Mapping Fabrics to Music:
Lessons Learned
Sus Lundgren
&
Interactive Institute (PLAY)
Sara Johansson,
Fredrik Nilsson, Pär Stenberg, Paula
Thorin
IT University of Göteborg
The Interactive Quilt: Original
aim
The original aim of the Interactive Quilt project was to
create an intuitive tangible interface, which was at
the same time a beautiful object.
The idea was to create a patchwork quilt that worked
as a jukebox; the fabric of each patch being mapped
to music genres to give the user a clue of what type of
song would be played when touching a patch.
Outcome…
Mapping fabrics to music… or
not
• We did user tests, asking 12 users to
map 18 different fabrics to music
genres
– They didn’t agree!
– Only two of the fabrics were easy to
map
Final design decisions
• Making loudspeakers more visible
• Using more extreme variants of
mapped fabrics, e.g. actually using a
piece of a pair of Levi’s jeans instead
of the more anonymous pieces of
demin fabric
• Unable to make the quilt ”beautiful”;
the fabrics didn’t match  vulgar
approach
Two user tests
• First test at the IT University of
Göteborg
• Second test at a café in the center of
Gothenburg
• Later, more informal observations
support these first findings
Test results
• Users were surprised that the quilt
played music, and astonished by the
fact that each patch could play
several songs
• Users did notice connections
between fabrics and the different
music genres; however it was not
obvious to them which fabric was
associated to which genre
– They could not predict what kind of
music a certain patch would play
Test results (continued)
• Users often interrupted a song to
hear a new one, and they often
pressed the same patch a number of
times, trying to analyze the outcome
• If they liked a song the took a few
steps back and stood watching the
quilt while listening
Lessons learned
• Why were the mappings so hard to
make? Well, we toyed with three
highly subjective and ambiguous
dimensions
– The comprehension of fabrics
– The comprehension of musical
genres
• We ourselves couldn’t always agree
on which genre a certain song
belonged to
– The comprehension of songs
Did we fail?!?
“The original aim of the Interactive Quilt
project was to create an intuitive
tangible interface, which was at the
same time a beautiful object.”
• Easy to use in the sense that all
users quickly understood that the
patches were buttons
• Intuitive fabric-music mappings? No!
• Beautiful object? Well… :)
Real lesson learned
We saw it as a problem that the
mappings didn’t work, but none of the
users complained about this. They just
happily played on!
Surprise guests!
• Hallnäs & Redström (2001): Slow
Technology
– A design agenda for technology aimed
at reflection and moments of mental
rest, rather than efficiency and
performance
– There is a need for objects that
challenge our intellects
– Slow technology should stimulate
reflection, thought and exploration
Surprise guests!
• Gaver et al (2003): Ambiguity in a
system may be a virtue…
– …when the goal is to create designs
that are engaging, inspiring and/or
thought provoking
– One way to achieve this is to create
objects that are not clearly one type of
object but rather a merger of two or
more, making it impossible to classify it
as being one or the other
Conclusion
• The ambiguity of an interface can,
(occasionally?) be a strength
• A way to achieve this is to integrate
highly subjective
dimensions/parameters in a design
 We are satisfied with the project
and its outcome! :)
Thanks! Any questions?