Where the Interaction Is Not: Reflections on the Philosophy of Human-Computer Interaction

The concept of interaction is foundational in technology interface design with its presuppositions being taken for granted. But the interaction metaphor has become ambiguous to the extent that its application to interface design contributes to misalignments between people's expected and actual experience with computers. This article re-examines the presuppositions governing human-computer interaction with the motivation of strengthening weaknesses in their foundational concepts. It argues for abandoning the interaction metaphor to refocus design discourse toward the mediation roles of technology interfaces. ‘Remediation', i.e. representation of one medium in another, is proposed as a conceptual model that more precisely describes the human-to-computer actions.