Alternatives: exploring the car's design space from an experience-oriented perspective

Cars play an important role in many individual and social practices, often resulting in positive experiences, such as the freedom of the daily commute, the joys of intensive conversations, or the excitement of a discovered place. In this paper, we use the lens of Experience Design , -- particularly the notion that meaning and positivity is related to the fulfillment of universal psychological needs -- to explore the potential of an experience-oriented approach to design for interactivity in and through cars. Examples of designing for competence, autonomy, relatedness, security, stimulation, and popularity open up a space for novel articulations of cars. We show how each need is already apparent in car-related practices and explore how focusing on a particular need will become apparent in specific conceptual sketches.