Cover not available

Article published In: Interaction Studies
Vol. 15:2 (2014) ► pp.321–342

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Exploring emotional response to gesture in product interaction using Laban’s movement analysis

 | University of Strathclyde, Scotland
 | University of Strathclyde, Scotland
Published online: 20 August 2014
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/is.15.2.15wod
This paper explores the use of Laban’s effort actions from the field of dance and drama as a means to document user responses to physical product interaction. A range of traditional and modern product pairs were identified and reviewed in two workshops, where participants were asked to discuss and complete worksheets on their emotional response. The results provide qualitative feedback on their reactions to the different movements, and form the beginnings of an ‘emotional vocabulary’ that we plan to use in the development of semantic differentials for future studies. Key factors in emotional response to gesture have been identified, including aligning movement to product function, emotional conflicts in movement, and user readiness and framing a sequence of movements. Keywords: Design research; gesture; human factors; interface design
References (29)
Bartenieff, I., & Lewis, D. (1980). Body movement: Coping with the environment. New York, NY: Gordon and Breach.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bourne, J. (Ed.). (1938). Twenty-five modern one-act plays. London, UK: V. Gollancz.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bull, P.E. (1987). Posture and gesture. Oxford, UK: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davies, E. (2001). Beyond dance: Laban’s legacy of movement analysis. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dunne, A. (2008). Hertzian tales: Electronic products, aesthetic experience, and critical design. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Feldenkrais, M. (1972). Awareness through movement. New York, NY: HarperCollins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hekkert, P. (2006). Design aesthetics: principles of pleasure in design. Psychology science, 48(2), 157.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hekkert, P., Mostert, M., & Stompff, G. (2003). Dancing with a machine: A case of experience-driven design. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 2003 International Conference on Designing Pleasurable Products and Interfaces , Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Hsieh, H.-F., & Shannon, S.E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kendon, A. (2004). Gesture: Visible action as utterance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Klooster, S., & Overbeeke, C.J. (2005). Designing products as an integral part of choreography of interaction: The product’s form as an integral part of movemen. Paper presented at the The 1st European workshop on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement , Newcastle: Northumbria University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Laban, R. (1960). The mastery of movement (2nd ed.). London, UK: MacDonald and Evans.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Laban, R., & Lawrence, F.C. (1974). Effort (2nd ed.). London, UK: MacDonald and Evans.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lancaster, J.B. (1968). On the evolution of tool-using behavior. American Anthropologist, 70(1), 56–66. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Loke, L., Larssen, A.T., & Robertson, T. (2005, 23–25 November). Labanotation for design of movement-based interaction. Paper presented at the Second Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment , Sydney, Australia.
Loke, L., & Robertson, T. (2010). Studies of dancers: Moving from experience to interaction design. International Journal of Design, 4(2), 1–16.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meyerhold, V., & Braun, E. (1969). On theatre. London, UK: Methuen Drama.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moen, J. (2005). Towards people based movement interaction and kinaesthetic interaction experiences. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 4th Decennial Conference on Critical Computing: Between Sense and Sensibility , Aarhus, Denmark.
. (2006). KinAesthetic movement interaction: Designing for the pleasure of motion: KTH, Numerical Analysis and Computer Science.
Moggridge, B. (2007). Designing interactions. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moore, C.-L. (2005). Movement and making decisions: The body-mind connection in the workplace (Contemporary Discourse on Movement and Dance). New York, NY: Dance & Movement Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Newlove, J., & Dalby, J. (2004). Laban for all. London, UK: Nick Hern Books Limited.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norman, D. (2004). Emotional design: Why we love (or hate) everyday things. New York: Basic Books. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Plutchik, R. (2001). The nature of emotions. American Scientist, 891, 344–350. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Russell, J.A. (1980). A circumplex model of affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39(6), 1161–1178. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Skoyles, J.R. (1999). Human evolution expanded brains to increase expertise capacity, not IQ. Psycoloquy, 10(2), 1–14.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stout, D., & Chaminade, T. (2007). The evolutionary neuroscience of tool making. Neuropsychologia, 45(5), 1091–1100. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Susman, R.L. (1998). Hand function and tool behavior in early hominids. Journal of Human Evolution, 351, 23–46. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Williams, T.I. (1987). A history of invention. New York, NY: Facts on File.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Kougioumtzian, Lori, Katerina El Raheb, Akrivi Katifori & Maria Roussou
2022. Blazing fire or breezy wind? A story-driven playful experience for annotating dance movement. Frontiers in Computer Science 4 DOI logo
Naka, Toshiya & Toru Ishida
2016. Dynamic Motion Analysis of Gesture Interaction. In Handbook of Research on Human-Computer Interfaces, Developments, and Applications [Advances in Human and Social Aspects of Technology, ], ► pp. 23 ff. DOI logo
Wodehouse, Andrew & Sylvia Tzvetanova Yung
2015. Special issue on interaction and experience design. Journal of Engineering Design 26:4-6 ► pp. 95 ff. DOI logo
Wodehouse, Andrew J. & Jonathon Marks
2015. Physicality in Technological Interface Design. In Analyzing Art, Culture, and Design in the Digital Age [Advances in Media, Entertainment, and the Arts, ], ► pp. 258 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 16 march 2026. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue