Emotional Design; Application of a Research-Based

ORIGINALPAPEREmotionalDesign;ApplicationofaResearch-BasedDesignApproachP.M.A.Desmet&R.Porcelijn&M.B.vanDijkReceived:15December2006/Accepted:20March2007/Publishedonline:11September2007#SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2007AbstractInthispaper,wediscussanapproachto‘designforwow’thatfocusesontheemotionsthatconstituteawow-experience.Inthisapproach,theelicitingconditionsoftheseemotionsareusedtodefineaproductcharacterwithahighwow-impact.Inadditiontotheapproach,ameasurablewow-indexisintroduced.First,aconceptofwowisdescribedinwhichwowisexplainedasacombinationoffascination,pleasantsurprise,anddesire.Theelicitingconditionsofthesethreeemotionsareexaminedandcombinedtoa‘wow-appraisal.’Thisconceptisappliedinthedesignofamobiletelephone.Acombinationofqualitativeandquantitativeresearchmethodswasusedtoformulateconcernthemesrelevantforthewow-appraisal.Thesethemeswereusedtocreatealayeredproductcharacterandaprototypeofthefinaldesign.Anevaluationstudydemonstratedthattheproductdesignedwiththisapproachratedhigheronthewow-indexthanalter-nativeproducts.KeywordsEmotions.Productcharacter.Wow-impact.Wow-index.Wow-appraisalIntroductionSomeproductsaremoreexcitingthanothers,andthisexperienceofexcitementisoftenseenassomethingthatshouldbestrivedforbecauseitmotivatescustomerstopreferoneproductoveranother(WakefieldandBaker1998).Consumerresearchershavearguedthatthoseproductsthatexcitecustomerswillbemoresuccessfulthanthosethatdonot(Millard2006).Inlinewiththisview,Terninko(1995)proposedamodelofdifferentialadvantagethatdistinguishesbetweenthreetypesofproductfeatures:basic,performance,andexcitementfeatures.Basicfeaturesarethosethattheproducttypeisexpectedtodeliver.Abasicfeatureofamobilephone,forexample,isadatabasefunctiontostoretelephonenumbers.Performancefeaturesarethosethatdifferentiatebetweencompetingproducts.Mobilephoneshaveperformancefeaturessuchasweight,screensize,andstand-bytime.Inhismodel,Terninkoproposedalinearrelationshipbetweenconsumersatisfactionandperformancefeatures:thehighertheKnowTechnPol(2007)20:141–155DOI10.1007/s12130-007-9018-4P.M.A.Desmet(*)DepartmentofIndustrialDesign,DelftUniversityofTechnology,Landbergstraat15,2628CEDelft,TheNetherlandse-mail:[e-mail]:M.B.vanDijkKVDReframingandDesign,Westhavenweg59f,1042ALAmsterdam,TheNetherlandsR.Porcelijne-mail:[e-mail]-mail:[e-mail],thehigherthelevelofsatisfaction.Thethirdtypeoffeatures,excitementfeatures,arethosethattheconsumerdidnotexpecttoseeintheproductandisexcitedtolearnarethere.GPSsystemsorhigh-resolutionvideocamerascanbeexcitementfeaturesofmobilephones.Followingthisfeature-basedexcite-mentmodel,Mann(2002)proposedthatthosewhowanttodesignproductsthatevokefeelingsof‘wow’shouldfindandapplyoneormore‘excitementfeatures’.Themaindifficultyofthisapproachisthatthiskindofexcitementdoesnotlast.Aphotocameraonmobilephones,whichwasanexcitementfeaturewhenitwasfirstintroduced(“wow,Icantakepictureswithmyphone”),quicklybecameabasicfeatureofthenextgenerationofmobilephones.Thefocusonexcitementisbasicallyafocusonsurprisebynewness,andafeaturethatexcitestodaywillinevitablystopbeingexcitingtomorrow–orthedayaftertomorrow.Thistechnology-focusedapproachlacksdirectionapartfromthesearchfornewness.Inthispaper,weproposeanalternativeapproachthatfocusesontherelationshipbetweenusersandtheirproducts.Theapproachisuser-orientedratherthantechnology-oriented,andholisticinthesensethatthewow-impactoftheproductisconsideredonaconceptualratherthanonafeaturelevel.Themainadvantageisthatthisapproachgeneratesaunifiedconceptinwhich(visual)appearance,interaction,andfeaturesarealignedtoelicitacoherentexperience.First,theemotionalstructureofawow-experienceisanalyzed.Onthebasisofthisanalysis,weproposethatwowcanbestbeconsideredacompoundedemotionalresponse.Then,adesignprojectisdis-cussedinwhichamobiletelephonewasdesignedtoevokewow.Thepaperdescribesthedesignprocess,theresults,theevaluationstudy,anddiscussesimplicationsandfutureresearchdirections.ProductEmotionProductscanevokemanydifferentkindsofemotions.Wecanadmirethelatestultra-slimlaptop,beirritatedbyanannoyingtelephone,feelateaseinacomfort-ablesofa,andsoon.Andalthoughthetouchofmelancholyfeltwhencomingacrossalongforgottenchildhoodteddybearseemsincomparabletothethrillofdrivingamotorcycle,boththeseresponsesbelongtothewidespectrumofhumanemotions.Ourstudiessupporttheideathatevenconventionalproducts,suchasmobiletelephonesandfabricsofteners,canevokecomplexandlayeredemotionalprofiles(seeDesmetetal.2001).Thelastfewyears,wehavebeenexploringthepossibilitiestoemploysuchemotionprofilesasthestarting-pointfornew‘emotionallyinnovative’designs(seeDesmetandDijkhuis2003).Wefoundthatbymeasuringemotionalresponses,itwaspossibletodesignproductsthattargetspecifictypesofemotions.Forthisproject,itwasdecidedtofollowasimilarapproachinwhichresearchwasusedtofeedthedesignprocess.Becauseanintegratedapproachwasbelievedtobeconstructive,boththedesigner(secondauthor)andtheresearcher(firstauthor)wereinvolvedinallstagesoftheproject.AppraisalTheoryMostcontemporary