Mold-It: Understanding how Physical Shapes affect Interaction with Handheld Freeform Devices

Advanced technologies are increasingly enabling the creation of interactive devices with non-rectangular form-factors but it is currently unclear what alternative form-factors are desirable for end-users. We contribute an understanding of the interplay between the rationale for the form factors of such devices and their interactive content through think-aloud design sessions in which participants could mold devices as they wished using clay. We analysed their qualitative reflections on how the shapes affected interaction. Using thematic analysis, we identified shape features desirable on handheld freeform devices and discuss the particularity of three themes central to the choice of form factors: freeform dexterity, shape features discoverability and shape adaptability (to the task and context). In a second study following the same experimental set-up, we focused on the trade off between dexterity and discoverability and the relation to the concept of affordance. Our work reveals the shape features that impact the most the choice of grasps on freeform devices from which we derive design guidelines for the design of such devices.