Design should be driven by feelings - not thinking.
Design school teaches designers the difference between our craft and that of artists. We understand that form follows function and that aesthetics should not be our main focus when coming up with solutions to problems. Art, on the other hand, is all about aesthetics and the emotions derived from these, which is why we are taught that it should mostly concern artists and not designers.
However, there is a flaw to this traditional approach to design, one that can be summed up in the recent research findings that demonstrate that “attractive things work better”. We now know that there is a direct link between function and beauty that we cannot overlook.
The explanation, although deeply rooted in cognitive science and psychology, is fairly simple: Attractive things make people feel good, which allows for a more creative approach to problem-solving, thus making finding solutions easier. So, yes: form follows function, but form, when attractive, creates function.
““Emotions – we now know – change the way the human mind solves problems - the emotional system changes how the cognitive system operates.” - Don Norman
The recent discoveries in cognitive science and neuropsychology support the idea that emotion possesses power over our capacity to solve problems. If we consider that user-centric design acknowledges that emotion plays a critical role in our daily lives, then we cannot deny that these have a leading role in driving good design. It is now well known that design based on emotions can impact the user experience because emotions influence decision-making, affect attention and memory, and generate meaning (Van Gorp and Adams, 2012). As designers, we should reflect on how we can leverage emotions to build good products and services. The key seems to lie in using what we have come to discover about neuropsychology and cognition as foundations for design. Don Norman speaks of the power emotion has over our overall capacity to solve problems explaining that “Emotions – we now know – change the way the human mind solves problems - the emotional system changes how the cognitive system operates”. We cannot separate what we think from what we feel, and design should fathom the intersection of human psychology and our interpretation of reality when coming up with solutions to problems.
Afterall, what drives good design is the meaning that it manages to convey to the person that uses it, and these meanings trigger emotions that lead to behaviors.
Design can make people feel things. There, I believe, lies its real power to transform lives.