas, underpasses—are designed to move people through, not allow them to linger.

This logic stands in sharp contrast to alternative urban models such as the Cittaslow movement. The Cittaslow manifesto explicitly challenges acceleration as a default urban value, proposing a city designed not primarily for throughput, but for quality of everyday life. [4]

🦥 What is a Slowcity:

The Cittaslow manifesto contains seventy recommendations and obligations, the main ones being the following :

  • Enhancement of the historic urban heritage by avoiding the construction of new buildings.
  • Reduction of energy consumption.
  • Promotion of ecological technologies.
  • Multiplication of green spaces and leisure areas.
  • Cleanliness of the city.
  • Priority to public transport and other non-polluting transport.
  • Reduction of waste and development of recycling programs.
  • Increase in the number of pedestrian areas.
  • Development of local shops.
  • Development of community infrastructures and equipment adapted to the disabled and the various ages of life.
  • Development of a genuine participatory democracy.
  • Preservation and development of local customs and regional products.
  • Exclusion of GMOs.

🏎️ Pace as a Design Outcome

[5] Making Cities Slower… And Safer For All.

Speed in the city is rarely a personal choice. It is determined by structural decisions: street width, building density, visibility, and the presence or absence of places to rest. These elements together determine the rhythm of the city.

Understanding the city as a designed system helps shift the focus away from blaming individuals for driving too fast. Acceleration is often not a mindset—it is an architectural condition.

Speed in the city is rarely a personal choice. It is shaped by structural decisions embedded in street design and urban layout. When movement is prioritized over presence, speed becomes the default — even in spaces meant to be shared.

“City streets aren’t the sole domain of cars and their drivers. They’re also home to pedestrians of all ages, to cyclists, mobility scooter and wheelchair users, to groups of playing children, and mass transit passengers. They are shared spaces, which means they need to provide safety to all.” — Making Cities Slower and Safer for All, Forbes (2024) [6]

Sources 🛈

[1] Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space. Jan Gehl. Island Press, 2011. Available at: https://cus.ubt-uni.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Jan-Gehl-Life-Between-Buildings_-Using-Public-Space-2011-Island-Press.pdf

[2] Vester Voldgade, Copenhagen. Massengale Blog. Available at: https://blog.massengale.com/2015/07/19/vester-voldgade/

[3] Urban Planning Elements: Kevin A. Lynch. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8OuADNE1EQ

[4] In Praise of Slowness: Let’s Slow Down the City! Citego. Available at: https://www.citego.org/bdf_fiche-document-1735_en.html

[5,6] Making Cities Slower and Safer for All. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lauriewinkless/2024/07/17/making-cities-slower-and-safer-for-all/

by muhammad.turk -

The Trap of Perfection: Why “Easy” is the Enemy

Design & Research | Master Thesis Log 09

In my last post, I told you I was going to spend some time experimenting with my smartphone camera—really pushing the AI settings to see what they could do. I wanted to see if I could find a way to love the automation.

Well, I tried. And I found something interesting: I hated it.

The Experiment I went out with just my phone. No heavy gear, no lenses, just the device in my pocket. I took pictures of architecture, people, and shadows.

Technically? The photos were incredible. The AI balanced the highlights perfectly. The “Night Mode” saw things my eyes couldn’t even see. The colors were vibrant and sharp. I didn’t have to think about shutter speed or ISO. I just tapped the screen.
It was effortless. It was perfect.
And that is exactly the problem.

The Missing Ingredient I realized that when the camera does everything, the satisfaction disappears.

When I use my manual camera, I am constantly solving problems. Is the light too harsh? Do I need to lower the shutter speed? Is the focus right? When I finally get the shot, I feel a rush of dopamine because I solved the puzzle.

With the AI phone camera, there was no puzzle. It was just… consumption. I wasn’t making an image; I was just collecting one.

The “Happy Accident” I also realized that automation kills the “happy accident.”

Some of my best photos happened because I made a mistake. Maybe the shutter was too slow and created a beautiful blur. Maybe the exposure was dark and created a moody silhouette.

My phone refused to let me make those mistakes. It “fixed” everything instantly. It sanitized the creativity right out of the process.

The Realization This experiment taught me more than any interview could. It taught me that friction is necessary for art.

We don’t play video games that are impossible to lose. We don’t watch movies where everything goes perfectly for the hero. We need the struggle.

So, as I move toward my final design concept, I know one thing for sure: My solution cannot just be “easier.” It has to be “harder” in the right way. We need to bring the struggle back.

by muhammad.turk -

Missed Connections and Surprise Conversations

Design & Research | Master Thesis Log 08

Research rarely goes according to plan.

In my last post, I told you I was hitting the “pause” button on the pressure. I promised myself I would stop forcing results and just let the process happen. And honestly? It’s working.

I had planned to share a deep-dive interview this week with a “Hybrid Shooter”—someone who mixes film and digital workflows. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, we couldn’t make it happen yet. A few weeks ago, that would have panicked me. I would have scrambled to find a backup or faked a conclusion.
But today? I’m okay with it.

Testing Without Pressure Instead of stressing about the missing interview, I’ve been using this time to experiment on my own. I’ve been walking around with just my phone, playing with the AI settings I usually ignore. I’m trying to see exactly what the software is doing to my images—where it helps, and where it takes over. It’s different when you are just “playing” versus “researching.” You notice more.

A Random Encounter: Donnie Jacob Then, something serendipitous happened.

I hopped onto an Instagram Live with Donnie Jacob, the content creator known for approaching strangers and taking their portraits. It wasn’t planned, but I got the chance to ask him directly about his take on AI in photography.

His answer was incredibly grounding.
He reminded me that “AI” isn’t actually new. He pointed out that we’ve had tools like the Magic Brush and content-aware fill in Photoshop for years. The technology has been here a long time; only the terms have changed.

He admitted that while we can’t run from the change—it’s inevitable—it might be too soon to make a final judgment on where it’s all going. But he shared one strong belief that really stuck with me:

“Humans should be the ones to make the decision.”

He believes we have to embrace the change—we can’t hide from it—but we must never let it take control over us. The photographer has to remain the one in the driver’s seat.

It confirms what I’ve been feeling: The future isn’t about fighting the technology. It’s about knowing who is in charge.

by julia.trummer -

#7 Decision fatigue

Update

Here’s a small update on the last blog post where I mentioned that elderly people don’t really use technology for entertainment. Some family members recently got a new TV and were complaining that Netflix is installed everywhere. I talked to them about it and they told me they don’t really understand why it’s there at all. They said they don’t need it and would rather just watch whatever is on TV something random, without having to think about it.

They also mentioned that on Netflix they often don’t even know what they would search for, which makes the whole experience feel unnecessary. With TV, something is always already playing. It feels like they just want to watch without having to decide first and the topic itself doesn’t matter that much. This is something i found quite interesting and will do some research on.

I beliefe this phenomenon might be explained by the following:

Reduced Processing Capacity and Cognitive Effort

  1. As individuals age, their available processing capacity and attentional resources decline, meaning they can process fewer discrete bits of information in a given time. [1]
    • Self-Initiated Processing: Digital entertainment often requires “self-initiated” processing, such as navigating complex menus or reorganising information in working memory, which shows substantial losses with age. [1]
    • Cognitive Load: If a digital interface is cluttered or complex, it demands high cognitive effort to navigate. When the effort required to make decisions within an app (such as choosing content or managing settings) exceeds the user’s available resources, it leads to frustration and a desire to stop using the technology. [2]

The Relationship Between Ease of Use and Usefulness

  1. For older adults, perceived usefulness is deeply linked to ease of use.
    • Immediate Benefits: Older adults are less likely to perceive a technology as useful if its benefits do not manifest easily and quickly during actual use. [3]
    • The “Visual Gymnastics” Effect: Users who have already spent a long day performing “visual gymnastics” to focus on digital content may find it harder to engage with non-standard or complex designs. If a digital entertainment platform requires unnecessary cognitive effort to understand its navigation, it disrupts the user’s mental model and erodes trust. [4]

Age Patterns in Entertainment Attitudes

  1. There is a pronounced age effect specifically regarding communication and entertainment devices (such as tablets and social networks), where positive attitudes towards them fall significantly as age increases. [3]
    • Significant Decline: Compared to those in their 50s, individuals aged 80+ are 47 to 48 percentage points less likely to value entertainment devices. [4]
    • Experience vs. Effort: This decline is partly attributed to older generations having less acquaintance and experience with these devices. Consequently, every interaction requires more “learning” effort, which can be exhausting, leading to a lower perception of the technology’s overall usefulness. [4]

Usability Barriers as a Deterrent

  1. Design flaws that increase decision-making friction directly impact perceived usefulness:
    • Navigation Issues: Confusing or cluttered navigation leads to hesitation and abandonment. [4]
    • Information Overload: Seniors are often more thorough in searching for information but are more prone to being distracted by irrelevant details and losing focus. [5]
    • Numeric and Spatial Fluence: A decline in numeracy can make it difficult for older adults to interpret data-heavy interfaces (like those found in complex gaming or streaming settings), further complicating their ability to see the technology as a “help” or “value”. [2]

Summary Table: Effort vs. Perceived Usefulness

BarrierImpact on Perceived Usefulness
Complex InterfacesIncreases cognitive load, leading to user errors and frustration.
Delayed RewardsIf benefits aren’t immediate, the user views the tool as cumbersome rather than useful.
Working Memory DeclineMakes active updating and navigation effortful and “costly” to carry out.
Lack of ConsistencyDisrupts mental models, causing hesitation and a loss of confidence.

Sources

[1] F. Craik, ‘Memory Changes in Normal Aging’, Current Directions in Psychological Science – CURR DIRECTIONS PSYCHOL SCI, vol. 3, pp. 155–158, 10 1994.

[2] G. A. Wildenbos, L. Peute, and M. Jaspers, “Aging barriers influencing mobile health usability for older adults: A literature based framework (MOLD-US),” International Journal of Medical Informatics, vol. 114, pp. 66–75, Jun. 2018, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2018.03.012.

[3] N. Halmdienst, M. Radhuber, and R. Winter-Ebmer, “Attitudes of elderly Austrians towards new technologies: communication and entertainment versus health and support use,” European Journal of Ageing, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 513–523, Apr. 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-019-00508-y.

[4] Thefinchdesignagency, “Building User Trust in UX Design: Proven Strategies for Better Engagement,” Medium, Feb. 05, 2025. https://medium.com/@thefinchdesignagency/building-user-trust-in-ux-design-proven-strategies-for-better-engagement-c975aa381516

[5] D. Orzeszek et al., ‘Beyond participatory design: Towards a model for teaching seniors application design’, arXiv preprint arXiv:1707. 05667, 2017.

by muhammad.turk -

Why I’m Hitting Pause

Design & Research | Master Thesis Log 07

I sat down tonight to write a very different blog post.

My plan was perfect. I was going to show you the charts from my latest interviews. I was going to explain the difference between “active” and “passive” users. I was going to act like I had everything figured out.

But if I am being completely honest with you? I don’t.
Right now, I am stuck.

They tell you that research is a straight line. You have a question, you find data, and you get an answer. But nobody tells you about the “Fog.” The Fog is where I am right now. It is that messy, confusing middle part where you have too much information and no idea where to put it.

Drowning in Data Over the past few weeks, I have collected so much. I have hours of conversations with photographers. I have folders full of notes about AI, automation, and the history of the camera.

But instead of making things clearer, the data has made everything harder.
Should I focus on the art itself?
Should I focus on the psychology of the photographer?
Should I focus on the interface design of the camera?

Every time I look at my notes, I see a million different paths I could take. It feels like standing in the middle of a busy intersection with traffic coming from every direction. I am paralyzed by the possibilities.

Losing the Joy Somewhere along the way, I think I lost the fun of this project.

When I started, I was excited. I loved the question: “Does automation kill the artist?” It felt important. But lately, the pressure to produce “results” has taken over. I found myself rushing through the research just to get to the finish line. I stopped listening to what the data was telling me because I was too busy trying to force a solution.

I was trying to design the final product before I even understood the problem.

The Power of the Pause So, this blog post is my stop sign.

I am giving myself permission to stop running. I realized that if I keep sprinting in the dark, I am just going to hit a wall. I need to stop frantically searching for the “right” direction and just let the information sink in.

I need to go back and listen to those interviews again—not to extract quotes for a presentation, but to actually hear the emotions in their voices. I need to look at the photos again. I need to remember why I cared about this topic in the first place.

I don’t know exactly what my next step is. I don’t know if the final result will be a new camera mode, a manifesto, or a physical prototype. And to be honest, that uncertainty is really scary. It feels like I am failing.

But maybe feeling lost is just proof that I am actually exploring something new. If I knew the answer already, it wouldn’t be research, right?

For now, I am going to turn off my “analyst brain” and just breathe. The answers will come, but only if I give them space to arrive.

    by julia.trummer -

    #6 Technology Acceptance Across Ageing Societies

    Central and Northern Europe: Austria, Finland and the Netherlands

    In many European nations, the digital gap is defined by a sharp decline in internet use as individuals enter their late 70s and 80s.

    • Austria: A significant gap persists between younger and older cohorts. While 95% of Austrians aged 16 to 74 used the internet in 2023, only 53.8% of those aged 75 to 84 were online. Within this older group, the gap widens further: 64% of 75- to 79-year-olds are online, compared to just 43% of those aged 80 to 84. [3]
    • Finland: Research highlights that the gap is not just age-dependent but linked to frailty. While 80% of non-frail Finnish individuals have internet access, this drops to 46% among those considered frail, indicating that health status is a primary driver of the digital divide in this region. [4]
    • The Netherlands: Studies here show that technology use is negatively associated with lower social status and physical functioning, though gender differences in ICT use were not significantly observed in Dutch samples. [4]

    Japan: Leading with Followers

    Japan is a unique case due to its position as a world leader in demographic ageing, which has turned the country into a global laboratory for technology adoption.

    • Necessity as a Driver: Unlike other nations where technology may be viewed as a luxury, Japan’s acute labour shortages in agriculture and caregiving have forced a higher acceptance of automation. For example, the average age of a Japanese farmer is 68.4 years, leading to the widespread deployment of ICT-enabled heavy machinery to augment the skills of an ageing workforce. [1]
    • Psychological Drivers: A comparative study between Japan and the UK regarding online public services found that self-efficacy and ageing satisfaction were more prominent determinants of technology readiness and usage in the Japanese elderly population. [1]

    What is ICT-enabled heavy machinery?

    At its core, heavy tech machinery refers to large, powerful equipment integrated with modern technologies like GPS, telematics, IoT (Internet of Things) sensors and advanced software. Unlike their purely mechanical predecessors, these machines can communicate, self-diagnose and perform tasks with a high level of accuracy. [2]

    The United States: Sociodemographic and Racial Patterns

    In the United States, the digital age gap is heavily influenced by a combination of sociodemographic factors and physical health.

    • Patterns of Use: US data indicates that technology use among older adults is strongly correlated with younger age, male gender, white race, higher education and being married. [4]
    • Health as a Barrier: Also physical fitness is a major hurdle; more than 75% of the American population aged 65+ reports difficulties in physical functioning, which correlates with decreased technology use. Furthermore, approximately 21% of US seniors have visual impairments that complicate digital screen interaction. [4]

    Developing Countries: China and Bangladesh

    In developing regions, the gap is often influenced by cultural norms and the speed of infrastructure development.

    • China: This region has seen a surge in research, particularly regarding smartphone acceptance. However, findings suggest that Chinese seniors under 65 are more likely to adopt these technologies, while older cohorts remain more resistant. [5]
    • Bangladesh: A distinct cultural gap exists here; older adults traditionally use mobile phones only for typical voice calls. The concept of receiving health care advice via a phone is a relatively new and daunting concept, leading to higher levels of technology anxiety compared to developed nations. [5]

    Sources

    [1] K. Kushida, “Japan’s Aging Society as a Technological Opportunity,” 2024. Accessed: Dec. 23, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://carnegie-production-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/files/ Kushida_Demographics%20and%20Tech%20Trajectories_final.pdf#page=23.21

    [2] “What Exactly is Heavy Tech Machinery?,” Heavytechservices.ca, 2025. https://www.heavytechservices.ca/what-exactly-is-heavy-tech-machinery (accessed Jan. 05, 2026).

    [3] N. Djahangiri, V. Kropfreiter, and J. Peterbauer, Internetnutzung von älteren Menschen in Österreich: Ergebnisse der Erhebung zum Einsatz von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien in Haushalten 2023. Wien, Austria: Statistik Austria, 2023.

    [4] N. Halmdienst, M. Radhuber, and R. Winter-Ebmer, “Attitudes of elderly Austrians towards new technologies: communication and entertainment versus health and support use,” European Journal of Ageing, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 513–523, Apr. 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-019-00508-y.

    [5] Y.-Y. Yap, S.-H. Tan, and S.-W. Choon, “Elderly’s intention to use technologies: A systematic literature review,” Heliyon, vol. 8, no. 1, p. e08765, Jan. 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08765.

    by julia🐨razumovskaia -

    Embodied Interaction: How the Body Influences Our Perception of Slowness 7/10

    #slowness #slowliving #slowinteraction #digitalcalm #calmtechnology

    UX and UI design is often viewed as a visual or cognitive discipline: layout, flows, clarity, usability.

    However, every interaction with a digital service is also a physical experience. Users hold devices, move their fingers, adjust their posture, pause, breathe, and repeat gestures hundreds of times a day. The body is not an external factor, but the environment through which digital interaction takes place.

    In the context of physical interaction, the main focus is on the physical layer of the user experience. This is especially important in “slowness”, as slowing down is not only perceived mentally or visually. It is felt through movement, tension, rhythm, and physical effort. Interfaces shape the behavior of the body — and, consequently, how time is perceived.

    🤹‍♂️ The Body Inside Everyday Digital Services

    Most everyday applications implicitly train the body to move quickly. Social media feeds encourage rapid scrolling, messaging apps reward instant responses, and productivity tools favor quick taps and minimal friction. These models may optimize efficiency, but they also accelerate the body’s rhythm:

    Fingers move faster, attention shifts more frequently, and interactions become reactive.

    [1] Lived Customer Experience

    👋 Slow Gestures as UX Decisions

    Gesture design is a powerful time management tool. When interaction is based on slow or prolonged gestures, it naturally discourages impulsive use.

    Examples:

    👉Long press instead of instant tap — requires a decision, not a reflex.
    👉Holding to confirm actions — prevents accidental behavior.
    👉Gradual unfolding of interactions — unfolds over time rather than ending instantly.

    “A delayed button press is not just about waiting — it’s about signalling intention and providing feedback that connects the user’s body to the system. It creates a moment for the user to feel the interaction, rather than skim through UI elements without awareness.” — Lodestar Design [2]

    👻 Tactile interaction and physical presence

    Touch is not just a means of input, it carries emotional and temporal meaning. Touching, pressing, sliding, or holding are felt differently by the body, and interfaces that take this difference into account create a greater sense of stability.

    Meditation and journaling apps often use this approach, avoiding aggressive touch navigation in favor of smooth transitions and prolonged touchscreen interaction.

    A good example is the Calm [3] app, where respond smoothly to touch duration and pressure, that creates a stronger sense of presence. Instead of treating input as abstract commands, they treat it as physical engagement.

    🏃 Movement-based feedback and body rhythm

    Movement plays a key role in how the body interprets digital feedback. Abrupt animations signal urgency and demand attention. Smooth, gradual movements better match natural physical expectations.

    Calm motion-based feedback:

    👉 reduces startle response;
    👉 supports continuity rather than interruption;
    👉 mirrors the dynamics of physical processes in the real world.

    Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines emphasize motion that feels “natural and respectful of user focus”, especially in transitions and state changes. This approach helps interactions feel less mechanical and more embodied.

    “Aim for brevity and precision in feedback animations. When animated feedback is brief and precise, it tends to feel lightweight and unobtrusive.” — Apple Human Interface Guidelines, Motion [4]

    ⏸️ Pauses, Stillness, and Physiological Effects

    Continuous interaction keeps the body in a state of readiness. Interfaces that never pause encourage shallow breathing and constant micro-movement. In contrast, designs that allow stillness — screens that wait, moments without animation, interactions without immediate feedback — create space for physiological regulation.

    Some focus and writing tools deliberately avoid real-time notifications or visual noise, allowing users to remain physically settled for longer periods.

    Good example is iA Writer, which minimizes interface elements to reduce physical and cognitive agitation.

    📢 Why Embodied Interaction is important in UX/UI design

    Without taking the body into account, slow design risks becoming superficial—calm visual effects are superimposed on fast, demanding interaction models. True slowness arises when visual, cognitive, and physical rhythms are aligned.

    Designing with embodiment in mind means designing with how services are actually used, not just how they look on screens.

    Sources 🛈

    [1] Phenomenology and CX: Designing for Lived Experience in a Digital World. New Metrics. Available at: https://www.newmetrics.net/insights/phenomenology-and-cx-designing-for-lived-experience-in-a-digital-world/

    [2] Process Doc: Micro Interactions of a Delayed Button Press. Lodestar Design (Medium). Available at: https://medium.com/@lodestar-design/process-doc-micro-interactions-of-a-delayed-button-press-456d7bcfb0b3

    [3] Calm: Meditation, Sleep, and Relaxation App. Calm.com. Available at: https://www.calm.com/

    [4] Motion — Human Interface Guidelines. Apple Developer. Available at: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/motion/

    by karen.johannesen -

    Turning the table: Socialised event app

    After the first four previous blog posts I reached a point where I was unsure of how to move forward. Personally I found it difficult to see where I could contribute through interaction design – although there are plenty of possibilities. I struggled mostly with finding a direction that I felt comfortable with and doable for me to go through with for my thesis, given my current motivation, knowledge and interest. Therefore I have decided to go back to scratch. 

    Through a conversation with a professor from my home university, NTNU, I aired the idea of an application and/or website that would gather events into one platform, making the search for the weekend plans a bit easier. She further added the thought of looking at it from a student perspective, for example also as an erasmus student. This reminded me of the talk about a “loneliness” epidemic, and the hostel app where you can join activities of other solo travellers. 

    There are many questions that could be asked around this “topic” or idea. How big is the need for a system that gathers events and happenings into one app, from the users perspective? As all kinds of events would be available for all kinds of people, how would the event hosts feel about this in regards to the target group they are trying to reach? And for the environment they are trying to create? Would it work well practically? How could one ensure safety for the users wanting to join an event with strangers?

    In a publication by the Joint Research Center it was written that loneliness was more common among students compared to working people (Berlingieri, Colagrossi & Mauri, 2023). A survey done on students in the US in spring in 2025 by NCHA found that 46.7% scored positive on the UCLA loneliness scale (American College Health Association, 2025). A press release from the UK government stated that almost all participating students had felt lonely at least once during their academic year. 52% of the participants also said loneliness was one of their concerns at university, 48% were concerned with “fitting in” (UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2023). In a study done at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences (CUAS) in Austria 31.7% reported moderate loneliness, while 4.8% were severely lonely. Where most felt socially lonely (29.4%) (Limarutti, Maier & Mir, 2023). 

    These statistics show that loneliness is a concern and problem amongst students, and specifically socially. When starting university, especially when moving cities it can be difficult to integrate and find people who share your interests. Currently there exists apps like Bumble BFF and Hostelworld’s features for meeting people while travelling, whether or not these can help battle the feeling of loneliness would be something to further look into. 

    A problem with such “meeting” apps is related to privacy and safety. Dating apps are a similar way to meet people, however people are concerned whether or not this is a safe way to meet. Pew Research center found that 46% of US adults saw dating apps as “not too safe or not at all safe way to meet people” (Anderson, Vogels & Turner, 2020). Some “meeting” apps have implemented ways of making users feel more secure in meeting through their apps by adding ID verification. Although it can create a sense of safety for others, many seem to be skeptical about giving these app companies their personal information through ID verification (Hendrickson, 2025). There are various other features these apps offer to prevent unsafe situations. The dating app Hinge offers users a way to report users if they experience discomfort or find a fake profile. Finding a balance between safety and privacy is an important goal. 

    Of course there exists ticketing apps that offer tickets to events of all kinds in one, such as Ticketmaster and Eventim. But how well these work and if there is a need for an improvement of these can be looked further into. Although they have no particular target group in itself other than a high focus on concert goers. If there is a need for these features to merge and to target students, could be questioned and researched further through the use of surveys.

    Refrences

    by muhammad.turk -

    The Moon is a Lie: A Case Study in Ontological Deception

    Design & Research | Master Thesis Log 02
    #InteractionDesign #AIPhotography #HumanInTheLoop #ResearchJourney #ComputationalPhotography

    Since its invention, photography has held a unique promise: the promise of truth. Unlike a painting, which is an interpretation, a photograph was historically seen as an “index”—a physical trace left by light hitting a sensor.

    But what happens when the sensor stops recording light and starts predicting it?

    In my previous post, I asked if photography is dead. This week, I conducted a deep dive into the Samsung “Space Zoom” Controversy. This event is not just a consumer tech scandal; for my thesis, it serves as “Ground Zero” for the ontological shift in image-making. It proves we have moved from capturing the world to generating a statistical average of it.

    Part 1: The Experiment

    The controversy erupted when Reddit user u/ibreakphotos designed a clever stress test for Samsung’s “100x Space Zoom.” The user hypothesized that the camera wasn’t actually optically powerful enough to see the moon’s craters.

    The Methodology:

    • They downloaded a high-res image of the moon.
    • They downsized it and blurred it until it was an unrecognizable, glowing white blob.
    • They displayed this blob on a monitor in a dark room.
    • They stood back and photographed the monitor using the Samsung S23 Ultra.

    The hardware limitation: A tiny smartphone sensor cannot defy physics, yet the software claims it can. (Source: reddit)

    The Results:

    The phone produced a sharp, detailed image of the moon, complete with craters and surface textures.

    This was physically impossible. The source image (the blurred blob on the screen) contained zero texture data. The camera had effectively “hallucinated” the craters because its AI recognized the shape of a moon and overlaid a texture map from its internal database.

    Part 2: The Death of Indexicality

    Why does this matter for Interaction Design? Because it breaks the fundamental contract between the user and the tool.

    In media theory, Charles Sanders Peirce defined the photograph as an “Index”—a sign that has a physical connection to its object (like a footprint in the sand). When you look at a traditional photo, you know that the light actually touched the subject.

    The Samsung Moon is no longer an Index. It is a Simulacrum. As the philosopher Jean Baudrillard argued, a simulacrum is a copy without an original. The image on the user’s phone is “hyperreal”—it looks more real than the blurry reality the user actually saw with their eyes, but it has no connection to the physical moment.

    The friction lies here:

    The User thinks: “I captured this.”
    The System knows: “I generated this.”

    This creates a gap in agency. The user believes they are the creator, but they are merely the “prompter.” The camera is no longer a tool for documentation; it is a tool for optimization. It prioritizes a “beautiful lie” over an “ugly truth.”

    My Perspective: The Case for “Honest Interfaces”

    After analyzing this case, I do not believe the solution is to ban AI. Most users do want a clear photo of the moon, even if it is fake. However, from an Interaction Design standpoint, the failure here is not technological—it is ethical.

    The Failure of “Silent Substitution”
    The interface lied. It presented a generated image as a captured one. My take is that we need to redesign the camera interface to be “Honest.”

    My Proposal for Future Research:
    We need a UI that distinguishes between “Documentation Mode” (Optical truth, flaws included) and “Simulation Mode” (AI enhanced).

    If the user knows they are painting with data, the agency is restored. They become a “Director” rather than a duped consumer. The current design trend of hiding these choices behind a single “Shutter Button” is what I call “Agency Laundering”—the machine takes the credit, but lets the user feel like the artist. My thesis aims to challenge this specific pattern.

    Key Questions Arising from this Case:

    1. Transparency: Should AI-enhanced photos carry a visible watermark or metadata tag indicating “Generative Content”?
    2. The “Raw” Mode: Is “Pro Mode” the last bastion of authenticity, or is AI seeping into the raw data as well?
    3. User Consent: Did the user consent to having their blurry moon replaced? Or did the interface assume their intent?

    References (IEEE)

    [1] u/ibreakphotos, “Samsung ‘Space Zoom’ Moon Shots are Fake,” Reddit, 2023.
    [2] J. Vincent, “Samsung’s Moon photos are fake—but so is a lot of mobile photography,” The Verge, 2023.
    [3] J. Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation. University of Michigan Press, 1994.

    AI Declaration: This blog post was drafted with the assistance of an LLM to structure the theoretical analysis. The research selection, case study choice, and final arguments regarding ‘Indexicality’ are my own.