Toying with time: Considering temporal themes in interactive artifacts

Paper in proceeding, 2013

This paper argues that there is a value in deliberately and systematically exploring potential temporal behaviors of an interactive artifact, either as a means to add new functions, or to change the interaction with it. An improved version of Temporal Themes [23] - a vocabulary describing how software can "use" time or sequences of events - will be presented, alongside a series of design cases. These exemplify how adding or changing temporal themes in existing applications can enhance functionality and/or interaction. Moreover, the cases also serve as a basis for a discussion of the issues coupled to temporality, control and interaction strategies. Finally, a design approach with focus on temporal aspects is outlined. As a result, the paper opens up for a more conscious use of time and temporality in interaction design.