Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Emotional Design

Don Norman is back and he's learned a few things. Some time since his last book he must have visited the home of a few real American families and noticed that people gladly purchase and enjoy items that are ugly, impractical, and not well designed. This book is his attempt to reconcile human preference with good design.

He identifies three aspects of emotional design visceral, behavioral, and reflective. I think that reflective should really be split into two sections: Reflective - self-image, how others view you with the object, associated social stigma. Personal or Internal - personal or spiritual satisfaction and memories. As he has it, reflective design is out of proportion compared to the other two aspects.

I do agree with his concept of emotional design. Personally I make all my decisions based on emotion. Things are always more enjoyable when chosen for their emotional quality. Forget practicality, do what feels best.
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1 comment:

  1. Ross PetersonMarch 2, 2010 at 12:55 PM

    You make all you decisions based on emotion?
    Surely you make some decisions on at least a little bit of logic.

    I think that Norman points out that in order to have get the most enjoyment out of a product is to have that product be well-designed, usable, (behavioral) AND appealing to the reflective and visceral levels of your own self.

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