Reference
Gaver, W. W., Beaver, J., & Benford, S. (2003). Ambiguity as a resource for design. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI ’03, 233–240. https://doi.org/10.1145/642611.642653
Highlights
If “usefulness and usability are the twin goals of HCI research and development”, then ambiguity would seem their nemesis.
After all, the everyday world itself is inherently ambiguous: most things in it have multiple possible meanings.
sure is. though it feels as if the friction-less experiences we have in digital space slowly shift the way we perceive and handle the inherently ambiguous in the everyday world
The slogans and images were presented with little context so that viewers had to interpret the attitudes they reflected.
designed to provoke participants to re-evaluate the boundaries between reality and fiction, and between the real and the virtual.
This distinguishes ambiguity from related concepts such as fuzziness or inconsistency:
ambiguous situations require people to participate in making meaning.
The traditional response to ambiguity of information in interactive systems like Bystander is to improve the technology, use statistical methods to set certainty thresholds, or ignore it and hope for the best.
Bystander treats this ambiguous information as a challenge to users, forcing them to join their knowledge of people and cities to the clues offered by the system in order to play the game.
designers can deliberately set out to create products that implicate several interpretations at once.
push us to imagine how we might personally use such products, and what our lives would be like in consequence.
Use imprecise representations to emphasise uncertainty.
When successful, such interfaces are not only aesthetically attractive, but conceptually appealing as well.
Over-interpret data to encourage speculation.
Expose inconsistencies to create a space of interpretation.
By crafting the inherent limitations of the technology into the user experience, the designer can open a space of possibilities that participants must navigate, thus heightening narrative intrigue.
Cast doubt on sources to provoke independent assessment.
Implicate incompatible contexts to disrupt preconceptions.
bringing together disparate contexts creates a tension that must be resolved.
luna maurer manifest
Add incongruous functions to breach existing genres.
this proposal transforms a public sign into a private code, allowing us to rethink the potential of public displays in new ways.
Block expected functionality to comment on familiar products.
Through this simple modification, Pennington disrupts our reading of the phone as a communications device, creating instead a rather plaintive reminder of separation.
Offer unaccustomed roles to encourage imagination.
encourage people to adopt potentially unfamiliar perspectives and activities.
Point out things without explaining why.
Much as fine art photography has shifted from capturing images of important scenes to making scenes important by capturing their image, so design can draw attention to overlooked aspects of the environment to encourage reflection on their significance.
Introduce disturbing side effects to question responsibility.
it can be an important factor in crafting interactive designs that are engaging and thought-provoking.
Ambiguity of information impels people to question for themselves the truth of a situation. Contextual ambiguity can question the discourses surrounding technological genres, allowing people to expand, bridge, or reject them as they see fit. Relational ambiguity, finally, can lead people to consider new beliefs and values, and ultimately their own attitudes.
ambiguity is a powerful design tool for raising topics or asking questions, while renouncing the possibility of dictating answers. By virtue of this balance, ambiguity both offers an inspiring resource to designers and shows a deep respect for users.
Summary
Designing with ambiguity in mind in a seamless digital world may seem like a risky and overconfident idea; however, as the authors point out in the article, the everyday world itself is inherently ambiguous: most things in it have multiple possible meanings. Using example artefacts, authors describe three approaches to evoking a sense of ambiguity (ambiguity of information, context, and relationship) that prompt participants to use their imagination and interpret the artefacts.
Critical analysis
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| aligns with Designing Friction and Speculative Everything approach to design products that encourage imagination and reflection | the examples are drawn mostly from contemporary art and critical design practice (installations, performances, speculative proposals) rather than everyday products, so it’s less clear how the tactics translate to ordinary interfaces |
| dated 2003, before smartphones and algorithmic feeds | |
Relevance to my research
- The overlap of concepts, ambiguity and friction where both are argued to, when implemented in design correctly, are not supposed to be a synonym for dysfunction or negativity.
- In the hyper-connected age of onlife, the life we live in digital space impacts the life we live offline. So it would not be any surprise if the frictionless experiences we have in digital space slowly shift the way we perceive and handle the inherently ambiguous in the everyday world (as in handle it not so well)
Key terms
ambiguity, friction, unpredictability, discomfort