Book excerpt: Distinguishing between tangible user interfaces (TUI) and tangible interactive systems (TISs), this book takes into account not only the user interfaces but also looks at how interaction can be enabled by using digital information through the physical environment. TISs go far beyond the concept of tangible user interfaces, addressing large complex systems in the framework of human-centred design and putting the human at the center of the design process from the start. How can human-centered designers grasp the real world with computers? This question is explored by looking at concepts such as innovation, complexity, flexibility, maturity, stability, sustainability and art to see whether we can assess both physical and figurative tangibility during the design process before product delivery. Concepts like creativity, design thinking and team spirit are fundamental to TIS’s human-centered design, and are presented together with human-systems integration (HSI), agile development and formative evaluations to build a greater understanding of this new area of research. Tangible Interactive Systems would be an essential read to designers, academics and other professionals concerned with product design within HCI, industrial design, virtual engineering and other related areas.