Conference article

Currently, deformable user interfaces are a popular topic in the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) community. These interfaces enable intuitive manipulation for users. Deformable interfaces are also reported in the field of musical expression, such as sound controllers. However, the user experience of the manipulation of these interfaces is not well studied so far. This paper therefore focuses on the clarification of pleasantness in the manipulation of deformable interfaces for musical expression. First, evaluation experiments were conducted to investigate the pleasantness and user impressions of deformable interface manipulation using 36 dissimilar interface mockups. The evaluation results explained that the impressions related to the activity factor particularly correlate with pleasantness. Also, Hayashi’s quantification theory type I revealed the relationship between the physical features of the interfaces and pleasantness. Based on the findings, the ideal deformable interface design for pleasant musical expression was finally proposed. The design was with medium deformation and squashing manipulation.

Deformable interface, user experience, interface for musical expression, pleasantness, impression