Funology:
From Usability to Enjoyment
by Mark A. Blythe,
Kees Overbeeke, Andrew F. Monk, and Peter
C. Wright, Editors
Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, MA,
2003
320 pp., Trade $117.00
ISBN: 1-402-01252-7.
Reviewed by John
Knight
User-Lab
Birmingham Institute of Art and Design
John.knight@uce.ac.uk
According to the back cover, "This
book reflects the move in Human-Computer
Interaction [HCI] studies from standard
usability concerns towards a wider set
of problems to do with fun, enjoyment,
aesthetics, and the experience of use".
Kluwer as part of its Human-Computer Interaction
Series publishes it. I was extremely sceptical
of the title and worried about the ethical
consequences of designing "fun"
products. However, I was wrong. Fun may
seem an odd subject for an academic book,
but it is not a trivial issue. The content
is sound, interesting, refreshing, and
pleasurable (fun?) to read.
Funology collects 24 papers in
three sections. The first section provides
a context of "Theories and Concepts"
(e.g. The Semantics of Fun); the second
part deals with "Methods and Techniques"
(e.g. Measuring Emotion); and the final
section describes nine case studies. Despite
the diversity of the subject matter, the
individual papers come together to form
a coherent whole that is underpinned by
a positive approach to researching and
designing for fun. It is well designed,
with useful section introductions and
an integrated bibliography. The foreword
is by Patrick Jordan of the Contemporary
Trends Institute and provides a useful
setting for the book. He suggests shortcomings
in traditional Human Factors and HCI approaches
and that pleasurable products achieve
a better fit between people and products.
He concludes that:
"While
usability-based approaches
certainly tackle some very important issues,
they tend to take a view of people that
is somewhat limited, perhaps even dehumanising.
The problem is that they tend to ignore
or de-emphasize wider aspects of our humanness.
What about our hopes, our fears, our dreams,
our feelings, our self-image, the way
we want others to see us? All these things
are associated with the emotional and
aspirational levels of a persons
experience with a product or service"
(p. xi and xii).
Jordan is not alone in taking pleasure
seriously. Funology is published
at a time of growing (academic and commercial)
interest in understanding and exploiting
emotional interactions between people
and products. Fortunately, rather than
offering a utopian (or dystopian) future
of engineered playfulness, Funology
achieves three things. Firstly, the book
gives an impartial critique of the cognitive/functional
tradition of HCI. Secondly, it offers
an erudite exploration issues pertinent
to expanding HCI "beyond usability".
For example, Blythe and Hassenzahl consider
the "Politics of Fun" and "Spectacle
and Aesthetics". Taking in Samuel
Johnson, they draw on Adorno and Horkheimer
to investigate, "The similarities
between the ways in which leisure and
work time were structured and monitored"
(p. 93). Lastly, the book weaves theory
with empirical study and design.
Chapter One looks at engagability, concluding
that "Users are not interested in
products; they are in search of challenging
experiences. Therefore, the designer needs
to create a context for experience, rather
than just a product" (p. 9). Pheobe
Sengers critiques Taylorism and the division
between work and fun in the context of
domestic work. Wright et al. give a vivid
overview of "Making Sense of Experience"
based upon Dewey and Bahktin.
The methods and technologies section starts
with usability guru Jakob
Nielson. Pieter Desmet introduces his
work with "verbal [and] non verbal
instruments to measure emotion".
Andersen et al. continue the emotional
quotient by describing a set of innovative
games from the FARAWAY project that aims
to "explore how new technologies
might support remote communication between
people in affectionate relationships"
(p. 151).
The final section is given over to case
studies. A number of papers relate to
museums and to engaging with children
through interactives that "should
be equally attractive, fun, long lasting,
and yet offer sound pedagogical learning
opportunities" (p. 198). Norbert
Braun describes how interactive applications
can facilitate storytelling and conversation
based (p. 233) on Propps "semiotic
description of story structure" (p.
237). The narrative focus is maintained
by Jennica Falk (p. 249) and is augmented
by research into tangible user interfaces.
This is a deceptive book. It looks decidedly
academic, but is well organised, with
good introductions and chapter summaries.
It deals with a range of prescient design
issues with theoretical depth and practical
examples. Instead of technological determinism
the book offers a humanistic perspective.
The editors have shown respect for peoples
need for fun, but also challenge growth
and well-being in their selection of papers.