Disappearing interfaces

Abstract

HCI researchers and designers should now rethink what they actually need to design for in interactive artifacts. Researchers are conceptualizing and concretizing the quality of interactivity so that designers can consciously design the various qualities of interactivity of an interactive artifact as they intended. They intentionally separated the concept of interactivity from any visible interface. It is all about what users feel at the moment they interact with digital materials. The HCI research space will shift from interface invention to quality exploration. Treating interaction design targets as if they are alive will open up a new design space. Researchers should address this immediacy of access and the use and manipulation of digital materials in interactive design, instead of continually focusing on interface types and styles. Focusing on the core of what users interact with rather than the interfaces that mediate the interaction is what matters.