The organisation was in the hands of a truly marvelous team of students of the Tech de Monterrey university. I have never felt more pampered then in this conference. I don’t think I have spent a full hour in my hotel room, due to their continuous care to feed us and offer us drinks and great company GRACIAS A TODOS! I feel that I have made some wonderful new friends.

In the course of the 4 days I was in Querétaro, I gave a keynote presentation (see below) to a wonderful audience of around 350, a Get Emocional! workshop (26 participants) and taught a class to design students (thanks to @dianalbarran).

My talk

My talk focused on sketching the properties of a world in change and what role designers have in this, plus, a possible answer to how they can influence world change by design. I state that emotional design can be a key factor (Factor Clave) in creating mindful, meaningful products and services that assist world change and improve people’s lives. Below is a slightly shortened version of the actual presentation.

In this 48hr assignment, Arduino had to be used in a concept around ‘time’. Participants Gijs Huisman, Michael-Owen Liston and Giorgio Uboldi came up with the idea to design a very simple physical interface that would tell time in a rather unusual way. The lay-out and the material used would have to attract the user to interact with the design.Their design concept was called ‘Knock Clock’, which pretty much explains it right away

Knock Clock

The inside of Knock Clock is built up with an Arduino Uno, a piezo element (which detects the knocking), a light sensor (which puts Knock Clock in alarm modus) and a servo-motor with a hand-made ‘hammer’ to knock the inside of the Knock Clock. The exterior was hand-made out of rest wood, found by the designers.

See the video below to illustrate how it works:

Knock Clock from Giorgio Uboldi /// TRUO on Vimeo.

I think it shows a wonderful authentic way of interacting with a clock that feels natural, but also completely different of what we’re used to. I can see this work for blind people and I am sure there are similar products around that probably ‘talk’. The nice thing about knock-clock is that it gives that church-bell feeling of that you have to wait until the last bell to know what time it really is. This asks for a little patience, but enriches the experience as time (waiting) becomes part of the experience of knowing what time it is.

This phenemenon and other challenges are discussed in an awesome post by my friends over at ExperienceRethink: Design and Emotion Behind Automated Objects and No-Touch Environments,

They talk about how automated, non-touch objects can improve our experiences in public spaces that are being used by many people and offer a challenge in hygiene.

Public spaces and automated, no-touch objects are a relatively new experience beyond the occasional sliding door. Yet, they are transforming the dynamic of public spaces.  Moving away from the traditional “hands-on” approach where the feel of  the object and its material enhances your experience to a “no-touch” gesture or motion based approach that has many implications both for the design of objects and environments as well as for creating the best emotional equities for different spaces.

The desire to move in and out of a space without making physical contact depends a bit on the type of space, but for public spaces two underlying needs are driving these changes:

1. An efficiency play, to reduce the need for cleaning, and,
2. Reduce the perception of dirty, especially the idea of spreading germs and bacteria.

The design for emotion challenge?

I think Brian and Cat are making a really interesting point here. What else can we think of where ‘design for emotion’ comes in, in solutions for hygene experience in public spaces? Does it mean we make everything non-touch, or the opposite and do we design things to make us more hygenic/ hygiene conscious? This is the solution that is given in the Indian example, where they rather try to educate you then to provide the solution for the ‘problem’. I think this is an interesting discussion, even though personally, I get extremely happy with the non-touch soap dispensers, taps, hand dryers (Dyson!!). What I haven’t seen in public yet is the solution for opening the door as can be seen in the picture on the right. Handy! Let’s ask for this in airplanes where doors open so difficult that you are made to touch it for a long time! Let me know what you think is the best application of design for emotion in this area, and share examples!

Emotions play a vital role throughout the span of our lives. Strictly speaking, the concept of emotion refers to a particular and specific affective phenomenon: a brief episode of coordinate brain, autonomic, and behavioural changes that facilitate a response to an external or internal event of significance.

In different stages of our lives we will experience particularly designed products and services that will resonate emotionally with us. These products and services will become part of our identity, we refer to them in stories about our lives or coming of age: they define who we were then, and who we have become now. My own personal identity timeline with emotional brands would most definitely include: Disney, LEGO, Spalding, Air Jordan, Honda, Apple and Volvo. These brands have managed to stick with me, but how can other brands achieve the same? – Through emotion-driven innovation.

Three trends that support emotion-driven innovation

The influence of the ‘emotional quality’ of consumer products on purchase decisions is growing. Companies are forced to make the difference on the basis of providing a full and meaningful experience for the consumer. Nowadays it is more difficult to distinguish products based on their technological advances or quality. In many markets, products are similar in respect to their technical characteristics, quality and price. Consumers however are looking for products, brands and services that give them a feeling of wellbeing, happiness or create a memorable or meaningful experience.

Brands like Apple, LEGO or Coca-Cola have a long history in their ability to communicate and resonate with consumers on a meaningful level. The clients of these companies are not just followers of the brand – they are true fans, along with all of the benefits of having clients that feel unconditional love for them.

It is therefore no surprise that more and more companies are challenging their designers and R&D department to (positively) manipulate the emotional impact of their designs. For them, it becomes vital to have a profound understanding of how products elicit emotions and how tools that evaluate the emotional impact of a certain design can be used.

Along with technological advances and the fast-paced consumption society, you can also see the shift from moving away from ownership of objects/ products towards a central focus on the experience of the product. In fact, the experience becomes the product. Good examples can be found in the changing environment of the music industry where owning cd’s is being traded for owning the experience of music.

I therefore see three trends that especially support emotion-driven innovation and design:

1. 1. Companies realize that they can only reach new competitive advantages by going beyond quality, functionality and reliability. They will have to design experiences that are both pleasurable and meaningful.
2. 2. Brands that are able to change followers into fans have proven to be hard to beat. The advantages that go along with having fans are humongous.
3. 3. Experience takes a central role. The experience becomes the product.
   .

Strategic considerations to design for emotion

Designing products with an emotional fit requires an integrated approach in which tools that measure the emotional impact of products go hand in hand with in-depth knowledge about the goals, attitudes, norms and values of consumers. Designing for an intended emotional impact includes an iterative but constructive approach in which the designer focuses on a consumer’s personal values and a product’s targeted ‘emotional impact’ to design specific interventions that support these.

With the Get Emocional! workshop we engage participants in a hands-on ‘design for emotion’ experience. By introducing a systematic approach to designing products that deliberately elicit predefined emotional responses, the workshop aims to facilitate a shift from an intuitive to a structured and manageable perspective on user emotion in conceptual design processes.

Based on personal experiences, participants first explore universal principles in how emotions are elicited, using structures drawn from recent emotion theory. In the second stage, participants employ their newly drawn insights in a design application.

The workshop includes bite size pieces of theory plus various practical exercises to let participants apply the theory and experience the process themselves.

The following strategic steps form the basic concepts to integrate emotions successfully: Understanding emotion, Measuring emotion and Designing for emotion.

Understanding emotion

This is about the conceptual models and theory that explain how people experience products and how emotions are evoked and impact our everyday lives.

Measuring emotion

How can we measure emotions and unveil the emotional impact of a product? In the workshop some of the latest tools that are developed in the academic and corporate field will be demonstrated and explained.

Design for emotion

Participants will use the presented theoretical framework as a starting point to learn how to design a product to evoke specific emotions.

Gain a unique competitive advantage

Influencing the behaviour and satisfaction of your customers has never been more effective. Even though it is not possible to design an experience in itself, measuring experiences and more specifically emotional experience will give you a head start. It enables you to design interventions that will create great experiences that are both authentic and meaningful.

SusaGroup

SusaGroup is a strategic design consultancy with a particular focus on emotion as the key to create better, more enjoyable products and services and meaningful experiences in the end. SusaGroup combines scientific competences with market insights in the development and application of innovative, valid, and relevant tools to measure emotions. SusaGroup advises and trains several large corporations and FMCG’s in improving their products and services based on insights in the emotions of their customers. Clients included companies such as Unilever, Mars, Microsoft, BIC, Toyota and Philips.

My favorites:

Don’t turn this bus into a garbage truck

Stop human trafficking

Zoo ad

Olga also posted an article with similar bag examples. Great stuff! Here are some really good ones:

This new packaging concept for cigarettes from recent UK design graduates Jennifer Noon and Sarah Shaw is in response to the British government’s controversial proposal for plain packaging, which purports that bland and generic cigarette packages devoid of company logos or art would make health warnings more prominent. (Which is not to say that labels wouldn’t work.) (Source: Core 77)

BRIEF Australia has attracted a lot of press attention in recent months on cigarette packaging. The British government are considering introducing plain packaging to the UK. Here is the response.

RESPONSE The main aim was to change the structure of the pack making it less ergonomic. The pack was developed to be difficult to use and carry. For the warning imagery focusing on aspects which would appeal to the users vanity

Be sure to also check out these interesting articles:

• Intentionally Inefficient Cigarette Packaging Design Concept (Core77)
• Can Annoying Cigarette Packs Make Smokers Quit? (FastcoDesign)

Using negative emotions for pleasurable experiences – The Dark Side of Enjoyment

If you like to turn things around and learn a bit more about how you can use negative emotions to design for more pleasurable and richer experiences, you should check out Steven Fokkinga’s research. He states that:

…in life people have many experiences that involve negative emotions, but which are nonetheless engaging and even enjoyable. Furthermore, these experiences are not enjoyable despite the involvement of negative emotions, but rather because of them.

His paper ‘The Dark Side of Enjoyment’ was a real hit at the last Design and Emotion Conference in Chicago, as it shows an interesting, uncommon yet practical approach. He proposes four basic benefits of negative emotions: negative emotions (A) empower for action, (B) signify intriguing boundaries, (C) intensify achievement, and (D) enable contemplation. His paper will soon be available in the online library of the Design & Emotion Society website (launch September 1st).

First, what is your definition of design for emotion?

It all has to do with a creative process for which the intended experience for the consumer has been taken as a starting point. A different perspective creates different solutions.

How did you get involved in the Design & Emotion Society initiative in 1999?

A conference was held that year on the topic of design and emotion, initiated by the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering of Delft University of Technology. I was invited to that conference and was present at what turned out to be the kick-off meeting for the Design & Emotion Society. This meeting was organized spontaneously as a result of the enthusiasm, synergy and energy present among the participants and in the conference room: this definitely needed a follow up! I stepped into a world I didn’t know existed.

What has the founding of the Society meant for your own perspective on design and your company, and what has it brought to the design discipline in general?

For me personally, it has brought a lot of new contacts, friends and insights. Furthermore, I’m proud to be part of a group of people who initially had a somewhat far-fetched idea, but which has now become a ‘trending topic’ and perhaps even an established discipline within the design community.

Talking about this level of establishment. The Design & Emotion Society is now 12 years of age, how mature is the discipline and what is necessary to make sure it grows, not just in quantity/ adoptation, but also intellectually?


Hmmm, I guess we’re still growing and taking shape. Certainly not mature yet, and more importantly: we have to gain something in order to get the design community and industry more involved. That’s our biggest challenge in the coming years.

How do you think we should approach this challenge, and what can we learn from the growth of other disciplines within the design community?

The design community is dependent on industry, and industry depends on making money. A good example is the growth of the user experience community (UX) in recent years. A lot is happening over there. This is due to the fact that you can make a lot of money improving the performance of an online shop, for instance. This is a good example of a discipline that is a) related (with overlap) to the design & emotion community and b) stresses both user and industry benefits. In order to attract more people from industry we should focus a bit more on the benefits that the industry can gain from our discipline. Also: it’s time we started communicating real and truly great examples. Attracting more designers to our community will take more time. Until recently, designers were not educated as researchers. In general they often don’t have a clue what research can do for them. I’m glad this is changing now.

In an interview with Idealize.nl, you talked about the difference in strategy between Philips Senseo and Nespresso. You talked about the (exaggerated) endless product extensions of Senseo and the fresh approach of Nespresso. How would the comparison be if you examine this in the context of ‘design for emotion’? 


The world doesn’t stand still. Features that were differentiators yesterday are a commodity today. Industry continuously has to innovate in order to offer products that are relevant. This has everything to do with evoked emotions or created experience, especially from a positioning point of view. I was surprised this video caused so much commotion. People keep on getting back to me about these 4 minutes of footage. My main message was: ‘dear people from Philips, don’t go for the low-hanging fruit.  You will ultimately regret not having taken a big leap’. Nespresso came up with a perfect product-service system, a domain almost invented by Philips. The reason why it’s interesting to take the big leap is described in Verganti’s Design Driven Innovation.

This is interesting. I recently talked about this with Waris Misbah, from Warwick University in the UK. He mentioned that Verganti talks about radical innovation in his book and puts it this way:

“A company looking for radical innovation of meaning does not get too close to users, because the meaning users give to things is bounded by the existing socio-cultural regime.”

Waris’s question to me was: what methods can we use to identify possible future needs or meanings that customers might attach to a product, which if discovered might significantly enhance the creative process and hence lead to radical innovation?

What would your answer be, taking a stand from a design for emotion point of view?

I guess Verganti’s ‘radical’ is close to Loewy’s ‘most advanced yet acceptable’. He doesn’t mean ‘extreme’. Mind you, he’s an economist. I do not completely agree with Waris. If we had taken the existing socio-cultural regime as a starting point, we would have never developed mobile phones. The digital revolution has proven the opposite: it changed our socio-cultural regime. Verganti also indicates that industry has a tendency to innovate too cautiously. It’s easier to predict the outcome of incremental changes of a product or a service. It is therefore a safer approach than heading for radical innovation, but also as Verganti shows, a less profitable one. In general, industry tends to restrict itself. Consumers are really willing to embrace innovations, but only if they follow the Loewy statement.
And coming back to your second question: there are several methods to identify possible future needs. One of them is the ViP method, developed by Paul Hekkert and Matthijs van Dijk: http://www.bispublishers.nl/bookpage.php?id=124 .

Now, on to your daily practice – your company, Fabrique, is a multi-disciplinary design agency. Is there a main theme to your approach between disciplines? And, how does emotion/ experience have a part in it?


We started out as a multi-disciplinary design agency. During the past decade, we made the move from doing (within a discipline) to thinking (more strategic, goal oriented). This automatically resulted in a more discipline independent approach, focusing on the goals rather than on the means. This means that the focus is on the effect of the design, triggered by the emotions it evokes or the experience the consumer buys. Our biggest problem is the fact that within big companies, products and services are organized in different departments. If you get a call from the interface department, it’s hard to influence the hardware and the other way around. This results in developments  taking place slowly. Too slowly, in my opinion. There’s no central approach.

In your key-note at DE2010 you introduced your model (see image below) explaining the design discipline in relation to design-in-business/practice. Can you explain what drove you to develop it and how it can help other designers/ businesses?


The fact that a lot of research is focused on the experience of the user annoyed me. First: we never deal with a user but always with a client that wants to run a business. The client’s main focus is on convincing the consumer to buy the product, which requires a different point of view than the user will have. The dynamics of this convincing game are quite different from what you are taught or what researchers would like to know. This doesn’t mean that the user (or as I prefer to say: the consumer) isn’t important, on the contrary. But if I only work from the perspective of a user/consumer, this won’t make my clients happy. I see it as a vital role for any designer to balance the concerns of the user/consumer and the client. Secondly: the model shows that decisions at each and every level influence the product experience. There is a tendency, both in education and research, to mostly look into details instead of approaching the problem from a holistic point of view, in order to design the total experience. In my opinion, the only way to create competitive products is to take the total experience as a starting point.

Which designers and which design thinkers have shaped your own thoughts on design?

Nice question. So many people, with a wide variety: from craftsmen to thinkers, from graphic designers to architects. To start, I have great respect for Wim Crouwel and Ootje Oxenaar, two of my former professors at the Faculty of Design Engineering in Delft. Both graphic designers by training but in fact awesome design thinkers avant-la-lettre. I did my internship in 1986 at the renowned Total Design design agency. There, I developed a great affection for graphic design, especially the fact that those designers were more opportunity driven than that they were held back by constraints – which I felt was very much the culture in Delft. Two other heroes are Peter Saville (famous for his Joy Division cover art) and Neville Brody (he took type design to the next level). Apart from these graphic designers I think there are some interesting things happening in architecture (including MVRDV, Koolhaas, Ito), and I love the work of product designers like Jasper Morrison and Marc Newson. But the person that rises above all of the others, is probably Buckminster Fuller, an independent thinker and practitioner, always shifting paradigms.

I often get questions by readers asking for recommendations of books that address the topic of design and emotion. There are very few that really talk explicitly about the topic, but what would your recommendations be?


I would say: write your own! But seriously, I suppose everybody knows the hardcore D&E stuff like Hekkert and Schifferstein’s Experience Driven Design or the books of Donald Norman. They’re the basis. I still get very nice feedback on the Enriching book, which is more of a (two week) workshop diary rather than a real book, but it shows what a different perspective can do. I’m really interested in how to embed the experience-driven approach into design practice, what it could do and what the benefit for both consumers and industry could be. Verganti’s Design Driven Innovation showed some great insights. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so I like publications with examples. From Floating Wheelchairs to Mobile Car Parks shows 35 great graduation projects, very inspiring. Practicing a more strategic or benefit-oriented approach demands a different mentality from both designers and industry. Still inspiring from that point of view is Gilles Deleuze’s Rhizome, because of the attitude he describes. This book is aimed at philosophers, but is very suitable for designers as well.

Final question, Jeroen. I always like to hear from experts like you what’s next in design. What are the main trends that we need to follow to keep up with the fast-paced changes in our discipline and our society?

Oh, a very good question!. The Design & Emotion Society is part of a movement where the design goals were redefined from instrumental (often technology-oriented goals) to the effect it has on the user’s mind. From my point of view we are once again at a turning point where the focus shifts to the relevance of the design – where design is not limited to the physical world but also to services and even politics. This ‘design for relevance’ doesn’t exclude the other two views but is more an addition: a view from a different and more holistic angle. It also takes account of the industry point of view.

Thanks Jeroen, for taking the time for this interview!