Sticking with Affect in HCI and Design: from Interaction to Relation

This paper argues for the continued significance of affect in HCI research and design practice. Drawing on a seminal paper by Boehner et al. presented at the 2005 decennial Aarhus conference, the paper traces genealogies of Affective Computing and Affective Interaction Design, examining them within the general context of the evolution of affect studies during the past two decades. Building on Boehner et al.'s proposed shift from understanding affect as information to exploring affect as interaction, the paper advocates for a conceptual advancement from interaction to relation, facilitating engagement with more-than-human design concerns in an era defined by far-from-equilibrium tipping points and crises. Through examination of three affective exemplars, the paper identifies four key themes – affect and the more-than human, affective encounters and modulation over time, affect and care across ecologies and affect in crisis – that provide key insights, concepts and directions for sticking with affect as relational in future explorations in HCI and design, maintaining productive tensions and complexities as essential elements of theoretical and practical advancement across affect-centered design approaches.