The use of the Tactual Experience Guide

The purpose of the Guide is to help you to describe your tactual experience with a specific object, and
to assess its aesthetic aspects.

The tactual experience can be mapped along five different domains, as shown in the Figure 1.
These domains are:
- The movements you make with an object
- The objects’ tactual properties you perceive
- The bodily sensations you have
- The objects’ affective behaviour you experience
- The feelings you have

Figure 1.
The five domains that describe the tactual experience

The structure of the Guide

The Guide consists of a specific mind-map for each domain. In addition, a concluding map helps you
to assess the experience as a whole in the context of your relationship with the object.

You can use these mind-maps as a starting point to create your own mind-maps, describing the
different aspects of this specific domain. This manual provides you with explanations of the different
aspects for each domain, helping you to formulate your own descriptions.
Procedure to fill in the Guide

Start with the map on movements, describe the different situations of

interacting with the object, and consequently the movements you make with
the object.

Continue with the maps on ‘properties’, ‘sensations’, ‘affective behaviour’ and

‘feelings’. These maps can be used in random order; you may go back and
forth between the maps, because some aspects make you think of aspects on
the other maps.

Conclude with the map ‘conclusions’ on the tactual experience of the object, to
assess the experience as a whole in the context of your relationship with the
object.

Recommendations to use the guide

To create a mind-map, you use the existing maps as a start to elaborate on, by providing descriptions
for each branch on the map. Next, for each branch, you may enlarge the map by adding as much
branches as appropriate for the specific aspect you are describing, for example:

Figure 2. Examples of adding descriptions to a branch of a specific aspect

You may describe each aspect on the map by providing:

o - A qualitative description of the aspect (for example as adjective: ‘soft’, ‘warm’; as action:
‘it resist when I squeeze it’, or as an association: ‘like velvet’);
o - An additional quantifying description (for example ‘very’, ‘a little’, ‘terribly’);
o - The changes in time of that particular aspect (‘it becomes sticky after a while’);
o - The (un) pleasantness or indifference of that aspect.

The descriptions concern your subjective experience, don’t worry about the universality or objectivity
of what you are describing. It is your experience that gives meaning to the aspects included in the
maps. Use your own world of experience to understand what the different aspects refer to.

Use a description style you feel at ease with: use keywords, sentences, little stories, sketches, images,
or a mixture of these styles. Use your native language if you feel more at ease with it.

You don’t have to describe all the aspects on the map: if a specific aspect does not seem relevant for
your experience, then leave that space blank. The aspects on the map are meant as a starting point to
help you to explore your experience of touching the object, so don’t feel restricted to them. Add new
aspects if you want to.

This guide is only about the tactual experience: what you experience with your eyes and ears closed.
So leave out descriptions related to the other senses: this complicates your assessment of the object’s
tactual aspects.
Explanations for the map on movements
What you sense, perceive and experience tactually depends on the movements you make with an
object. Therefore, when considering tactual experiences, it is important to have an overview of these
movements. In turn, these movements depend on the possible different reasons you have to interact
with an object.

Relevant questions for this map:

- Why do you touch the object or is the object touching you?

- What movements do you make with the object in that situation?

Motivation for touching Description of the aspect

To explore the object
To explore an object is to try to answer the questions: what is it? And
what is it made of?
You may want to explore the object when you see it for the first time,
to get to know its physical properties. You may also want to explore a
familiar object to check some of its physical characteristics before
using it.

To play with the object
To play with an object is to interact with it for the sake and pleasure of
the interaction itself, and not for its functional purpose. It can be
considered as the non-functional interaction with an object.
To play with an object is related to the question: what can I do with it?
Physical play may be characterized by the type of movement made:
swinging, squeezing, moving up and down, and so on.

To use the object for functional The use of the object for functional purposes is characterized by the
purposes desired practical output of the interaction with the object. Note that you
may use the object for practical purposes the object was not meant for
originally.

To carry and displace the object Objects are moved from one user situation to the other or carried
around because they are portable. This carrying creates a specific
physical interaction with the object.

To take care of yourself or of the A reason to interact with object may be to take care of the object, for
object example to clean it or to repair it. Also, you may use the object to take
care of yourself or of other people in your surroundings.

By accident, you touch the object Some physical interactions are unintended, they happen by accident.
or the object touches you
Explanations for the map on Tactual Properties
The map on tactual properties is about the physical aspects of the object you perceive, when your
attention is directed towards the object you are touching. Tactual properties are related to the physical
behaviour of the object: how it reacts to your actions.
Relevant questions:
- What can you do with the object?
- How does the object react? What does the object do?
Tactual property Description of the property
Hardness Hardness is perceived as the
resistance of the material to being
transformed.
Elasticity Elasticity is perceived as the
capacity of the material to get back
to its initial shape after being
transformed.
Temperature Extreme temperatures are
perceived at initial contact, subtle
temperature changes after longer
periods of contact.
Weight Weight is perceived when lifting
and manipulating the object.
Balance Balance is perceived as reaction to
swinging, to manipulation.
Texture Texture is perceived when stroking
a surface, and through grip on a
surface.
Shape, volume and size Shape, volume and size are
perceived in contact with the
object, through holding and
manipulating the object.
Moving parts The dynamic aspects of moving
parts of the object
Possible Descriptors
Hard / soft
Comes back to its original shape/
Stays in the new shape
Extreme Hot / extreme cold
Warm / cold
Heavy / light
Balanced / unbalanced
Rough / smooth
Sticky / slippery
Clean /dirty
Wet / dry
Structure and pattern:
Type of details (shape, size, lay-out)
Location: local / overall
Regular / irregular
Direction
Size: Big or small
Shape: Curved / flat,
Rich / poor in contrasts,
Complex / simple.
Surface: discontinuities (e.g. holes.) or not
Edges: Sharp / rounded
Orientation: horizontal / vertical
Type of movement
Time of movement and rhythm
Resistance to movement
Smoothness of movement
Explanations for the map on bodily sensations
The map on bodily sensations is about what you sense on your skin and in your body when being in
touch with the object. It is what you experience when your attention is directed towards your own body,
instead of towards the object. It is about how you experience the object touching you.

Relevant questions:

- Where are you touched?

- What do you sense?
- What does the object do to you?

Tactual Sensations Description of the sensation Possible Descriptors

Pressure Pressure is experienced as the force with Light / intense.

which the object is pressed against your Large / small area of pressure
body. Pressure may result in impressions
on the skin.

Vibration Vibration is experienced when the Light / intense

experienced touch or pressure varies in Rapid / slow
time with a certain frequency. Large / small area

Temperature In interaction, the temperature of your own Warm / cold

body parts may increase or decrease. Large / small area

Pain The touch of the object may result in the Type of pain
sensation of pain, due to too much Light / intense
pressure or stress on the skin, to high or Large / small area
low temperatures, or due to extreme Physical effects (cut, bruises)
mechanical impact on the skin.

Itch, tickle Itch and tickle may be the result of light Light / intense
touch, light vibration, or of a chemical
reaction of the skin to the material the
object is made of.

Body posture In interaction, you may feel the movements Extreme / neutral
your body makes, the postures of your
different body parts. These postures may
feel as neutral or extreme postures.

Applied muscle force In executing the different movements Strong / weak

involved in physical interaction, you sense
the forces you have to apply.
Explanations for the map on affective behaviour
The physical behaviour of the object has an affective meaning to you, experienced as the affective
behaviour of the object. This can be understood from the perspective of experiencing the object as if it
was animated. To describe this affective behaviour, you can use the following aspects.

Relevant question:

- What is the object communicating through its physical behaviour?

Aspects of affective Description of the aspect

behaviour

Personality The object may seem to express its personality in the way it physically reacts to
you.
This personality may be literally related to its tactual properties (for example it can
be experienced as a warm or cold, a flexible or stiff, rigid personality, and so on).
The personality may also be described as character traits of living creatures such
as people, animals or other living organisms (for example, it can be experienced as
a mean, a friendly, a sneaky, a supporting or an impressive personality, and so on).
In addition, the personality of an object may be described through associations with
other objects (for example a weapon or a cuddle toy).

Relevant question:
- What are the object’s personality traits?
- What associations do you have with other objects?

Intention The object may seem to express its own intentions through its behaviour. These
intentions reflect the personal motivations you have to interact and touch the
object: it wants to be touched or not, to play with you or not, to cooperate with you
or not, and so on.

Relevant questions:
- What are the object’s intentions’?
- What does it want?

Emotion The object may seem to express its own feelings through its physical behaviour. It
may seem sad, cheerful, proud, etc.

Relevant question:
- What feelings does the object express?

Power match In physical interaction, there is a power match going on: the object may be
experienced as stronger, weaker, or as an equal match. This power match
engenders the experience of being in control or of being controlled. Furthermore,
this power match is related to the aspect of dependency: you may depend on the
object, or the object may depend on you.

Relevant questions:
- Who is the strongest?
- Who is controlling whom?
- Who depends on whom?

Physical skills An object can challenge you to develop physical skills and to use them. The object
may allow you to develop these skills in a very personal way, or impose its style on
you.
 Relevant questions:
- What physical skills does the object challenge you to develop?
- Does it allow you to develop your own personal style?

Perfect match In physical interaction, objects may form a perfect match with you, or not at
all. This ‘match’ may be related to each of the different tactual properties of
the object: its temperature, its hardness/elasticity, its size, its shape, etc.
This ‘matching’ may exist at first touch, or develop in interaction, through
adaptation of the object to your own physical characteristics.

Relevant questions:
- How does the object ‘match’ you?
- Does it adapt itself to you physically?

Familiarity An object may feel familiar, or strange, new. Also, it may feel natural or alien.
This aspect of familiarity may be immediate or may be developed in time,
through interaction with the object.
Through interaction, the object can be recognized as ‘mine’ or ‘not mine’,
because of little physical changes: adaptations to your body, little marks that
remind you of your personal history, and so on.

Relevant questions:
- Does the object feel familiar?
- Can you experience and recognize it as ‘yours’?

Feedback / Integrity The object may physically provide you with information about what is going
on or not. If it does, it can be explicit and clear about it or provide you with
feedback that is hard to understand. This aspect of providing feedback is
related to the integrity of the object: it can be honest or dishonest (provide
you with the wrong information).

Relevant questions:
- Does the object provide you with physical feedback about what is going
on?
- Is that information clear?
- Can you trust that information?

Transparency An object may continuously ask for your attention, or disappear in your
awareness when you are interacting through it with other elements in your
environment. In that case it becomes tactually transparent: you are able to
incorporate it and ‘feel through’ it.

Relevant questions:
- Can the object disappear in your awareness?
- Can you incorporate it and ‘feel through’ it?
Explanations for the map on feelings
The feelings you have when physically interacting with an object can be described as basic,
primordial feelings: gut feelings.

Relevant questions:

- How do you feel?

- What does it do to you?
- How do these aspects change in time?
- How (un) pleasant are these aspects?

Aspect of feelings Description of the aspect Possible Descriptors

Body reactions Your emotional reaction to the interaction with Goose bumps
the object may manifest itself in your physical Shivers
reactions: your gut reactions. Sweat
Increased heart beat
Increased respiration

Physical pleasure The different sensations you described in the Pleasure / disturbance
map on bodily sensation may be experienced as Lust / disgust
physical pleasure, or as physical disturbance.
This may be related to the experience of lust, or
disgust.

Affect Your emotional reaction is related to the To feel accepted / rejected

experienced affection in interaction. As polarities, To feel loved or hated
you may feel accepted or rejected by the object, To love / hate the object
or you may feel loved or hated by the object.
Your own affective reaction may be to love or
hate the object.

Vulnerability Physical interaction relates to the vulnerability of To feel protected / exposed

your own body: in interaction there is always a To trust the object / or not
possibility to get hurt. Your emotional reaction
may be related to the experienced vulnerability.

Energy Physically interacting with objects has an impact To feel excited

on your energy. The impact may be positive: it To feel relaxed
excites you or relaxes you, or negative: it To feel stressed
stresses you or causes an energy leak. To feel an energy leak

Action tendency Touching the object may elicit a (re) action Approach / avoidance
tendency. You may want to let go immediately or Hold / let go
may want to keep on touching the object, or Take care / neglect
experience these reactions simultaneously.
Furthermore, the interaction may elicit affective
behaviour of your side: taking care of the object
or neglect it.
Self experience The interaction with the object may contribute to Your self-experience: for
the way you experience yourself. example, feeling elegant or
clumsy.
Explanations for the map on conclusion
Once you have described the different aspects of the tactual experience with the object,
you may assess the overall experience, and its (un) pleasantness.

Aspects to conclude on Description of the aspect

Type of relationship Tactual experiences with objects evolve in time, thus creating a
relationship with the object. This relationship may be characterized by its
affective meaning, similar to relationships with other animated organisms
(people, animals, and so on). For example, this relationship may be
characterized as personal, intimate, professional, distant, and so on.

Relevant question:
- How would you describe your relationship with the object?

Body language Together, the physical and affective behaviour of the object can be
characterized as its body language. This non-verbal, physical way of
communication, may be characterized by its style.

Relevant question:
- What is the communication style of the object?

Aesthetic assessment The different aspects of the tactual experience may have their (un)
pleasant or indifferent qualities, as you have indicated on the separated
maps. But the experience as a whole has an aesthetic quality of its own.

Relevant question:
- Overall, how would you characterize the tactual experience with the
object?
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