Alibis for Interaction

My friend Luisa is helping to organize the Alibis for Interaction conference this fall in southern Sweden. It’s a conference that, once you hear its name, you either thing “yes!” or “huh?” and thus self-selects participants very nicely. From the description of the conference:

Designing for participation is giving the participants alibis for interaction. Designing for participation is designing experiences that take into account that humans have bodies, senses, fears, motivations; social hierarchies, prior knowledge, expectations, curiosity, and an innate urge to find out how the story ends. That we need to understand what we’re expected to do, to feel safe trying, to trust in the reward for braving something new.

Packed into that paragraph is as concise a description of the challenges I have interacting with the world as I’ve ever read.

Follow the conference blog (in English and deliciously well-written) to play along from home.