Integrative Thinking & Causal Design
Understanding connections or causal relationships that bubble up through use occasions offer insight into emotional pathways the user experiences while using a product, or service.

There are a number of techniques used to understand the user’s emotional states when using a product of service. Oftentimes, it’s not the direct interaction that reveals apparent needs, but the ancillary connected journey throughout the day, or lifespan of a product or service.
Here are a few examples that offer insight from a root need state, then laddered up to the emotional state and, reason to believe.
- You’re not selling a toothpaste for cavity prevention, your selling sex appeal with a smile.
- You’re not selling a tv station to viewers, nor the programs on it, you’re selling the flow state of information and it’s connection to the viewer.
- You’re not selling an Amtrak train ride, you’re selling the entire emotional state through the experience of travel.
- You’re not selling a Noguchi table because it holds your drinks, you’re selling the emotional state and connection it garners through form and elegance.
- You’re not selling a hiking backpack to keep your stuff safe, you’re selling the shared experience of freedom with friends trekking the great outdoors.
Applying integrative thinking as to how all of these states interact can drive novel attributes overlooked in the past.
When we dive into a user journey map we map out each step of the interaction the user moves through. Each step carries an emotional tie, possible a time metric, and other necessary components all broken down into manageable intersections.
Journey mapping helps us strategically dissect a users experience while at the same time allowing us to see the entirety of their journey all at once. In this way, it’s easier to see the causal relationships occurring at any given point.
The emotional states that transpire throughout the journey allow us to hone in on parts of the interaction that are creating the most friction and then solve for each. Once these states are recognized and ideation around them are complete, we tie them all together and converge on a more robust and integrated experience with the product, or service.
There’s a reason why well-known design firms reject the idea of specialization and oversimplification — applying integrative thinking requires seeing every part of the engine and how it works, while still being able to see the highway it’s driving on.
