Bridget Jones' iPod: Relating macro and micro theories of user experience through pastiche scenarios

This paper draws on macro and micro theories of user experience in order to focus on the use of Apple's iPod. It begins by outlining macro theories from Cultural Studies on the process of product articulation illustrated with reference to the Sony Walkman. The paper then turns to more recent theories of user experience generated in HCI over the past five years that offer micro accounts of experience and the ways in which a product interaction is shaped by particular people in particular contexts. These theoretical approaches are brought together in an account of the Apple iPod using pastiche scenarios that draw on popular fiction as a resource for reflecting on design. The account focuses on broad developments in the recording industry and also instances of individual iPod use.