Exploring emotional response to gesture in product interaction using Laban's movement analysis

This paper explores the use of Laban’s Movement Analysis from the field of dance and drama as a means to document user response to physical product interaction. A range of ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ product pairs were identified and reviewed in a Theatre Studies workshop, where participants were required to discuss and complete worksheets on their emotional response. The results provide qualitative feedback on their reactions to the different gestures, and form an ‘emotional vocabulary’ that we plan to use in the development of semantic differentials for future studies. Key factors in emotional response to gesture have been identified, including the differences of mechanical versus electronic activation and the ‘framing’ of sequences of gestures in product interaction.