Don Norman - Emotional Design

The three levels that Don Norman has deconstructed design into - visceral, behavioural and reflective, all help to form an understanding that connects design with emotion.

Although the visceral is subconscious [as is behavioural], it determines whether an object is desired or not, gives people a basis on which they can justify their likes or dislikes. Whereas the behavioural is an automated response which can be considered learned, but is still in the realm of the subconscious. Reflective on the other hand is the rationale behind why people desire certain objects, even though they may not be fully functional. The combination of the three allows designers to see what they can infuse into teir designs to make people want to use their items

Norman points out that that 'pleasant things work better', though the truth of the matter is that pleasant things are equally as functional as 'non-pleasant things' but we [as humans] do not desire to use what we deem unpleasant - wanting the beautiful regardless of its functionality.

By incorporating emotion into design, designers can ask themselves how they can make someone value the product more by making their product evoke an emotion - making the users experience enjoyable so that their item can be used many times.

* Photo Don Norman, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1761289.stm