What is a Tangible User Interface?

Although the concrete definition of Tangible User Interface(TUI) has not yet been formalized, it is safe to conclude that TUI is a physical tool that plays the role of a tangible medium to interact with digital information. The utmost important characteristic that is expected of any TUI is that it should be 'intuitive.' People in nature do not like to be forced into learning something new, especially involuntarily. Therefore, TUI must be designed to be intuitive and easy-to-use so that no user, in ideal, will not feel the necessity of reading a manual before starting the experience.

In that sense, I like the idea behind the Designers' Outpost. The Designers' Outpost is an extremely intuitive tool which can provide a fun brainstorming experience as well as create an efficient and effective output of the digital format. Like the Designers' Outpost, when designing a new TUI, I think that the balance between creativity and user-friendliness should be carefully made. In other words, a certain TUI must be creative enough to make users appreciate its unique and useful functionality. However, at the same time, TUI must be intuitive and user-friendly enough to ensure that the general users with no background knowledge will be able to feel comfortable using it and not suffer from learning how to use it.