The phenoHCI 2025 Workshop aimed to create a collaborative space for discussing contemporary research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) through the lens of phenomenology and related post-cognitivist perspectives. Building on recent developments in phenomenology and 4E cognition (embodied, embedded, enacted, and extended), the workshop sought to explore how these frameworks can deepen our understanding of human experience in relation to emergent technologies and the transformations they bring to our lives.
The workshop brought together researchers, practitioners, educators, and students interested in exploring phenomenological approaches to HCI. Discussions and activities centered on phenomenological concepts and methods, as well as hands-on explorations of how recent philosophical developments, such as intersubjectivity, participatory sense-making, and existential feelings, can inform HCI research and design.
By addressing these themes, the workshop invited participants to reconsider core HCI topics such as user experience, accessibility, and the affective and embodied dimensions of interaction. Ultimately, phenoHCI 2025 sought to foster a shared foundation and an emerging community of phenomenological practice in HCI, encouraging a closer engagement with the lived world, embodied experience, and human values that underpin technological design and use.
The workshop received six submissions, each of which was reviewed by two independent reviewers. The reviews assessed papers according to their relevance to the workshop theme, originality, quality of writing, and potential to contribute to the workshop discussions. After careful evaluation, all six papers were accepted for presentation based on their quality, originality, and valuable contributions to advancing phenomenological perspectives in HCI.
Accepted papers ● "One Touch Is Never Enough": A Phenomenological View of Objects in HCI. Eduardo Souza (UFPR) and Paula Roberta da Silva (PUC-PR) ● Speculative Design as a Post-Phenomenological Practice. Marcelo Soares Loutfi (UNIRIO) and Sean Wolfgand Matsui Siqueira (UNIRIO) ● Thematic Analysis as a Phenomenological Data Analysis Method for Human-Computer Interaction. Emanuel Felipe Duarte (Unicamp) and M. Cecília C. Baranauskas (Unicamp/UFPR) ● Towards a Methodology of Phenomenological Research through Design. Maja Fagerberg
Ranten (Roskilde University) ● Phenomenology and Digital Games: Perspectives on Why and Directions on How. Virgínia
Fernandes Mota (Unicamp/COLTEC-UFMG) and Emanuel Felipe Duarte (Unicamp) ● Reflecting on Methods: From Unfolding to Supporting Co-exploration in Collaborative Design.
Xinhui Ye (Eindhoven University of Technology), Joep Frens (Eindhoven University of Technology) and Jun Hu (Eindhoven University of Technology) The workshop brought together 19 participants. In the morning, the workshop featured the presentation and discussion of the accepted papers, fostering rich exchanges among participants about phenomenological concepts and methods applied to HCI.
In the afternoon, the workshop shifted to hands-on and reflective activities aimed at building a collective research agenda for phenomenology in HCI. The session began with a presentation on categorical phenomenology, introducing the key dimensions of temporality, spatiality, embodiment, and intersubjectivity, and discussing their conceptual and
methodological impact in the field of phenomenological psychopathology, and how it could inspire HCI.
Following this presentation, participants moved to a new space to engage with a phenomenologically inspired interactive installation designed as a scenario for meditation, rest, and embodied reflection (Figure 1). The installation featured a soft mat (“fluffy mat”) as its central element. An AI-based algorithm identified the presence of individuals in the space and projected images of Brazilian regional birds onto the wall, out of the participants’ direct line of sight, as they were seated with their backs to the projection. This arrangement invited intersubjective meaning-making, as only observers standing outside the installation could perceive the visual scene.
When participants rested their heads on the available cushions, pressure sensors were activated, triggering natural sounds such as birdsong and flowing water. As more cushions were activated simultaneously, the environment became increasingly alive and immersive, blending sound, image, and presence. To enhance the sensorial experience, an essential oil diffuser released a soft mint fragrance, and plants were arranged around the mat to bring organic, living elements into the technological setting. Through this multisensory and interactive composition, participants were invited to experience technology not as a tool but as a medium of relation, fostering reflection on embodiment, presence, and intersubjectivity in technological encounters. After the interaction, participants returned to the workshop room for a space- and body-based brainstorming session on how the phenomenological dimensions of temporality, spatiality, embodiment, and intersubjectivity could be explored and operationalized in HCI research. The activity was guided by these four categorical dimensions of phenomenology (Figure 2), encouraging participants to reflect not only conceptually but also corporeally, through gestures, movement, and spatial positioning, how such dimensions might manifest in interaction design and user experience. Following the collective reflection, participants consolidated a set of ideas, suggestions, and provocations for the HCI community, outlining promising directions for future research at the frontier between phenomenology and HCI. The results of the brainstorming and consolidation will be published later and we plan to organize a special issue in a scientific journal.
The organizers of this workshop would like to thank the INTERACT 2025 Conference Committee in Minas Gerais for their support and collaboration. We also extend our sincere gratitude to the Program Committee members for their careful and thoughtful reviews of the submitted papers, and to all participants for their valuable contributions throughout the event. Our hope is that this workshop will inspire new connections, interdisciplinary collaborations, and ongoing explorations between phenomenology and technology in the years to come.
Emanuel Felipe Duarte
Roberto Pereira Maria Cecília Calani Baranauskas (chairs) Program Committee
● Deógenes P. da Silva Junior (Federal University of Paraná) ● Emanuel Felipe Duarte (Universidade Estadual de Campinas) ● M. Cecilia C. Baranauskas (Federal University of Paraná) ● Roberto Pereira (Federal University of Paraná)