UXPA Boston Conference 2015

The boundary between “me” and “the world” isn’t. We effortlessly incorporate tools into our own body image: when I use a hammer, I don’t think about how to move my hand in relationship to the hammer, but how to move the hammer in relationship to the nail.

In this talk I will show that the boundary between a user and a product is fluid as tools - such as a mouse pointer or even a button - become extensions of a users body. I'll let Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger explain what exactly happens when tools become part of the body - or cease to be part of us. I'll also present mind-blowing new neurological insights by Atsushi Ikiri and others that show that this is a real process we can observe in the brain.

Taking those findings from philosophy and neuroscience, I will show how this boundary between self and world can be manipulated by clever design (or more frequently, violated by careless design) - and moreover, that establishing this boundary deliberately reduces cognitive load, reinforces users’ expectations and makes products easier to use.

The talk assumes no prior knowledge in philosophy or neuroscience.