ACM Interactions

Authors:
William Gaver, Andrew Boucher, Sarah Pennington, Brendan Walker

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Designing for pleasure demands a different approach from designing for utility. The latter can be done from outside a given situation, standing back to assess difficulties and seek solutions. The former, in contrast, is better done from within. To give pleasure to someone—to tell a funny joke, recount a moving story, dance a beautiful dance—it is best (or at least easiest) if you share with them some sense of humor, passion, and empathy. Five years ago, Gaver, Dunne, and Pacenti published an article in interactions magazine, concerning "cultural Probes," a design-led approach to understanding users that stressed empathy and…

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