The increasing importance on experiences within mobile interaction design has put the selection of colours, materials and form to the fore. However, the discussion of such aspects in design research has not yet accounted for how users themselves, and industry, pays attention to those aspects e.g. as forms of fashion and in relation to peoples’ complete outfits. Thus, we argue that fashion logics is part of users´ context in which they select colour and material. A neglect of understanding, and relating to, fashion dynamics might lead both to missed opportunities, as well as a decrease in the take up of new applications. We suggest that teasing out the difference between consumption of mobile experiences as some sort of de facto products and symbolic fashion oriented experiences is of critical importance for the design oriented research in the mobile area.
Questions:
- In which ways do we need to account for fashion logics in mobile interaction design?
- In which ways can we understand purchase and use of mobile technology as a form of fashion consumption?
- Where and when do mobile designer overlap with fashion design and fashion industry?
- What are the unexplored fashion areas that would be interesting to combine with mobile design and where do they come from?
