Exploring the Combination of Point-of-View and Tenses in Movement-based Design Processes

This study by Lekbo and Elbæk applies Svanæs and Barkhuus's framework of point-of-view and verb tense to movement-based design processes, arguing that the moving body should sit at the centre of designing technologies such as exertion games and fitness solutions. Drawing on embodied interaction and phenomenology, the authors propose that combining perspective with temporal framing offers designers a structured way to use their own bodies as a design resource. The framework associates first-person perspective with generating insights to be shared, second-person with collaboration between users, and third-person with analytical distance, while past, present, and future tenses correspond to reviewing recordings, here-and-now awareness, and forward-looking ideation.

The empirical basis consists of two workshops: one on outdoor fitness equipment conducted with KOMPAN involving 25 participants, and another on technology-based exercise games at ECGBL 2020 involving 20 participants. Data were gathered through video observation and five user interviews. Across both workshops, present tense dominated the design activity, past tense was used largely to review recorded footage, and future tense emerged in later phases as participants moved toward ideation. Participants shifted fluidly among first-, second-, and third-person perspectives as the process unfolded, indicating that these combinations are not fixed but respond to the stage of the work.

From these observations the authors draw practical recommendations for movement-based design practice. They suggest engaging first-person perspective more extensively at the outset, using second-person sharing across multiple phases to support collaboration, reserving third-person perspective for later stages where analytical distance is valuable, and making tense choices deliberately rather than incidentally. The study's scope is limited to two workshop contexts and a small interview sample, situating its conclusions within exploratory, practice-oriented research on embodied design methods.