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