DESIGN WE LOVE
At a shopping excursion with my then fifteen-year-old fashionista
daughter, she not only pronounced her unending love for a pair of
Jeffrey Campbell1 shoes but finally declared “I want to marry these
shoes!”
Now, I probably spend too much time trying to persuade my busy
customers that they really should separate themselves from their
money and attend my next course, or even better our executive
innovation programs. And you may even be one of those willing
souls that have participated, but I do wonder if I could ever get my
customers to love any of my products that much.
So what is it that makes us love the design of some products?
Emotional design, both a concept and book by Donald Norman,
provides some insight into this notion. Norman is an academic and
consultant in the field of cognitive science, design and usability
engineering. Much of his initial book The Design of Everyday
Things2 focused on the concept of user-centered design, a sort of
natural segue to the form-follows-function design philosophy that
came out of the Bauhaus, except Norman’s initial focus was on
the ease of functionality for the user. Along with human factors,
ergonomics and other user-centered concepts, we certainly were
on track to better-liked and more user-friendly designs.
by Teresa Di Cairano
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