AI Narrative Co-creation in Interaction Design Education: A Thing-Perspective Pedagogical Framework with MacGuffin Creative Cards

Abstract: The rapid integration of generative AI into interaction design education presents both opportunities and challenges for cultivating creativity, narrative competence, and speculative imagination. Traditional human-centered design pedagogies often limit students’ ability to critically reimagine emerging technologies from nonhuman perspectives. Grounded in Object-Oriented Ontology and Thing-Centered Design, this study explores how AI can function as a pedagogical collaborator in interaction design education through narrative co-creation from a Thing-Perspective. A MacGuffin Interactive Imagination Workshop was developed, integrating MacGuffin Creative Cards with ChatGPT across five stages: Recalling Evocative Objects, Card-Based Association, Co-Speculation and Narrative Construction, AI-Assisted Narrative Generation, and Thing-Perspective Writing. Qualitative data from design students and practitioners reveal five pedagogical strategies: Divergent–Convergent Creative Cycles, Effective Perspective-Shifting, MacGuffin-Driven Thing-Oriented Narrative Enrichment, Narrative Prototyping Concretization, and Structured Scaffolding for AI Co-Creation. The findings suggest that a Card-AI Integrated Framework can support Thing-Perspective learning and expand speculative interaction design practices, offering a practical pedagogical model for AI-enhanced design education in HCI contexts.

Keywords: MacGuffin Creative Cards, Thing-Perspective Writing, AI Narrative Co-Creation, Interaction Design Education, Technology-Enhanced Pedagogy

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007207

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