Articulating Experience

TLDR

The third wave of HCI has shifted UX research from quantitative to qualitative methods, yet a systematic understanding of micro‑phenomenology—used since 2001—is lacking. This study aims to illustrate how HCI/Design experts apply micro‑phenomenology, the conditions that enable experience descriptions, and the values it offers to the field. The authors interviewed five HCI/Design experts who use micro‑phenomenology and developed a practice framework to capture their experiences. The findings show that micro‑phenomenology articulates designers’ and participants’ experiences, expands vocabulary for multisensory experiences, and reveals embodied tacit knowledge.

Abstract

Third wave HCI initiated a slow transformation in the methods of UX research: from widely used quantitative approaches to more recently employed qualitative techniques. Articulating the nuances, complexity, and diversity of a user's experience beyond surface descriptions remains a challenge within design. One qualitative method — micro-phenomenology — has been used in HCI/Design research since 2001. Yet, no systematic understanding of micro-phenomenology has been presented, particularly from the perspective of HCI/Design researchers who actively use it in design contexts. We interviewed 5 HCI/Design experts who utilize micro-phenomenology and present their experiences with the method. We illustrate how this method has been applied by the selected experts through developing a practice, and present conditions under which the descriptions of the experience unfold, and the values that this method can provide to HCI/Design field. Our contribution highlights the value of micro-phenomenology in articulating the experience of designers and participants, developing vocabulary for multi-sensory experiences, and unfolding embodied tacit knowledge.