This course has really helped me see and reflect on the emotional aspects of design. It’s been awesome having all of our experiences in this course framed within the context of human emotions, by looking at human interactions with the aesthetic elements of a design.
What matters is not just the behavioural interactions with a design but also the visceral and reflective interactions: a good design might only be pleasing because of its functionality but a truly great design is also effective in inducing a visceral response in users as well as leaving users with a positive overall impact.
I think that my designs have changed and evolved as I have internalised these ideas: my first few whativegot submissions and responses to design challenges have heavily focused on one level of interaction. For example, my Ketla news app focused on usability but ultimately wasn’t a truly good design because that’s all it was. I tried to compensate but my Skymall admission only focused on visceral interactions and wasn’t great in terms of usability or in the reflective level of interaction.
I became a lot more conscious about trying to be effective all three levels of interaction and my designs have become a lot better: I was particularly happy about my challenge5 and challenge6 submissions. My writing has also been influenced and as a result my whativegots have gotten a whole lot better at pinpointing where the objects that I like succeed and fail in emotional design.
Actually creating designs that have an emotional impact on people is incredibly difficult and my goal as a designer is just that: I want to create things that are not just functional but that are a joy to look at and a joy to use.
And looking back on my submissions, that has been a subconscious thread in my whativegots, from the staple-less stapler to the google cardboard. I especially enjoy products with many interlocking or related parts that come together in a satisfying way. There is a deep joy to assembling something beautiful, completing some process or just seeing a complicated set of tasks automated in a way that is pleasing to the eye. I have an affinity towards this kind of joy and I want to recreate it: products that look and feel good even after many uses.
Easily the world’s most satisfying way to slice an apple
