While visiting the ICA, my friend and I decided to check out the museum’s gift shop. To our surprise, we discovered that the gift shop was selling Left Right Ergonomic Crayons, marketed as crayons that have a “comfort grip,” are made of “eco-friendly polymer,” and work to consider everybody—those who are both left and right handed. Aesthetically, the crayons look unconventional, which might either interest people or turn them off on the physical design alone. That said, the physical design does look functional in its job; there are grip grooves for both left-handed and right-handed people. Furthermore, the inclusion of the grooves make the crayons look more comfortable to use than the standard cylinder variant. The idea behind the crayons also clearly play with emotional impact; while I am not left-handed, I do know that my left-handed friends find many designs in school supplies frustrating, so seeing a design made with a left-handed person in mind would definitely be exciting. In that way, the design does play with some of Desmet and Hekkert’s theories on product experience.

The design also plays with concepts of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and B.J. Fogg’s theory on behavioral change. One could say that having something catered for the left-hand satisfies basic needs and self-esteem needs for a consumer. And the design increases a person’s ability to use the product (for the left-handed person, he/she now has a crayon that fits their hand; for a right-handed person, he/she now has a crayon with a better grip), while increasing motivation for a left-handed person. In that way, the Left Right Ergonomic Crayons are a creative and desirable design, which knows how to manipulate different models of behavioral psychology to increase it appeal.