Squeeze Away the Worries: Exploring the Potential of Squeezable Interactions for Emotion Regulation for Desk Workers

Desk workers may often experience more negative than positive emotions in office settings, making emotion regulation (ER) crucial for their mental health. Squeezable interfaces have shown the potential to reduce anxiety and stress in digital and non-digital ER. However, few studies have explored how they can be leveraged to provide tangible and embodied support for workplace ER. We interviewed five mental health experts and 16 desk workers and conducted five co-design workshops with 17 desk workers, aiming to understand how validated practices can be integrated into squeezable interfaces and how they should be designed to support ER and accommodate diverse needs in the context of the workplace. This study contributes to digital ER by identifying design opportunities for squeezable interfaces and by outlining design considerations and challenges for tangible and embodied interactions in ER support within the workplace.