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potential material resources that match the profi les of the participants, and (3)
adopting time-based multidimensional evaluation methods targeting by-products'
profi les, situated behaviors, and subjective evaluations. Given the complementary
goals of interaction aesthetics and ubiquitous music research and the methodologi-
cal implications of adopting relational properties as experimental variables, what
are the consequences of the application of the ubimus agenda in interaction aesthet-
ics? Would ubimus concepts provide a sharper focus to aesthetically aware design?
We believe that the methodologies presented in this chapter point to an affi rmative
response to these questions.
In the previous section, we mentioned three important aspects connected to
the third strategy just mentioned above: (1) acknowledging the signifi cance of
by-products of the overall creative process instead of just focusing on end products,
(2) considering strategies that enable the observation of situated creative behaviors,
and (3) taking into serious consideration an analysis of participants' profi les. Let us
try to refl ect further on these and foresee possible implications for the creative tech-
nologies community and society in general.
In relation to the fi rst aspect, the immediate question is: what are by-products
good for? Recent developments of digital tools are widening the ability of people to
create their own digital art forms, disseminate them, and store them. We believe that
by-products cannot only be a useful learning resource allowing creators to go back,
check, and refl ect upon past learning trajectories and creative processes, but they
can also provide a repository of past collaborative experiences, probably strength-
ening the group members' feelings of shared and common ground. Furthermore,
such repositories of by-products can become invaluable resources for music histori-
ans in their quest to understand the creative product and process.
The second aspect emphasizes the need to understand people's in situ dealings
with creative tools. The observation of situated behaviors, from a research point of
view, seems crucial if we want to design better tools to support people's opportunis-
tic adoptions and use of digital tools. Furthermore, we also envision the possibility
of providing appropriate scaffolding to the creative processes themselves, and such
scaffolding needs to be grounded in authentic and meaningful situations; otherwise,
people might miss the relevance of the scaffolding cues and suggestions.
The third aspect emphasizes the potential of facilitating people's choices of digi-
tal tools based on their own strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes. This is a
major issue for at least two reasons. Firstly, it provides opportunities for creative
action to a potential community of users that has been excluded by the expert-
oriented approaches. Second, it empowers nonspecialists to shape design decisions
by tinkering with digital tools, yielding precious information on the relationships
among design choices, local resources, and personal profi les.
Concluding, we also hope that these aspects can function as triggers to the wid-
ening of informed discussions about the nature of the creative act, its function in
society, and its associated costs.
