Why emotion matters to create great design ?

Pallav Das
Aug 22, 2017 · 4 min read

Emotions can get in the way or get you on the way. -Mavis Mazhura

Great design is something you love using every time. Design impacts our day today lives in some or other way. Each object we use is a function of design. Human like things which are interactive and responsive.

The design is more than a good aesthetics. The design is not only something you can see but it’s more about something which is not visible, It’s your experience.

So, from where these great designs come? How are companies creating the product with great design both visible and invisible? From where the inspiration is coming?

The answer is Emotional Literacy.

Emotional literacy is the ability to understand your emotions, capacity to listen to others and empathise with their emotions, and the ability to express emotions productively Claude Steiner

In the world of design, ability to put yourselves in somebody else’s shoe and understand their experience and emotions are the most ignored skills. Being empathetic is a good way to understand their need and concerns. But it also required Emotional literacy to be assiduous and thoughtful about the emotional connect of the customer or user.

Purchase happens on emotion, and logic validation occurs later. So, value, trust, and emotions are three fundamental pillars of great design, or we can say emotionally designed.

Emotion plays a powerful role in our lives and has gained significant attention as a priority area of study in interaction design– Golman & Jordan

Every design communicated some emotions to the users. To understand it better, we will discuss Robert Plutchik’s — Wheel of emotion. Emotional connections have four core pairs.

Joy and Sadness — People love to share happiness and joy. Joy is contagious. If the design is making someone happy, that person will share his experience with other through all possible modes.
A similar thing happens with Sadness. It creates a sense of responsibility and empathy. Most users react to it.

Trust and Disgust — There is a fragile line between two. You can create amazing visuals to create trust, but it should not be far from reality. The user generally takes it as breach and confidence will immediately turn to disgust.

Fear and Anger — Fear and Anger are incredibly powerful emotions if it worked out well. The primary objective is not to sell Fear or Anger, but opposite of it. Like the product can help you to overcome the emotion fear or anger.

Surprise and Anticipation — Surprise and Anticipation are in similar line with Joy and Sadness. The surprise will attract your user to reach out to the product. Anticipation will keep him motivated to know what will happen next. It’s like; First, you release movie trailer to attract them to come to see the movie.

Once you know, what emotion you want to evoke in your user’s mind, You can design it accordingly.

Photo by Igor Ovsyannykov on Unsplash

Emotionally designed products can convert your users to brand evangelist.
We have seen people ink corporate logo tattoos, flaunting brand names because that brand reflects their emotions, lifestyle, and personality.

Emotionally Designed products are:
1) Simple and straightforward
2) Engaging
3) Capable of giving pleasure
4) Worthy to be remembered
5)Adapted to the needs of an individual

Everything has a personality: everything sends an emotional signal. Even where this was not the intention of the designer, the people who view the website infer personalities and experience emotions — Don Norman

As Don Norman explained in his book Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things, three aspects of design: Visceral, Behavioural and Reflective.

Visceral — It’s about the appearance
Behavioural — It’s about the usability
Reflective — It derives from self-image and memories

All three-design aspect should excel in a good design. There is certain personal component attached beyond the design which no designer or manufacturer can provide. We take pride to show off certain things, not because they are expensive but because they bought some great meaning to our lives.

Emotionally design products make people feel good. They feel like they are part of it.

Every product is attached to some or other stories of user’s life. So, it’s imperative for designers to make it a memorable one.

Lastly to conclude Emotion matters, Design Matters.

To increase your effectiveness, make your emotions subordinate to your commitments. -Brian Koslow

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and find it useful; Thank you!

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