Aesthetic of Friction for Exercising Motivation: a Prototyping Journey

Despite an intention to exercise, it remains a challenge for many people to establish a workout routine over a period of time. Amongst identified barriers and enablers to exercise, getting dressed for a workout is considered as one of the tipping points of actually going. Implementing the Aesthetic of Friction in this specific context, could imply the right course of action for the user, while it also allows freedom and encourages meaning- making. In this Research-through-Design project, we designed an interactive shrinking hanger, that implements these key principles, to encourage exercise motivation. We followed an iterative process focusing on the aesthetics of the interaction to find out how a careful consideration of the look and feel of an interactive artefact influences the acceptance of the implemented friction. We document the design process of this aesthetics of friction exemplar, and reflect on how to implement friction in design.