emotional design

Recently, I've been digging into Donald Norman's Emotional Design. I haven't had that much time with it but on the surface there seems to be something that does not make sense about the Google Cardboard: it is extremely popular (with over half a million users) but is in direct violation of one of his first points, that attractive things work better because they make people feel good, which makes people more tolerant of minor difficulties and causes them to think more creatively.

The Cardboard is singlehandedly one of the ugliest things I have ever owned. But I can overlook its aesthetic flaws and appreciate its ingenuity and the emotional impact of the apps it allows me to use. Since this post is a discussion of the medium and not the content, that's also point that shouldn't count in its favour. Especially since the market is getting flooded by other more functional and durable low cost headsets. Why is the Google Cardboard ahead of its other slightly late competitors?
The Cardboard has succeeded in spite of its flaws I think perhaps because it is riding the Gartner Hype Cycle.

I guess a take-away for us in ES22 is that sometimes desirability is not about what's the most beautiful or functional. Instead, sometimes desirability is about how quickly you can go to market with a technology that is straight up from the future.