Data Souvenirs: Environmental psychology and reflective design

The physical form of technology and its relationship to the surrounding environment is an important factor in design; we argue that this is especially true in the design of reflective technology. We suggest environmental psychology theory as a tool for understanding this relationship and use it to propose design guidelines for tangible reflective technologies. As an example, we apply these guidelines to the design of domestic technology, inspiring the creation of Data Souvenirs, a set of hardware sketches we have built that combine technology with the physical form of books. Additionally, we reflect on our own design process, discussing how the combination of environmental psychology theory and hardware design sketches can motivate novel tangible designs.

Research highlights► Guidelines drawn from environmental psychology are useful design tools. ► Restorative environment theory motivates six reflective technology design guidelines. ► We describe Data Souvenirs, a set of hardware sketches that draw on the form of books. ► Environmental psychology theory and hardware sketches help motivate novel tangible designs.