Users’ Tactile Interactions With New Product Materials: An Analysis of Depth Impressions Based on Associative Concept Networks

Depth impressions are an inward associative layer of the expressed impressions of humans. To analyze tactile interaction, it is essential to examine what users feel and imagine and how they create depth impressions by touching and looking at different materials. On the basis of tactile interactions, this study captures and analyzes users’ depth impressions on materials. We propose impressionable new tactile material for design from the viewpoint of depth impressions and emotional engineering. We employed a concept networks-based method to analyze the experimentally obtained verbalized protocols and to identify the depth impressions. We found that the feel of materials’ tactile naturalness is related to the depth impressions and concept networks’ complexity. The depth impressions and concept network of the proposed micro-print material are distinct and beyond that of existing natural or artificial materials. These findings will help in employing new analysis tools and developing better tactile materials for designing products.