Emotional Design Q&A's

1.       Donald A. Norman’s main focus this chapter was about how people are attracted to everyday things. According to Norman, the three most important factors to attracting customers are the visceral design, behavioral design, and reflective design. Visceral design is all about the appearance. Businesses use customers’ initial reactions in order to attract the product. “Effective visceral design required the skills of the visual and graphic artist and the industrial engineer. Shape and form matter. The physical feel and texture of the materials matter. Heft matters. Visceral design is all about immediate emotional impact. It has to feel good, look good. Sensuality and sexuality play roles. This is a major role of “point of presence” displays in stores, in brochures, in advertisements, and in other enticements that emphasize appearance.” (Norman 69). A second factor that helps attract customers is the behavioral design. Behavioral design is all about the performance. “Appearance doesn’t really matter. Rationale doesn’t matter.” (Norman 69). “Good behavioral design should be human-centered, focusing upon understanding and satisfying the needs of the people who actually use the product.” (Norman 81). Norman also points out that companies need to test the products to see if they are easy to use. The last important factor is the reflective design. Reflective design is “about message, about culture, and about the meaning of a product or its use.” (Norman 83). Towards the end of the article, the author used examples of good designs such as the NFL Headset of coaches and how clothing stores sell their products.

2.       Chapter 1, “The Design of Everyday Things” focuses on how products are designed and expresses the strengths and weaknesses of specific designs. Chapter 3, “Emotional Design” focuses on how products are attracted to customers through designs and advertisements. Overall, both chapters focus on designing products from different perspectives.

3.       A product that has succeeded through visceral design is the 2005 Ford Mustang. The 1960s Mustang was a very popular vehicle, but lost its touch in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. When it was released, it had a resemblance of the 1960s style and attracted many customers. A product that succeeded through behavioral design is the Crocs foot-wears. Although people thought it looked ugly, many owners say it is very comfortable. A product that succeeded through reflective design is Microsoft’s Xbox 360. The original Xbox created a massive and loyal fan-base. Xbox 360 was very popular because of people buying it due to peer pressure and the popularity of its online component, Xbox Live.