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Thus, one objective is the empowerment of participants in creative actions rather
than just the implementation of creative products. For example, sonic sketching
involves various exploratory activities that increase the knowledge of potential
sonic results (Lima et al.
2014
). This experiential knowledge may materialize as
creative products but it may also induce new paths for exploration. Methodologically,
having alternative goals indicates the need for multiple forms of assessment, includ-
ing products, processes, and potential resources.
Ubiquitous music design decisions are materialized as technological prototypes
that afford but do not enforce creative behavior. This proposal is rooted in the
Brazilian dialogical education movement (Freire
1999
; Lima et al.
2012
). As we
will see in the next section, relational properties result both from agent-object inter-
actions and agent-agent (or social) interactions. When the social dynamic is nonhi-
erarchical, creative products and processes may not necessarily fi t within the
division of labor traditionally applied in the industry: users may become cocreators.
In this sense, the dialogical approach has strongly infl uenced the participatory
design movement (Ehn
1988
).
1
A focus that is missing from current research efforts
in interaction aesthetics is the socially distributed nature of creative activity. This
aspect is featured in the application of communities of practice within ubiquitous
music research (Pimenta et al.
2012
). Musical prototyping (Miletto et al.
2011
) -
encompassing a process of negotiations among participants, working on a shared
creative product - provides another example of non-prescriptive support for aes-
thetically grounded decision-making.
A new focus on activities carried in everyday settings has opened the door to the
study of everyday musical creativity (Pinheiro da Silva et al.
2013
). Because cre-
ative ubiquitous musical experiences occur in everyday contexts featuring ordinary
people, experiments are done outside of the institutionalized spaces for music mak-
ing. Hence, another objective of the ubiquitous music design process is the support
of manifestations of everyday creativity (Richards et al.
1988
), defi ned as the pro-
cesses and products that are both innovative and socially relevant but that do not
attain status of artworks. Site-specifi c creative experiences - rather than digital
musical instruments, instrumental virtuosity, or isolated sound objects (Schaeffer
1977
) - are the material for study of aesthetically informed ubimus design. Hummels
and Overbeeke (
2010
) stated that “design is about being-in-the-world.” Paraphrasing,
we can say that ubiquitous music design is about being creative in the everyday
world.
Summing up, although there are several parallels between the interaction aes-
thetics and the ubimus research agendas, targeting creativity implies dealing with
phenomena that have not been considered within the aesthetics-oriented human-
computer interaction perspectives. Engagement, temporal patterns of behavior,
alternative forms of design with innovative material combinations, and user identi-
ties inserted in cultural contexts are common themes. Creative potentials, everyday
1
Pele Ehn (
1988
: 9) stated: “The research approach I advocated was action research together with
trade unions, and here I was strongly infl uenced by Paulo Freire and his 'pedagogy of the oppressed'
as well as by Kristen Nygaard and the work he was doing together with the Norwegian Metal
Workers' Union.”
