Design Innovation Based on the Material Experience and Tactile Prompting

The sense of touch has been regarded as the most initial feeling among human’s five senses. Mainly relying on corporeal contact, it could process the touch data, transport the sensation information, and create haptic affection. Meanwhile, materials studies have become one of the most critical issues in craft and product design. The material is the soul of craft, and each material brings its unique character. Nevertheless, the material employment of craft objects also reflects its context and extensions of regional culture. Residents from regions with varied cultural contexts might use divergent adjective terms to describe their awareness and sense of touching material. This study aims to analyze the emotional feeling and semantics expression from the material experience and assist educators and designers reasonably in realizing and extracting these haptic elements during the product design process. This case study consults with 6 experts and recruits 10 designers to participate in this practical project. The result shows that people with various backgrounds reveal their diverse preferences and pleasures in the material experience and expression. Specifically, the authors address that employing the haptic semantic could connect and enrich the material experience, cultural elements, and design presentation. This study proposes a new prospection for product design by enhancing the connection between material experience and haptic semantics. The authors suggest that subsequent research may focus on exploiting the haptic semantics with the cultural context and relevant application of AI-co-creation for design innovation.