User autonomy: Creative experience in the process of interaction

In digital media design, interactivity is generally understood as the user's ability to access information. Yet, this interpretation represents quite a narrow conception of what interactivity can be, disregarding the user's capacity to shape meaning and content. When principles of receptivity in new media communication design are taken in their broadest sense, that is, as encapsulating the human capacity of reflexivity, they fundamentally challenge accepted views of interactivity. Theories of reflexivity suggest the knowledgeability of human agents, highlighting the importance of autonomy, articulation, enactment, empowerment and self-determination, in the development of new media programs. This paper explores interactivity from this basis. By evaluating an interactive media work, Drawn Installation, it investigates how users can exert an influence over content, achieve an enhanced creative experience, and ultimately produce their own content through the process of reiteration.