Evocative Objects: Things We Think With

Sherry Turkle's Life on the Screen was a central text for my unfinished master's thesis about gendered communication in an online community. It's been more than a decade since I moved on to other interests and I was curious to read about what Dr. Turkle is looking into these days. A lovely collection of thoughtful, languid essays about evocative objects in each of the contributors' lives, this book was not quite captivating enough to speed all the way though before it was due back at the library.

A collection of short and sometimes highly personal essays where academics from various fields reflect on objects that they find evocative. Some of the essays address experiential aspects of using objects in ways that are directly relevant for interaction designers seeking to better understand the forces at play when some-body uses some-thing. Others touch on embodiment, remembering, connections to history and culture, and other topics forming the backdrop against which new design takes place. It is certainly not a book of design guidelines, but I believe that reading it selectively and thoughtfully will help develop the designer’s ability to understand and assess quality.

It's now available as an ebook on the MIT press portal http://mitpress-ebooks.mit.edu/product/evocative-objects