How does it feel? Exploring touch on different levels of product experience

Technological innovations pave the way for alternative interaction paradigms, which allow for more intuitive and pleasurable user experiences. Such new interaction types are particularly called for when considering that people are facing an ever-increasing information flow that in the end oftentimes hamper satisfying experiences with technology. Connecting knowledge from the fields of interaction design, product design, and psychology, we present a theoretical framework that explains how different modalities can be used in interaction with products. We will focus on the tactile modality in particular and present two case studies that show how designers can design for this modality in a direct (functional) and in an abstract (symbolic) manner, respectively.