Emotional Design- Why we love (or Hate) everyday things

So, I just finished reading a book about emotional design- why we love (or hate) everyday things, so, here are my thoughts about this book, also some notes/quotes from them (what I took). Basically, this is a small concept of the book and wrote down what was noteworthy.

Personally, before reading the book, I was really skeptical about this- that design actually means something that much. Much more like a functional person, like me- who basically always wants more functionality than a design, but, after reading the book, some things came to mind that actually design is important, now that you really start to think about it. So- why?

There was a cool statement, that There were 2 kinds of ATM’s in Japan- one with nice design, but bad functionality, while there was a really good ATM, with a lot of functionality… But with bad UX. They found out that even if you have the best functionality in the world, if it’s not appealing, then yes- most people will say it’s worse than a well-designed product. And yes, some people thought that it was because “this happened in Japan- Japanese need everything AESTHETIC”, but no, somebody tested this in a different country (I think it was Iran or Iraq) and the same thing happened. So, basically- if you’re creating something- don’t skip on aesthetics. You can make the shittiest idea in the world look good, and some people will think it works great. On a different place in the book, there was written, that “Positive emotions are as important as negative ones- positive emotions are critical to learning, curiosity, and creative thought, and today research is turning toward this dimension.”. So, basically- if you feel good, you learn better. No explanation is needed there (but okay, this is kind of understandable). Also, fun fact- if you want to help somebody with a hard task, and want to motivate them, give them a small gift, not too big, not too small (cookies, anyone?), but make them feel that you wanted to help them. Alice Isen found out that it helps you to work with hard tasks.

Also, there was a note that if people are anxious or tense, people tend to do things over and over again. Speaking of emotions- did you know that if you’re given a task, and you’re sad, you’ll be the first that will see the small details, rather than the big details? And if you get too anxious, you’ll probably enter a tunnel vision and won’t see anything that happens around you. Because of this, imagine why there’s a law that you need to put fire doors pushable, not pullable- because people in a burning house don’t think about pulling anything, they are too focused on running away. Later on, in the book there were mentioned things like Emotions, moods, traits, personality- Emotions last for relatively short periods- minutes or hours. Moods are longer-lasting, measured perhaps in hours or days. Traits are very long-lasting, years or even a lifetime. And personality is the particular collection of traits of a person that last a lifetime.

So, now to the fun part. Donald Norman thinks that there are 3 types of processing and why we like/dislike things-

So… about these 3 Levels, which really create the user experience (UX)… (taken from here )

Some quotes from the book:

The design requirements for each level differ widely. The Visceral level is pre-consciousness, pre-thought. This is where appearance matters and first impressions are formed. Birds were selectively enhanced through the evolutionary process to be maximally attractive to female birds as in turn, were the preferences of female birds to discriminate better among male plumages. The human preference for faces and bodies that are symmetrical presumably reflects the selection of the fittest; non-symmetrical bodies probably are the result of some deficiency in the genes or the maturation process. Humans select for size, color, and appearance, and what you are biologically disposed to think of as attractive derives from these considerations. When we perceive something as “pretty,” that judgment comes directly from the visceral level. You can find the visceral design in advertising, folk art and crafts, and children’s items. Thus, children’s toys, clothes, and furniture will often reflect visceral principles: bright, highly saturated primary colors. Is this great art? No, but it is enjoyable. At this level, physical features “look, feel and sound” dominate.

The behavioral level is about use, about the experience with a product. The first step in good behavioral design is to understand just how people will use a product. Good behavioral design has to be a fundamental part of the design process from the very start; it cannot be adopted once the product has been completed. Why do so many designs fail? Mainly because designers and engineers are often self-centered. Engineers tend to focus upon technology, putting into a product whatever special features they themselves prefer. Many designers fail as well through their fondness for the sophisticated use of images, metaphors, and semantics that win prizes in design competitions but create products that are inaccessible to users. Web sites fail here as well, for the creators focus either upon the technical sophistication of images and sounds, or upon making sure that each division of a company receives the recognition that its political power dictates. None of these cases takes into account the concerns of the poor user, people like you and me, who use a product or website to satisfy some need. Reflective one is the most vulnerable to variability through culture, experience, education, and individual differences. This level can also override the others. Hence, one person’s liking for otherwise distasteful or frightening visceral experiences that might repel others, or another’s intellectual dismissal of designs others find attractive and appealing. Sophistication often brings with it a peculiar disdain for popular appeal, where the very aspects of a design that make it appeal to many people distress some intellectuals. Reflective design, therefore, is about long-term relations, about the feelings of satisfaction produced by owning, displaying, and using a product. Whether we wish to admit it or not, all of us worry about the image we present to others - or, for that matter, about the self-image that we present to ourselves. Do you sometimes avoid a purchase “because it wouldn’t be right” or buy something to support a cause you prefer? These are reflective decisions. Even people who claim a complete lack of interest in how they are perceived - dressing in whatever is easiest or most comfortable, refraining from purchasing new items until the ones they are using completely stop working - make statements about themselves and the things they care about. These are all properties of reflective processing.

Reflective-level operations often determine a person’s overall impression of a product. Here, you think back about the product, reflecting upon its total appeal and the experience of using it. Here is where many factors come into play and where the deficiencies of one aspect can be outweighed by the strengths of another. Minor difficulties might very well be overlooked in the overall assessment or enhanced, blown all out of proportion. Reflective design is really about long-term customer experience. To be fair, when you think about it, it’s true. You look for a visually appealing thing, works as you need it, and it just satisfies you. In psychology, the study of the self has become a big industry, with books, societies, journals, and conferences. But “self” is a complex concept: It is culturally specific. Thus, Eastern and Western notions of self vary considerably, with the West placing more emphasis on the individual, the East on the group. Reading the book further I loved to read about the part about people using DIY kits and feeling accomplished. In the book, Don talked about two instances of this- when a Noob, who hasn’t done anything, gets a remote control DIY kit and finishes it, he feels a big accomplishment, they will be really proud about their accomplishment, so I came to this statement “The DIY kits- the bigger the noob, the bigger the accomplishment feeling”. Then there was the other part- of the experience is too simple, it also is too bad. The book told about the cake mix story, that people didn’t feel accomplished, when they got a cake mix that only needs water to be finished basically. Yeah, it tasted good, but everybody could do that. If you, perhaps, make somebody add something more, like eggs, the accomplishment feeling increased, because not everybody could do that, kind of. The personality of the product should be the same as a person. If it’s formal, don’t shoot out some bullshit. IN THE world of products, a brand is an identifying mark, the symbol that represents a company and its products. Particular brands produce an emotional response that draws the consumer toward the product or away from it (Accenture, efumo). Emotional branding is based on that unique trust that is established with an audience. It elevates purchases based on a need to the realm of desire. The commitment to a product or an institution, the pride we feel upon receiving a wonderful gift of a brand we love, or having a positive shopping experience in an inspiring environment where someone knows our name or brings an unexpected gift of coffee. These feelings are at the core of emotional branding. Also, the brand mostly represents the quality. The book also talked about Blaming things, video games, a lot about robots, bystander effect, and safety. It was thought that Security is more like a social or human problem, than a technological one. Because yes- those who want to steal/corrupt/disrupt will always find a way to take advantage of human nature and bypass the security.

Reading this book I wanted to understand, what people think and how they think that something is a good product or isn’t, and what can be used to, perhaps, make people fall for things and what I should look into, how to make things like these appealing to victims, if I ever used this in cybersecurity. For me, this book was a good/worth reading. It was easily readable and easy to understand, and if you read 20 pages a day you can finish it in less than 2 weeks.