The slides from my short presentation at Madison+UX 2014. This touches on some of the key concepts about flow. I discussed flow as an underlying connection between circus arts and UX, and how finding more flow in our lives can help to make us better UX designers.

1. Heather Gregoire
&
Jess and Jess Aerial Dance

2. Circus Arts

3. Flow Arts
• Movement based art that integrates dance with skill-based prop
manipulation
• Sometimes referred to as “spinning arts”
• First included poi and staff spinning
• Has grown to include props such as hoops, swords, fans,
levitation wands, etc.
• Inspiration drawn from a variety of disciplines such from the
martial arts, to juggling, and even yoga

4. “The state in which people
are so involved in an
activity that nothing else
seems to matter; the
experience itself is so
enjoyable that people do it
even at great cost, for the
sheer sake of doing it.”
~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
“Flow: The Psychology of Optimal
Experience”

5. The Experience of Flow
• Intense and focused concentration on the present
• Merging of action and awareness
• Loss of reflective self-consciousness
• Sense of personal control or agency over the situation/
activity
• Distortion of temporal experience
• Intrinsically rewarding
From “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

6. “Enjoyment appears
at the boundary
between boredom
and anxiety, when
the challenges are
just balanced with
the person’s
capacity to act”
From “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

7. Flow Channel
From “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

8. Conditions for Achieving Flow
• Knowing what to do
• Knowing how to do it
• Knowing how well you are doing
• Knowing where to go (if navigation is involved)
• High perceived challenges
• High perceived skills
• Freedom from distractions
From “Crafting Fun User Experiences: A method to facilitate flow”
Owen Schaffer, HFI

9. “An interface that is
difficult to use is like a
broken tool or instrument.
If you are playing jazz on
a saxophone, a broken
saxophone will not make it
more fun to play. Playing
more and more
challenging music will
make it more fun.
~ Owen Schaffer

10. Come and find your flow at the
Madison Circus Space!
madisoncircusspace.com
2100 Winnebago St.
Madison, WI