Experience Design, Affect and Transindividuation in the Context of HCI Studies

This article explores the philosophical concept of “affect” as articulated by Baruch Spinoza and its relevance to design and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Affect, unlike emotion, refers to underlying forces and potentials that exist before individual feelings take form that influence and are influenced by social, material, and technological systems. Drawing on the theories of Spinoza, Gilbert Simondon, and Bernard Stiegler, the article examines the processes of individuation, transindividuation, and memory as they relate to interaction design. This theoretical inquiry challenges conventional emotion-centric models in HCI by proposing affect as a foundational framework for understanding user experience, design ethics, and interaction systems. The goal is to establish a new conceptual lens for critical and exploratory design research in HCI, grounded in affect theory.