Identity in interaction: the design of a customizable user interface for mobile communication devices focusing on emotion and user identity

This research project investigates the connections between user identity, product emotion and interface design. It investigates whether mobile communication devices can better reflect user identity and lifestyle through the provision of a customizable Graphical user interface (GUI) that users can actively manipulate. The study proposes a user and design-driven interaction process whereby users can easily personalize the interface of their devices to reflect their idiosyncratic needs and preferences, the designed interface making interaction more individually useful, meaningful and empowering. The project extends the scope of end user customization beyond basic cosmetic changes to the physical appearance of the GUI to the modification of the actual process of interaction. The research focuses on the capacity to employ the user interface to support more intimate and flexible patterns of use that foster personal identification and emotional investment with devices, as against those that are preordained, device-driven and technologically deterministic.