This video of Don Norman talking about the emotion of design is very enlightening. He speaks of the 3 different types of emotional design, Visceral, behavioural and reflective emotion. The main point he tries to convey is that not only is a product successful if it does the job, but it should also make us feel something, whether it be happiness or belonging and also be pleasant to look at. So when we design things we need to keep these three types of emotional design in mind.
Designing for visceral emotion plays on the pre-existing knowledge in our brains. As human beings, he suggests that we tend to prefer to feel happy over sad, like the look of bright colours as opposed to dull, and we dislike scolding voices because it is how our brains are wired. For example, you can evoke an emotion using a colour like red, which could portray hot, or buying a water bottle for look of the bottle and not the actual water.
Another emotional design tactic is behavioural design. This is to make the person feel in control. Because we do most things subconsciously, designing for this makes the user feel like they have more control. Much like using the Global knife to cut a tomato, the knife was designed to be light and easy to cut with.
The reflective level of emotion deals with how the user wants to be perceived. It may be that they want to be seen as rich so they buy a flashy watch. It could also be that they want to belong to a certain group of exclusivity, like the small group of mini cooper drivers or Porche drivers.
After having seen this video it has stirred some thoughts around in my head. Where is the balance between functionality and aesthetics? In times of financial crisis would people still be willing to buy the Starck juicer for the simple fact that it looks good? Perhaps, during tough times a pleasant looking object would help to lift spirits. All in all a thought provoking video by Don Norman.
