Fidget Widgets

Fidget Widgets

Reviewed by Faisal Zaidi

Low-stakes physical objects placed in the margin of digital work to support the main task indirectly.

What it is

Karlesky and Isbister presented the idea in 2014 around activities such as doodling and fiddling that have no goals of their own, with the aim of selectively supporting creativity, focus or calm. A 2023 exploratory study with designers tested an interactive haptic fidget object and reported initial findings.

In effect

The article on squishy fidget toys uses it as the design research on objects beside the screen.

What it does not say

The 2014 paper is a design proposal and the 2023 study was exploratory, so neither measures whether a fidget object improves work. It does not say that any object helps any person.

Sources

  1. Karlesky, M., & Isbister, K. (2014). Designing for the physical margins of digital workspaces: Fidget widgets in support of productivity and creativity. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction, 13-20.
  2. Eichenlaub, J. A., Huisman, G., & Xue, H. (2023). Exploring extended mind-wandering through an interactive haptic fidget object. Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 2657-2671.