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154 Chapter 5 Understanding how interfaces affect users
I The motion

The use of anthropomorphism in interaction design is an effective technique and
should be exploited further.

Background

A controversial debate in interaction design is whether to exploit the phenomenon
of anthropomorphism (the propensity people have to attribute human qualities to
objects). It is something that people do naturally in their everyday lives and is com-
monly exploited in the design of technologies (e.g., the creation of humanlike ani-
mals and plants in cartoon films, the design of toys that have human qualities). The
approach is also becoming more widespread in interaction design, through the in-
troduction of agents in a range of domains.
What is anthropomorphism? It is well known that people readily attribute
human qualities to their pets and their cars, and, conversely, are willing to accept
human attributes that have been assigned by others to cartoon characters, robots,
toys, and other inanimate objects. Advertisers are well aware of this phenomenon
and often create humanlike characters out of inanimate objects to promote their
products. For example, breakfast cereals, butter, and fruit drinks have all been
transmogrified into characters with human qualities (they move, talk, have person-
alities, and show emotions), enticing the viewer to buy them. Children are espe-
cially susceptible to this kind of "magic," as witnessed in their love of cartoons,
where all manner of inanimate objects are brought to life with humanlike qualities.

Examples of its application to system design
The finding that people, especially children, have a propensity to accepting and en-
joying objects that have been given humanlike qualities has led many designers
into capitalizing on it, most prevalently in the design of human-computer dialogs
modeled on how humans talk to each other. A range of animated screen charac-
ters, such as agents, friends, advisors and virtual pets, have also been developed.
Anthropomorphism has also been used in the development of cuddly toys that
are embedded with computer systems. Commercial products like ~cti~ates~~
have been designed to try to encourage children to learn through playing with the
cuddly toys. For example, Barney attempts to motivate play in children by using
human-based speech and movement (Strommen, 1998). The toys are programmed
to react to the child and make comments while watching TV together or working
together on a computer-based task (see Figure 1.2 in Color Plate 1). In particular,
Barney is programmed to congratulate the child whenever he or she gets a right an-
swer and also to react to the content on screen with appropriate emotions (e.g.,
cheering at good news and expressing concern at bad news).

Arguments for exploiting this behavior
An underlying argument in favor of the anthropomorphic approach is that furnish-
ing interactive systems with personalities and other humanlike attributes makes
them more enjoyable and fun to interact with. It is also assumed that they can moti-