Seemingly Physiological Sensations
in Human-computer Interactions
This is just a verbalised diary capturing metacognition. Something I have been thinking about procrastinating on writing for a while now.
I was using VS Code and the screen kept freezing every 2 seconds, there was barely any code and I was trying to scroll down and it kept getting stuck. It almost felt like something was physically stopping the scroll bar. The screen suddenly started feeling rough as if there was dust or sand on it.
When the screen froze, my brain felt as if there was friction on the screen. The physical screen is visually clean and smooth to touch but it doesn't feel smooth anymore.
In the material world, if anything stops moving there has to be some friction. But there is no physical thing on the screen that you can touch and remove to make the scroll work again. But it almost felt like something is applying a force in the opposite direction and I had this urge to remove it with my hand.
Things as Textures
How do you feel when there is fresh snow fall, everything is covered in snow, rounded, smooth and soft. You could just roll on it?
Same thing happens when the UI is full of smooth curvy graphics and a lot more white space. Why is that? Thinking about thinking, for me, it's essentially the smoothness, evenness, absence of irregular textures, that evokes a feeling of trust and ease that I could just roll on the snow in the streets, without getting hurt. There is nothing sharp, spike like in my vicinity that could possibly hurt me, something you can't do on a normal day. Making my brain process it as an once in a while opportunity to just lay down anywhere without worrying.
I am referring to my brain rather myself, intentionally because all of this processing is somewhere between subconscious and conscious. When I am describing it, it might sound like an active thought, but it's not. These are not active thoughts, this is all happening in the background very fast without my active involvement.
But this is too simplistic..
Persian rugs everywhere though have texture, color, and vibrant do not give the same feeling of unease. If you wore a polyster fabric that made you feel uneasy, despite being smooth looking and clean it will make you feel uneasy by just looking.
Every perception is a cumulative expression of past interactions with the material world which acts like encyclopaedia for the subconscious. I guess that's what is called embodied cognition?
It's also true the other way round.. how digital experiences shape cognitive expectation in material world. A good example is command+z
A while back on a weekend I was trying to paint something. I was a bit impatient, wanted my weekend to count, wanted to create a masterpiece in 30 mins. I was rushing and I made a mistake that was undoable. My hand and brain tried to reach out for Command Z, but there were no buttons to touch, to press. It was an odd feeling last for a second but very disorienting and frustrating. People's ability to interact with computer and their expectation is situated in space and time, and it is evolving rapidly for some. The material world creates new cognitive expectations for digital space and vice versa.
What does it mean for design?
Practice thinking about thinking - making use of metacognition to inform design.
It can help make approximate deductions about the cost of interaction, perception etc if we know about people's material reality.
Concrete example - Shape Conducive for Motion, Animation etc
Imagine following shapes with same weight - assume they are not as light as a feather or as heave as a boulder. May be 1kg, rectangle and cylinders are larger in shape, sphere is let's say a ball
Shape
Motion
Effort
Anticipation of Discomfort
Sliding
Some
Little : larger surface will attract more friction
Lifting
Some
Some : Need both hands and have to figure out how to align with the body
Sliding
Low
None : 1 hand is enough
Lifting
Some
Little : Need both hands and have to figure out how to align with the body
Lifting
Some
None : 1 hand is enough
Sliding
High
High : That feels imporssible
Rolling
Very Low
None
Projectile
Some
Little : Should be easy to hold and throw
Sliding
Low
Some : Need both hands and have to figure out how to align with the body
Lifting
Some
some anticipation of discomfort due to dimension & weight, but no worries about getting poked by sharp edges
Projectile
High
anticipation of discomfort due to dimention and how to hold to launch
Rolling Along Length
Very Low
Little : larger surface will attract more friction but rolling should still be easy, would require force once in a while
Rolling Along Width
Impossible
That seems impossible
Comfort wise sphere feels more compatible with motion, but if you have to account for stopping motion, sphere might give a feeling of out of control.
How it relates to design? Which shape is more conducive to realistic natural animation without defying laws of physics.