Technology as Experience [Hardcover]

John McCarthy (Author), Peter Wright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

In Technology as Experience, John McCarthy and Peter Wright argue that any account of what is often called the user experience must take into consideration the emotional, intellectual, and sensual aspects of our interactions with technology. We don't just use technology, they point out; we live with it. They offer a new approach to understanding human-computer interaction through examining the felt experience of technology. Drawing on the pragmatism of such philosophers as John Dewey and Mikhail Bakhtin, they provide a framework for a clearer analysis of technology as experience.

Just as Dewey, in Art as Experience, argued that art is part of everyday lived experience and not isolated in a museum, McCarthy and Wright show how technology is deeply embedded in everyday life. The "zestful integration" or transcendent nature of the aesthetic experience, they say, is a model of what human experience with technology might become.

McCarthy and Wright illustrate their theoretical framework with real-world examples that range from online shopping to ambulance dispatch. Their approach to understanding human computer interaction—seeing it as creative, open, and relational, part of felt experience—is a measure of the fullness of technology's potential to be more than merely functional.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Technology as Experience expertly explores the emotional and aesthetic dimensions of technological encounters, from the visceral aspects of subjective experience to the cultural embeddedness and meaning surrounding artifacts and our experience of them."
—Paul Dourish, School of Information and Computer Science, University of California, Irvine

"This book makes us aware that there is more to using technology, particularly software, than analyzing keystroke protocols or watching people at work—and of the creativity and openness with which people use and experience technology."
—Gerd Waloszek, SAP Design Guild, SAP.com

From the Inside Flap

"*Technology as Experience* expertly explores the emotional and aesthetic dimensions of technological encounters, from the visceral aspects of subjective experience to the cultural embeddedness and meaning surrounding artifacts and our experience of them."
--Paul Dourish, School of Information and Computer Science, University of California, Irvine

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 223 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262134470
• ISBN-13: 978-0262134477
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,790,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dense and complex treatise on experiencing technology, March 16, 2009

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Technology as Experience (Hardcover)

John McCarthy's and Peter Wright's book is fascinating because they grapple with some of today's major social, economic and interpersonal questions, such as what does technology mean and how can you determine its meaning? The authors move through several philosophical approaches that they find useful in framing these questions, review major thinkers in the field, and discuss case studies and personal experiences before reaching conclusions. The book is difficult, because of their academic bent. They are willing to break with existing practices enough to embrace emotional and subjective reactions to technology, but their writing can be thick and their conceptual apparatus is complex. As a result, the content is useful for futurists, those interested in social trends and change, and anyone working in information technology or marketing. However, getAbstract recommends their prose primarily to the more patient members of those categories.

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Obtuse, January 23, 2009

By 

Anirudha Joshi (IIT Bombay) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Technology as Experience (Paperback)

The book looks slim before you open it, but seems too long once you start reading it.

As an interaction designer I was looking for ideas about how I could improve upon the experience of technology products. I was utterly disappointed. Not only does the book not offer any concrete suggestions on how to improve the user experience, between the lines, the book scoffs at others who try. E.g. "Our concern with... user experience in HCI is that business momentum may take a potentially rich idea and reduce it to design implications, methods, or features."

The main proposition of the book is fair enough: "We ought to think of people's experience with technology in terms of `felt life'. Users actively construct their experiences, that each person's experience is rich, sensual, unique and difficult to communicate and we can't design someone's experience in its entirety."

With expert verbosity they split this into six propositions and stretch it across 10 difficult to read pages in the first chapeter and elaborate upon it in four more chapters. After reading which, I felt that as a sensitive designer (if you pardon the boast) I already knew this. It would have been bearable had the authors gone ahead then and said what one ought to do in spite of this proposition, but sadly they don't.

The three case studies towards the end of the book are perhaps the most interesting part, but there too I found myself wishing that they had toned down the commentary that got repetitive, verbose and obvious.

Don't get me wrong. If you are theoretically inclined or if you enjoy reading verbose text, go ahead and order a copy. I didn't find anything mis-represented. On the other hand if you are looking for any practical suggestions for design, skip this one.