Beyond the three-level schema: competing models of product experience

Abstract

This paper focuses on the formal structure of some design theories of product experience in order to highlight their fundamental, if largely implicit, assumptions. Even though building on different perspectives and with different focuses of interest, many authors address the theme of experience in the light of a shared conceptual structure. The three-level schema, on which they agree, mirrors the traditional philosophical distinction between primary, secondary and tertiary qualities. I will argue that the reason for this similarity lies in the acceptance of a shared paradigm, that of object-subject dualism. This fundamental world-view creates an unbridgeable separation between the material structure of an artefact and its meanings, hindering the attempt towards a true understanding of experience. The adoption of a pragmatist approach, which is based on different fundamental assumptions, leads to frameworks that truly do justice to the complex, dynamic and situated nature of experience.