The Rough Mile

Abstract

We present our case study on gifting digital music, The Rough Mile, as an example of a Framework of Immersive Practice, intended for researchers and practitioners in HCI and interaction design. Although immersion is a frequently used term in the HCI and related literatures, we find no definitions or frameworks that are robust enough to capture the full range of multi-sensory, emotional, and cognitive engagement that the richest of these experiences can entail. We therefore turn to the theatrical performance literature to distil a theory-based framework of practices that can apply to interdisciplinary projects as well as works with an entirely aesthetic aim. The design choices and findings of The Rough Mile are presented in terms of this framework, leading to a discussion of the design guidelines that can shape its use in any HCI or interaction design project aiming for a deep, personal engagement through technology.

Seeing with New Eyes

“…... We're asking you to think and to invest emotionally' (Hunter). Hunter's observation is supported by the gifting literature [45] as well as by recent work in HCI and design on exchanges of Christmas cards [28] and digital music tracks [53]. Thus effort became a condition to design for, a relatively unusual perspective in a field historically dedicated to efficient interaction.…”

“…Within the HCI and design literature, gifting tends to either emerge as a finding [30,33,39], serve as a metaphor or framework [9,27,44,49,55], or stand as the topic being directly addressed [46,53]. Some of this work discusses the importance of effort in conveying meaning, including Odom et al's observation of teenagers adding notes and images to playlists [39, p. 1496] and Muntean et al's use of effort to explain differing cultural values [38].…”