Contemporary Emotional Designs - Coursework Example

Contemporary design issues Institution Name Date Introduction Emotions have an important role in the human efforts to comprehend the world and learn new things. Donald Norman in his book, Emotional Design gives many examples contemporary emotional designs and explains that there are four ways through which people become attached to objects: pleasure, memories, self expression and group affiliation or behavior. The essay below contains three examples of contemporary emotional designs and how they use the above stated categories. Examples of contemporary emotional designs There are many examples of contemporary emotional designs through which people become attached to objects. Usable and edible is one of the most common designs of emotion in the modern world. The rapid use of internet in the post technology era is facilitated by the need to make life easier. This is because people are offered good opportunities to access more information concerning certain objects necessary in their lives (Donald, 2005). The figure above shows some of sites that people use to communicate or obtain information from the internet. Having usable internet is compared to a chef who is striving to make most edible foods. This is an example of pleasure; the extraordinary and attractive design of the modern internet service providers evokes pleasure because an emotional bond has developed between it and the browsers. The pleasure experienced during the usage of the internet leads to development in attachment. The chart above shows the increase on the usage of internet since 2000 to 2014 Feelings of pleasure for product like internet come into two ways: its primary function and its superior utility. Primary function of the internet is considered because of the entertainment and relaxation it offers to the users while product’s superior utility is considered because of features which enable everyone to use. The internet is fast and availability through a number of outlets like computers, phones and many others. This distinguishes it from other related products and increases its attachments with the people thus becoming part of life (Sudjic, 2008). In the past years people have spent a lot of time on social networking and trying to contemplate how it changes their lives. These concerns are however changing as they turn to other objects of their affections as a result of social revolution due to availability of services which seem to be more reliable. For example, currently almost everyone has a facebook account which enables them to communicate with the rest of the world and they find pleasure in its use (Surhone, 2010). The chart below shows how many people access their facebook and twitter between 2007 and 2009. Personality is another emotional design very common in the modern societies. Through the individual personalities, people are able to share humour, reveal their trust or express the entire ploy of human emotion. So many people in the modern society are able to realize and develop their talents than those of the past times because of different designs of individual emotions. Various individuals are attached to each other by freedom in self expression thus resulting to group affiliation or behavior; they not only differentiate themselves from the others but are also able to decide how to relate like trusted friends (Gobé M. & Design Management Institute (Boston, Mass), 2007). Humour is a strong tool which disarms skeptics and endears a brand to an individual person. This is associated various sites wielding to their advantage, for example, wufoo.com, mailchip. Com and vimeo.com. These are examples of modern interfaces which enables personalities to shine through and creation of loyalty from it. Most of the people are reluctant to disclose their finances but there is a software known as mint.com which uses emotional design to overcome these fears and skepticism. Emotional feelings like trust is more than a rational process and visual design affecting emotions in most powerful ways According to (Mugge, Schoormans & Schifferstein, 2007) showing emotional design in the modern society involves a lot of risks especially of the person who is the source. Most of the recipients will not get it while others will get it but will not accept because of their personal reasons. It is essential for the designers to portray their personalities so as to win the trust of their audiences. Everyone in the current world wants to connect with real people not only in the social life but also in their businesses which is a collection of people. The attachment that the individuals have with the internet and its social sites or networking like facebook and twitter is facilitated by the positive effects they have on the emotions of the users. They are able to meet the expectations of various individuals by connecting them with other people and objects. It is beyond doubts that any other identical product cannot be considered to replace the use of internet because the context in which it was obtained and being used is inimitable. According to the modern users of internet, the product is irreplaceable because they feel that any replica cannot sustain the same meaning or use. Use of internet has changed the lifestyle of the users not only in the way they relate with the others but also in the way they understand the objects close to them. It has made the entire world to be one big town whereby people are able to interact and share ideas thus they mostly do things in common, for example the architectural designs of their buildings. People have built houses which are smarter than before and many other objects which they are proud to be associated with (Pirhonen, 2005). These objects are also used to classify their classes of living as well as their level of understanding of the society one is living in. by strengthening the emotional bond, the designers are able to create strong emotional experiences with the products when it comes to their ownership. The attachment of the product can also serve as an eco-design scheme which creates a durable product to person relationships. According to Chapman (2005), “in the modern market, the durables of most of the consumers are compared with their quality, features and its friendliness with the user”. The lifespan of the products are determined not necessarily by the technical constraints because of the curiosity of the users thus most of the products are replaced while their functions are still proper. This is because almost all the users are controlled by their emotional interests thus they are forced to lose trust in the products if their expectations are not meet. For example, the use of mobile phones for communication purpose is very common in the current society. This is considered to replace the other forms of communication considered by the past generations like face to face, letters and mails or landline telephones used in the offices. There are some very strong bonds or ties between the mobile phones and the owner than any other possessions such. This is portrayed by the fact that people are always with these devices anywhere they go and at all times including while asleep. The number of the SIM card has also become part of the individual identification. The personal attachment with these mobile phones triggers individual emotions such that if one loses his or her device becomes emotionally disturbed until it is replaced with a similar. Some of the emotions that various individuals have with their mobile phones include: love, happiness, comfort, joy, excitement and security (Norman, 2002). The attachment that people have with their mobile phones develop with time because in the beginning the individuals may feel frustrated and disappointed if they are not able to operate the devices. The attitudes changes if the device starts to elicit the positive emotional feelings that they start being attached to them. The figure above shows attachment, memories and relaxation as factors of lengthy ownership (Mugge et al, 2007) According to (Mugge, Schoormans & Schifferstein, 2008), pleasure and reflective are the key determinants of the attachments that various individuals have with their mobile phones. Pleasure results from the primary functions of the device, it is considered for communication, entertainment and relaxation. This depends on the features and appearance of a device has, there are some mobile phones whose features can offer entertainment and relaxation while there are those whose functions are only communication. The device could be associated with a certain event which happened in the past thus the owner is attached to it by the memories that it has of the past (Ürgen, 2006). Conclusion Contemporary emotional designs are essential in the determination of the attachments between various individuals and the objects that they use. The person to person or individual to product attachment is determined by either one or all of the four emotional factors: pleasure, memories, self expression or group affiliation (Mugge et al, 2007). The designers of various products should consider these determinants while designing the products so as to win the interests of the consumers thus strives for their continued usage. For example, there is a continued usage of computers, internet and mobile phones in the current society thus these devices are assumed to have positive emotional effects on the individuals. They have either one or two of the determinants which influences their attachment with various individual users. The person to product attachment is determined by the duration or period of usage as well as their designs that they are able to meet all the needs and expectations of the individual users. The key determinant of the attachment that the individuals have on the products in the contemporary society is pleasure because most of the products functions for either entertainment or relaxation. For example, most of the electronic devices entertain while the automotive devices like cars are for relaxation. Reference Chapman J. (2005). Emotionally durable design: objects, experiences, and empathy. UK: Earthscan. Donald A. (2005). Emotional design: why we love (or hate) everyday things. London: Basic Books. Gobé M. & Design Management Institute (Boston, Mass). (2007). Brandjam: Humanizing Brands Through Emotional Design. Skyhorse Publishing Inc Mugge R., Schoormans, J. & Schifferstein, H. (2008). Product Attachment: Design Strategies to Stimuate the Emotional Bonding to Products, in H. Schifferstein & P.Hekkert, Product Experience, Burlington, Mass, USA: Elsevier. Norman, D. (2002), Emotion and Design: Attractive Things Work Better, Interactions, 4, pp. 36- 42. Pirhonen A. (2005). Future interaction design. Newyork: Springer, Sudjic, D. (2008.) The Language of Things. London, UK: Allen Lane. Surhone L. (2010). Emotional Design. VDM Verlag Dr. Mller AG & Co. Kg, Ürgen C. (2006). The use and importance of emotional design in contemporary design practice, Izmir: İzmir Institute of Technology. Read More