Flow Experience in Participatory Designed Online Environments

Master thesis

Flow Experience in Participatory Designed Online Environments

Lauri LainesteSupervisor: PhD Kai Pata

IMKE 2010

The aim of this master thesis is to study the flow experience in a hybrid ecosystem in which participants act

as designers and collaboratively create narratives.

Flow state of consciousness that is experienced by deeply involved and enjoyable activities.

The anxiety is reduced and control over the tasks felt.

Participatory design

• The participatory design method encourages the users to become designers

• In a need for the most optimal design, the users are motivated to participate in the design

Research questions

• What characterizes the flow experience in the participatory designed online environment?

• What are the triggers that keep users in the flow in the participatory designed online environments?

Research questions

• How participatory design method supports experiencing flow?

• How flow validates the design of a web environment?

• Participatory design experiment with a goal to test new ways for storytelling in hybrid ecosystem

• Participatory design was supported as people started looking for the most optimal designs for storytelling

Ecology of Narratives

Methodology

• The qualitative analysis of Ecology of Narratives course data

• Interviews with the participants of the course

Flow characteristics

• control over the tasks

• focus

• involvement

• playfulness

• positive effect

• telepresence

• time distortion

Findings

• People who actively participated in the design process also felt greater motivation for collaborative storytelling, which made them to experience flow

• Once in flow, they felt engagement in the community and continued contributing in the design of the hybrid ecosystem

User control

Hybrid design

Narrative

User control Flow experience

Hybrid design

Narrative

User control Flow experience

Hybrid design

Narrative

User control Flow experience

Hybrid design

Narrative

Optimal design

Optimal narrative activity behavior

Optimal design

Optimal narrative activity behavior

Flow patterns• Personal flow

Flow patterns• The flow of a collaborative narrative

Conclusions

• Flow can be seen like a validation mechanism that supports finding better design for the users

• Flow is taking the consumers to meta-designer level and encourage them to redesign the hybrid environment and mix new media

Future research• The flow of a location

Thank you