Design and evaluation of a dynamic-interactive art system: a mixed methods approach

Interactive art systems lay at the intersection between human computer interaction (HCI) and art. Despite the growing interest in such systems, their evaluation poses a challenge because of the radically different nature of art and HCI. In this paper, we describe the design of an interactive art system that allows people to create music by playing or stopping certain melodies using body gestures. We report the evaluation of participants' experience through a two-phase study that employed mixed methods, including the Positive and Negative Affects Schedule (PANAS) questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews followed by thematic analysis. Our evaluation revealed consistency between certain emotional responses recorded in the questionnaire and the interviews. Moreover, the data from the interviews exposed the importance of both balancing control and unpredictability in interactive art systems, and the relevance of the social relationships among participants. These results support the use of mixed methods and self-report measures when evaluating user experience with interactive art systems.