Emotional Design Article by Donald Norman

Links

• Emotional Design article by Donald Norman
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Notes/Excerpts

• Attractive things/Aesthetically pleasing -> Positive emotions -> Ease of use / Better function

  • …We have long known that when people are anxious they tend to narrow their thought processes, concentrating upon aspects directly relevant to a problem. This is a useful strategy in escaping from danger, but not in thinking of imaginative new approaches to a problem.
  • …tendency to repeat the same operation over again is especially likely for those who are anxious or tense.

• Levels of processing: visceral (automatic/wired), behavioral and reflective (contemplate)

  • …it (reflective level) does not have direct access either to sensory input or to the control of behavior. Instead it watches over, reflects upon, and tries to bias the behavioral level.

• Design, pleasure and anxiety

  • …Designers can get away with more if the product is fun and enjoyable.
  • …Design – and for that matter, most problem solving – requires creative thinking followed by a considerable period of concentrated, focused effort. In the first case, creativity, it is good for the designer to be relaxed, in a good mood. Thus, in brainstorming sessions, it is common to warm up by telling jokes and playing games. No criticism is allowed because it would raise the level of anxiety among the participants. Good brainstorming and unusual, creative thinking require the relaxed state induced by positive affect.
  • …Once the creative stage is completed, the ideas that have been generated have to be transformed into real products. Now the design team must exert considerable attention to detail. Here, focus is essential. One way to do this is through deadlines just slightly shorter than feel comfortable. Here is the time for the concentrated focus that negative affect produces. This is one reason people often impose artificial deadlines on themselves, and then announce those deadlines to others so as to make them real. Their anxiety helps them get the work done.
  • … too much anxiety produces a phenomenon known as “tunnel vision”: the people become so focused that may fail to see otherwise obvious alternatives.

• Prewired, ready for adaptation and experiences

  • …some biological mechanisms are only predispositions rather than full-fledged systems. …Children do not come into the world with language, but they do come predisposed and ready.