Texterial: A Text-as-Material Interaction Paradigm for LLM-Mediated Writing

TL;DR

This paper introduces Texterial, a novel paradigm that treats text as a malleable material, enabling more intuitive and creative interactions in LLM-mediated writing through gestural sculpting and growth metaphors.

Contribution

It presents a new conceptual framework and two technical prototypes that demonstrate how material metaphors can enhance user experience and expand the design space of writing tools.

Findings

Users can effectively reason with text-as-material metaphors.

Material metaphors shift mental models and improve envisioning, execution, and evaluation.

Prototypes show promising potential for creative and intuitive writing interactions.

Abstract

What if text could be sculpted and refined like clay -- or cultivated and pruned like a plant? Texterial reimagines text as a material that users can grow, sculpt, and transform. Current generative-AI models enable rich text operations, yet rigid, linear interfaces often mask such capabilities. We explore how the text-as-material metaphor can reveal AI-enabled operations, reshape the writing process, and foster compelling user experiences. A formative study shows that users readily reason with text-as-material, informing a conceptual framework that explains how material metaphors shift mental models and bridge gulfs of envisioning, execution, and evaluation in LLM-mediated writing. We present the design and evaluation of two technical probes: Text as Clay, where users refine text through gestural sculpting, and Text as Plants, where ideas grow serendipitously over time. This work expands the design space of writing tools by treating text as a living, malleable medium.