A Framework for the Evaluation of Digital Musical Instruments

The evaluation plays a significant role in the process of designing digital musical instruments (DMI). Models are representations of systems or artifacts that provide a means of reflecting upon the design or behavior of a system. Taxonomies are often used in human-computer interaction (HCI) as a means of categorizing methods of design or evaluation according to characteristics that they have in common. The development of performance practice and a dedicated instrumental repertoire along with the evolution of a DMI allow performers and composers to become participants in shaping the function, form, and sound of the instrument. Performers are the only people who can provide feedback on an instrument's functioning in the context for which it was ultimately intended, that of live music making. It is often necessary to probe interaction designs at the task level, particularly in order to evaluate two possible options for a given design, or to probe the mental model that a user is constructing of a given interaction task.