Emotional Design Part II

1. Select a brief passage from Chapter Three Emotional Design by Donald Norman and post it in your blog. Explain why you thought it was interesting.

"Even after the need for cup holders seemed obvious, German automobile manufacturers resisted them, explaining that automobile were for driving, not drinking... But if the automobile is only for driving, why do Germans provide ashtrays, cigarette lighters, and radios? The Germans reconsidered only when decreases in sales in the United States were attributed to the lack of cup holders" (Norman 73).

This passage is very interesting to me because I can't even imagine a car without a cup holder. The Germans did not think about what the people would want in their cars, instead they thought of the essentials. Design has changed so much and to even consider making a car without a cup holder seems ridiculous to me. This passage shows the importance of watching the people who use your product to see what they want and what they find essential.

2. Norman uses the terms Visceral Design, Behavioral Design, and Reflective Design. Do these categories seem useful to you? Would other names or phrases make the categories clearer?

These three main types of design are very useful to me. When reading what each meant, several different examples of design that fell into each category came to mind. Analyzing a product and putting it into one or several of the categories helps to find the quality of the product at hand. Behavioral and reflective design are very good names for their respective categories, however, visceral did not connect me to the look of a product. Possibly using words such as physical or look would help add the the meaning of visceral design.

3. How could a designer decide if Visceral Design, Behavioral Design, or Reflective Design is more important for a particular product? Are some types of product more visceral, behavioral, or reflective?

To decide what type of design to use for a particular product, a designer should consider why he is making a certain product. If the product will be used regularly and must work good, then possibly more behavioral design should be used. If the product is used for decoration or to look interesting then visceral design may be the better choice. However, several products can involve several aspects of design. For example, a nice car can look very good, but also could have very good gas mileage and get you to your destination. Some of these products are definitely more visceral, behavioral, or reflective. I believe that good design will try to combine all types of design, however, other products are made to just look good or do its job.